The 5 must-have in case your kid is sick at home

With a new baby or a kid at home, what’s the 5 must-have for a mother in case your kid is sick?  I swear by these :

• Ear Thermometer

Invest in a good one. Or at least a decent one. You will never know when you need it and when you need it, YOU REALLY NEED IT. Personally will recommend a ear thermometer instead of those which you need to stick into the kid’s mouth or armpit.  Most kids will be too active for you to do that!  There are a few brands to chose from, check out Safety 1st Hospital’s Choice Accu Light Ear Thermometer .

• Medicine issued by doctors

I’m a kia-su mum! I have extra cough syrup, fever syrup, running nose syrup in my fridge for emergency cases.  I am not encouraging mothers to feed your kids medicine unnecessarily. But these medicine act as a back-up plan.  For example, if kid is running a fever of 38 degrees in the middle of the night with no other symptoms, instead of rushing to the 24-hour clinic or hospital, you can try the medicine and sponging method.  Or that sometimes kids are prone to having running nose due to weather changes, and it’s very mild but still adding discomfort to the child, you can feed the running nose medicine.  Take note that all these medicine are issued by doctors, and not self medication which you buy off the shelves from pharmacies. And that if the problem still persist or sickness became more serious, please bring the kid to the doctor.

• Fever Cool Plaster

These come in handy when kid has a fever, though I don’t think that it is as effective as sponging. But these can relieve you for awhile instead of those constant sponging and get you some rest. Usually I will use this when the kid is sleeping and I too need some rest. And this plaster will stick on the forehead and will seldom drop off, unlike the sponging method. Something off the topic, if you chose to sponge your child, please use tap water.  It’s cool enough to start of the sponging. You do not need to use ice water, and it might cause headache to the child due to the sudden coldness.

• Decongestant Capsules

These are oil that come in capsules form and it helps to clear blocked noses and congestion.  I will squeeze the oil into a handkerchief and tied it at the cot during the night.  It helps the kid to have a better sleep during the time she has a blocked nose. There are a few brands in the market and it is easily available in pharmacies such as Guardian. I am using this brand called “Karvol”. I simply love this!

•  Biscuits

You must be wondering what does biscuits have to do when a kid is sick? Well, these help me alot when it’s time to feed the kid medicine!  Find out what you kid loves.  It could be that favourite puff or that favourite animal biscuits. I will usually show Dawn her favourite puffs (which is Gerber Finger Foods Puffs, 3 Strawberry and Apple Puffs and 3 Banana Puffs(6 per Pack)) and tell her that she has to take the medicine first before having her little biscuit. It simply helps.

Hope these bit of information is useful for those new mothers or mothers-to-be 🙂