"sick" rules

[shahjehan]

How does your parenting change when your child is sick with a cold or virus?  Do you watch more TV?  Allow more junk food and juice?  Change sleeping arrangements?  Do you have anything special you do only when you child is ill?

My 4 year-old DD just spiked the first fever and tummy pain of the season this afternoon, and she has been plugged into the TV screen for more than two hours without moving .  Do I just let it be?

[Honey693]

DD has only been sick a handful of times and the rules definitely change.  It really freaks me out when she's sick b/c she's normally so active that it worries more than it should when she' s lethargic and sits still.  If it's obvious she's sick sick and not just a cold it's pretty much all DD all the time.  She can watch lots of TV, eat what she wants (within reason, I'm not going to let her eat an entire carton of ice), she can have all the juice she wants, tantrums are treated differently, etc.  She sleeps with us normally so that doesn't change. 

[Storm Bride]

If my kids are sick in the "spiking a fever and lying on the couch" sense, they can watch tv/DVDs all day if they want to. (They usually say they do, but don't really, as they're too tired to pay attention.) The only other rule change is that they can eat/drink in the living room, if they want. Normally, we ban all food and beverages from the living room, except for popcorn as a family (or a drink for me when I'm nursing).

[StephandOwen]

When ds is sick then we are really lax with him. He can lay on the couch and watch movies or tv while resting. We do let him drink in the living room when he's sick (in a cup with a lid!). If he's feeling well enough to eat then I'll usually sit on the couch with him while he eats something. If he's just sick then he still sleeps in his own room (though I check on him multiple times a night!). If he's having any respiratory issues (he has RAD) then he sleeps with me and dp sleeps in ds's bed so that I can keep an ear on ds and get him his inhaler if he needs it during the night.

[mamalisa]

Lay around and watch tv, read if you feel like it.  
 

My mom always had this rule that if you were home sick you had to lay in your room in the dark and rest.  Which was stupid because I constantly had strep as a kid so it wasn't like I was faking it and it wasn't as if I needed more sleep to get better, I needed 48 hours on antibiotics.  So anytime I was contagious I was stuck in bed bored and miserable.  
 

As a parent I do whatever I can to make my kids feel better when they are sick.  I don't punish them for it.  But if I know you're faking, your butt is going to school!

[cappuccinosmom]

I allow a little more tv.  But if they're really sick, I'd rather they *sleep*.  And usually, when they are really sick they don't care that much if I turn the set off.

We seem to have only mild colds, or the kind of sick that knocks them out completely.  Not much in between.  Mild colds, it's life as usual.  I'll get them lots of "honey tea" to soothe it, and let not push them to run and play outside like I normally would.  But other than that, things run pretty normally.  OTOH, if they're really sick, there is a lot more leeway with crankiness, they get a lot of cuddles and comfort measures.  During the day the sick one usually will be tucked in on the couch while I do school with the others.

If they were that sick, I'd probably use diluted juice to get them to drink lots.  But a sick kid wouldn't prompt me to give them more junk food than normal.   

[becoming]

We lay on the couch together & watch TV allllll day :)  But I really don't restrict TV much anyway...

[Alyantavid]

If my kids are sick enough to lay in front of the tv, they're really sick.  So yeah, I let them lay around and watch tv if they feel that bad. They do get to have more juice (oj) when they're sick.  If they're throwing up, they get sprite or 7Up.  Depending on the illness, mostly vomiting, they get to camp out on the living room floor with me or dh and a bucket. 

[mamazee]

If my dd is sick, she can watch as much tv as she wants, and I let her drink something sweet like juice to keep her fluids up.  We are very lax when a kid is sick.

[pianojazzgirl]

When the kids are really sick (fever, exhausted, etc):

TV - yup, as much as you want (normally we're pretty much screen-free except for special movie nights).

food - no junk food (I believe that they'll have a harder time fighting off the sickness if they eat a bunch of crap), but yes to juice (we don't have juice that often) or juice popsicles.

sleeping - ds (3yo) would likely come in the bed with us, dd (6yo) wouldn't want to.

[onlyzombiecat]

Dd was sick last week.

I don't know if any rules changed other than no playing with or handling the hamster until she was well.

She spent the first day in bed vomiting and sleeping. The second day she watched some dvds while laying around. I encouraged her to sleep as much as possible.

She did get some 7UP which she doesn't normally have.

[HollyBearsMom]

Keep 'em comfortable is what I do.  Sometimes that means lying on the couch and watching TV.  He likes being close by to me and I spend most of the time in kitchen/family room area. Sometimes it means being in bed in a dark room.  I let him guide the way.

oh- one exception is he can have ginger ale/beer if it is a tummy thing.  I keep one or 2 bottles of the real stuff just for that reason (and the occasional Dark n Stormy :wink)

hmmm why are the smilies not working???

[CCJWGM]

Yep, the rules definitely change. We limit tv regularly but the kidlets get to watch as much as they want if really sick.  It's only movies since we don't have tv reception of any kind so I guess that's my justification.    They also get to drink what they want.  The important thing is they drink SOMETHING.  Our month long October illness this house went through a lot of real ginger ale.  My goodness:  that stuff is expensive.  Lots of love, lots of snuggles, and bending the rules because it really is all about the love and snuggles when sick. The sleeping arrangement changes as well.  For the whole month of October the kidlets and I slept on the futon in the living room.  Whatever works is my rule.

I do draw the line at junk food though.  That doesn't change. 

[Honey693]

DD can also stay in her pj's all day.  I usually try and get her dressed most days, but sick days are full of pj's or naked diaper toddler lol.

[EdnaMarie]

Most days we don't have ANY TV and limited screen time in front of the computer with games (say, 15 minutes).

If she's sick enough to lie there still for hours, then absolutely, she can watch what she wants.  I have DD2 to watch as well and I can't be reading to her that whole time so she deserves some entertainment.  Sometimes if she's mildly ill, I'll put on the TV and figure out the DVD player to get her to sit there.  And yes, pyjamas all day, or whatever comfy she wants, but as for food, juice is the only addition we usually have.  She doesn't like soda but I'd do ginger ale if she did.

[averysmomma05]

Originally Posted by becoming 

We lay on the couch together & watch TV allllll day :)  But I really don't restrict TV much anyway...

[jennifercp8]

DS was just sick on Friday, and his 'treat' was to hang out in my bed and watch cartoons all day.  He napped on and off, and came down when he felt better and wanted to be with the family.  Lots of snuggles, extra fluids, and something to eat outside of the kitchen.  :)  And, of course, lots and lots of snuggles and kisses. 

[mumkimum]

When dd has been sick - she watches a bit more tv (with breaks where we try to get her to fall asleep) and we will let her have her own glass of some kind of sick-time soda (orange crush since she doesn't like gingerale) or gatorade which we'd normally not do.  I can only tolerate certain things myself when I'm vomiting-sick, so I permit those things for her too.

If mom is sick - tv or computer is on all day and dd eats whatever she can manage to reach and get herself, and I try not to worry about how healthy it is or not.  

[3xMama]

We do def watch more TV when DD's sick. Its pretty easy to tell when she's really sick-she'll just sit there and kinda stare at the TV like she's not totally seeing it, anyway. I do let her have juice to keep her fluid levels up and I usually put it in a fun cup. I only let her eat more junk if she's not been eating. So, for example, she's got a fever and just isn't hungry and hasn't eaten, I'll offer ice cream to get something in her. It has the added benefit of being cold so I tell myself it's helping bring the fever down.