Tips for taking Care and Comforting Sick Child

A mother’s world almost turns upside down when the child is sick or suffers from fever or viral infection. Caring for sick children becomes very difficult as they are not able to convey their discomfort fully and also demands lots of attention during the same time. Of course the first thing is to consult a doctor and give proper medication, that is one thing. Apart from that, sharing a few tips and practices which makes the recovery period super smooth for both mother and children.

Rest: Apart from medication sickness do require adequate rest to recover. To make a child rest sometimes gets tricky as their normal behaviour is to run and jump around places. When they recover a little, they start moving around places. So it is very important to make them rest till they fully recover. When a child is resting make sure of the following points.

• Do make children wear comfortable clothing.
• Set room temperature at comfortable level or provide sufficient covers.
• Be emotionally present for them - Hold their hands, give lots of hugs, cuddle them and give lots of love.

Food: Appetite does decrease during sickness. So don't stress too much over a child not eating properly because that is bound to happen. What is best to do is to offer small meals more frequently.

Serve soothing and warm food - Soup, Khichdi and mashed potatoes from the best sickness food for recovering children.

Home remedies do help in soothing the throat and make the child feel better for a brief amount. Do give ginger honey to relieve itchiness from your throat.

Vitamin C helps in quick recovery, so do offer Citric acid juice.

To maintain intake of water – Do offer small sips in-between and keep hot water bottles handy to serve in small sip.

Engaging in activities: Engaging them mentally is equally important to keep them entertained. 

• Play silly games and distract them. Here are toys your kid can hug and feel the warmth in sickness.
  
• Tell them their favorite stories or talk about their favorite days and narrate to them what happened that day and also plan that when they will recover, how they will spend the day.
• Book reading do wonders in sickness
• Play favorites rhymes and songs on Alexa
• Slight amount of screen-time in sickness is okay as long as the kid is relaxed and entertained.

Things at arm length away: While taking care of a child, it is important to keep a few things handy as they will be required very frequently.

• Honey to serve one spoon to soothe the throat or cater to bitter mouth. (Not for child less than twelve months of age)
• Saline Nasal spray to relieve blocked nose
• Hot water bag for comfort of aching body
• Thermometer to measure and record body temperature at required intervals.
• Dry tissue and wet tissue to take care of extra mess which sickness brings

 Hope these tips will help in the quick recovery of a child. Also don't forget to take care of yourself too while taking care of sick children. And do take help and support from others.