A Little Less Unbearable Flu

Disclosure

I hate getting sick and trying to take care of the kids at the same time. Worse, I’m miserable when they are sick because all I do is worry, worry, worry. We’re planning ahead this year and already got our flu shots. DH and I took care of it while at Walmart last week.The kids received theirs this past week at school.

So let’s hope that we’ll make it through the season unscathed. Unfortunately, that’s pretty difficult. DH recently stocked up on Theraflu products for adults and various ibuprofen and Tylenol for the kids. He’s always the one that I send out for stuff when midnight rolls around and we’ve run out of whatever.

The one thing we don’t usually stock up on is the liquid replacement that is a must during the flu spell. We try to keep fluids replenished but it’s just so hard. Especially when you have trouble keeping it down.

We encourage water and even give them small amounts of hot tea.  Often, it comes down to what sounds good to the little sickie.  Sometimes we give them small amounts of juice, sports drinks or pop like Squirt (my personal favorite) but those aren’t the best option because they contain sugars. Yes, sports drinks replenish electrolytes, blah blah blah… but they weren’t designed to replenish all fluids when you’re sick. They’re designed for when you’ve been sweating like during exercise. (At least that’s my understanding.)  Ideally, the best thing to get for the kids is a pediatric fluid replacement product. Yeah, I hate those huge wasteful bottles, too. Open it, use it, pitch it. What a waste of money, I say to myself, every single time I throw some away.

So when we were asked for our thoughts on how we handle this kind of situation, I made sure to share with them.  As part of the discussion, they talked about a new product launch.  I was thrilled to hear that Abbott Nutrition, the makers of Pedialyte, came out with a new product that is individually wrapped thus causing less waste. They look like drink boxes and because the kids don’t know what is inside, it is just another drink box to them.  It doesn’t look like medicine.

What I discovered is that there ends up being less waste while at the same time having a longer shelf life.  We haven’t needed to use these yet (knock on wood) so we stashed them in the medicine cabinet for when we DO need them.  I wouldn’t have even considered that with the old packages.

When a child has the flu, it is a pain when they vomit at night.  Juggling the cleanup of the child, the bedding and the floor on the way to the bathroom.  If they’ve been drinking juice or a sports drink, that adds the problem of treating the stain on the carpet.  As a bonus with the new Pedialyte Singles, the liquid is clear so if (read: when) it doesn’t stay down, there isn’t the additional concern for staining.

I’m glad we have these in the cabinet just in case but I’m seriously hoping we won’t need them this year.  Alas, I’m sure it is just a matter of time.  Are you planning ahead?

Just a note – We’re familiar with Pedialyte products and know our kids don’t have any kind of issues with it. If you’re new to this type of product, be sure to talk to your doctor first.  But if you ARE planning on picking some Pedialyte to battle the flu in your house, be sure to print out the coupon before heading to the store. Just click the banner and print it out!

For more information on Pedialyte products, visit their website.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *