Giveaway: Little Remedies + diaper bag
Last Friday night, we were at our weekend house with my sister’s family staying over as guests. She has a two-year-old and a newborn and all four of them were sleeping in our guest room together which is right next to Mazzy and Harlow’s room.
At about 3am, Mazzy started crying in her sleep. Loud moaning crying that I’ve heard many times before. It means she either sneezed and got snot all over herself or her ear hurts or her throat is soar. In other words, SHE’S SICK.
In other circumstances, I might have tried to let her sleep through it, but a) Harlow was in the room and I didn’t want her to wake up and b) my sister’s whole family was in the other room and I didn’t want her kids to wake up either.
Can you imagine four small children in two side-by-side bedrooms suddenly awake at 3am?
PARENTHOOD: THE HORROR SHOW.
So. While half asleep myself, I pulled a crying Mazzy out of bed and started to carry her out of the room. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her out of there before I heard another higher pitched cry coming from the middle of the floor. It was pitch dark and hard to see but that could only mean one thing: Harlow had woken up and crawled out of bed. She knew I was taking her sister somewhere and she wanted to come too.
OY.
I knelt down, while still holding Mazzy over one shoulder (who is not that light, mind you) and tried to coax Harlow back into her bed.
Harlow was having none of it. Her squeals of discontent only got louder.
Now. Another night, I probably would have put Harlow back in her bed anyway and insisted she stay there by shutting the door, but on this night, as I mentioned twice already, my sister’s family was in the next room.
I am nothing if not a good host.
So. I picked up crying Harlow with my left arm, still carrying crying Mazzy with my right arm, stumbled out of the room and lugged both of them up the stairs and tried to put them both to bed between Mike and me.
That’s when Harlow insisted on getting comfortable right on top of me and Mazzy got mad that Harlow was encroaching on her mommy/daughter sickness snuggles. Mommy/daughter sickness snuggles being the only known benefit to being sick.
“Calm down, Harlow. If you want to stay here, you have to go to sleep.”
More crying from Harlow as she tried to get comfortable.
More crying from Mazzy as she tried to get closer to me.
Restless turning from Mike as he did his best to pretend none of this was going on.
“What hurts, Mazzy?”
Nothing. Just more wailing.
“Tell me what hurts, Mazzy or else I don’t know how to help you.”
“MY THROAT.”
“I’m going to get you some medicine.”
“Nooooooooo!!!!!” That came from Harlow, not Mazzy. Mazzy knows that medicine is going to make her feel better and no longer fights me on it like she did when she was little. Harlow got mad because getting medicine meant that I was getting out of bed and disrupting her stolen snuggle.
This was not working AT ALL.
I picked up Harlow and took her back downstairs to her bed, which thankfully, she seemed eager to get into since my bed did not prove to be the relaxing night time retreat she was expecting.
Then I went into the kitchen where we keep our stash of children’s medicine, including Little Remedies, a brand most parents are familiar with if they’ve ever looked for safe solutions for coughs, gas, and fever. All Little Remedies products only use the necessary ingredients, with no artificial dyes, parabens and artificial flavors. On this night, I used Little Remedies Fever and Pain Reliever. Mazzy took her dosage easily and passed out soon after.
Then I was finally able to get some sleep, along with the rest of the house, while giving Mazzy her rightfully deserved mommy/daughter sickness snuggles.
The next day, Mazzy seemed fine but Harlow had a cough. You should have seen the looks my sister gave me while trying to make sure my kids didn’t breathe on her newborn.
I gave Harlow Little Remedies 100% Natural Honey Cough Syrup which always seems to help soothe her cough. I also recommend the Sore Throat Pops, which are great because it’s a fun way to relieve a sore throat. And I’ve been using their Sterile Saline Mist on Mazzy recently because her nose gets dry and this helps with her nose bleeds.
Isn’t this the way all Januarys work? Vacation ends. Cold and flu season begins.
Just in time for the kids to go back to school too!
Giveaway: little remedies + Lesportsac
Today, I’m giving away a LeSportsac Ryan Diaper Bag (style of your choice) filled with Little Remedies products in the comments below.
You must be a Mommy Shorts subscriber to enter. Then leave a comment below telling me about that one horrible night in your house when everybody got sick at once.
Winner will be announced on January 18th!
WINNER UPDATE:
Congrats to Caitlin! Please contact pam@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.
I am a first time mom and a few days past my due date (with a baby still inside), so I haven’t experienced everyone getting sick at once yet, but I’m sure my day will come. Reading everyone’s comments has brought the reality of parenting a little closer. I envision poop and vomit all over the house. Fun, fun!
I only have one child but having one child up sick in the middle of the night is more than enough. When my daughter was about 7 months old she woke up crying. The crying soon turned to vomiting…not spit up actual vomit. She then became lethargic. My husband and I being new parents were panicked. Thankfully our pediatrician has a doctor on call 24/7. After some rest and pedialyte she was back to normal but it was a night we will never forget.
Once my wife and I both had colds at the same time. She was having a hard time recovering because she’s military and 6am physical training in 10 degree weather isn’t conducive to healing. So at night she was taking nyquil and basically passing out for until I forced her awake when the alarm went off. I had managed better with only stuffiness and general aching. We tried not to let our son get sick but he got it anyway, in order to avoid the up and down all night when it was just me because she was basically in a nyquil coma, we put him in our bed. Around 2 in the morning my son starts squirming and crying. As I’m offering him a pacifier and hoping he doesn’t wake up further he starts fountain puking. Literally laying on his back, and puking with such force that it is going about a foot into the air…and back down all over him, the pillows, and me and the wife. Three or four violent spurts and he had most of it out and was now screaming and crying at the top of his lungs. That combined with me freaking out finally woke up the wife who’s response is “what’s happening? did you spill something?” No, that’s a puddle of puke. She got up to get towels and new sheets and I sat up the toddler to try to calm him down. His stomach started gurgling, he grunted one time, and liquid poop flooded out of his diaper. We used cloth, which normally could contain anything, but not this. It was all over his clothing and the previous clean part of the bed I had moved him too. I had to put him and myself in the tub while my wife pulled all the blankets, sheets, and pillows off our bed and finally showered in the other bathroom. It was so wet from him spewing from both ends that we couldn’t put on new sheets and the whole bedroom had to be aired out. We slept in our guest room the rest of the night and were up early with more puking. The mattress had to be shampooed and bleached before it could be used again. Worst night ever.
Remember last year when influenza was everywhere? I foolishly thought our household would be spared because we’ve had enough random illnesses to last a while. Nope. It started right around Christmas. I knew something wasn’t right when my son woke up crying and crying and was burning up. We had to make a quick decision as to who would head to the ER at midnight and it ended up being me. It was a long wait until we got the diagnosis and it wasn’t until around 4am that we finally got home. I think I slept about an hour until my infant daughter woke up needing mama. Not surprisingly she also ended up with the flu and one very, very tired mom. 😉
Back when we lived in our tiny NYC apartment my four children shared a “cozy” room. When woke up and vomited, they all woke up, and an additional son vomited too. That would have been bad enough but when my husband came to help with the clean up, he threw up too!!! There’s nothing worse than dealing with a stomach virus in a few people at the same time!
This past Fall was quite chaotic. My second son was born September 5th. He was off to rough start and stayed in the NICU for a few weeks. Finally home at the end of the month, my preschooler comes home from school with a terrible cold. Lone and behold it is RSV. Within days my baby was headed back to the NICU because he now had RSV too. He stayed in the hospital again for ten more days. Now, knock on wood, everyone has been healthy!
The worst was when we all got the stomach flu. Everyone had their own garbage bag, and I’m pretty sure the 6 month old watched herself for a few hours at some point.
Oh and:
1. 4 year olds throws up on bed
2. Change sheets
3. You Throw up
4. Husband throws up
5. Fall asleep again? Or maybe change your own sheets?
6. Give up and you all sleep on towels
We had that once too! My daughter threw up in her crib – cleaned it up and put her in bed with me (also sick). She threw up in our bed. Put her on the floor with my husband and the bucket between them. Family stomach bugs are the worst!!
Xander’s first Christmas where he could really participate was terrible. He was 2 1/2 and had a brand new baby brother. He had a great day opening presents, as did we all. That night he woke me up around midnight crying and saying his tummy hurt. Considering that he never says that anything hurts even if blood is streaming down his face, I was understandably concerned.
Just as I am about to lift him out of his crib he throws up everywhere. I clean him up and his crib as he throws up on me and the carpet. Then the baby wakes up needing to eat, so I quickly sterilize myself as best I can and trade kids with my husband. He proceeds to get pooped on and barfed on during the 10 minutes I am feeding the baby. Husband and I switch places all night taking turns hosing the kid and his room down and ourselves while trying to feed and pacify a newborn. We eventually turn an owl bucket that held toys into a puke bucket and teach Xander how to aim. He thinks it’s the best thing ever and to this day (he’s 3 1/2 now) refers to it as his puking bucket and pretends to throw up in it. Halfway through the night, I start getting sick and begin doing unspeakble things to the master bathroom. Shortly after that, Husband joins me. Somehow we manage to keep the baby fed and alive and the toddler hosed down, though at one point I almost put him in the tub with some towels. This reenactment of a vomitorium lasted for 6 nights (yes, we took him to the doctor, who was completely unconcerned. I’d hate to see something that was concerning!). We had to take constant showers and soaked ourselves in hand sanitizer constantly because our pediatrician told us that if our newborn caught it we were going to the hospital. Everyone in the family got it except the newborn (thank god). It wasn’t so much the worst night of my life as the worse week of my life. Merry freaking Christmas.
It all started with our newborn throwing up . . . more than spit up . . . like heaving throw up. It wasn’t until after we had kids that I found out my spouse can’t handle throw up. I mean I don’t like it, but it’s our kids and someone has to clean up and take care of them. So while the baby is throwing up on me (think hands, hair, clothes, etc) and I am trying to change his sheet while comforting my toddler comes in to see what the commotion is all about. When she sees the fiasco and all the attention the baby is getting she decides she doesn’t feel good either. She starts crying that her ear hurts and when i don’t give her the attention she thinks she needs the screams get louder. My sleepy husband walks in and asks what is going on and it took everything i had not to throw the vomit soaked sheet at him. I was able to finally convince my toddler to let my husband take care of her fake illness while I attempted to take care of the baby. Because in my husbands words ‘I was already covered in throw up.”
This past Thanksgiving, all three of us got a horrible head cold. It was the first time my baby girl was sick (5 months). We really got a lot of practice with our Nose Frieda! Something really satisfying about using that on the baby. The worst part was that we were both so stuffed, we couldn’t taste any of the delicious Thanksgiving food. I guess the upside is the holiday was a lot healthier for us that it would normally have been??
My 3 years old is in school this year for the first time, and even though it’s only twice a week, she manages to get sick once a month. Then her 8 month old sister gets sick. Then my husband starts coming down with a cold. And then it’s my turn. Our house becomes a sneezing, boogery, coughing mess. This has happened once a month since September. The problem is, since I don’t get much sleep working nights and taking care of the kids during the day, while the little ones are in the feverish sick days for 1-3 days (followed by drippy noses and a cough for a week), I end up with gross cold symptoms for 2 to 3 weeks. This month, it ended up being sinusitis and I just finished antibiotics. Now that we are all better, school has resumed do I’m expecting another round of sickness this month. Could definitely use the batch of Little Remedies products.
I had a 6 week old when my then almost 2 year old and 3 year olds and myself all came down with the stomach flu. It got so bad that we were at one point all throwing up in various spots in the bathroom, shower, sink, tub, etc…it was horrible! Trying to teach a 2 year old to aim in a trash can was pointless and mostly got on various beds in the house. It was the day we realized one set of extra sheets per bed is definitely not enough. We were all sleeping on towels and random baby blankets by the end of the night. Lucky for my husband he was at work (he’s a firefighter and always misses the fun!) And the only saving grace was the baby didn’t get it! Lucky kid…
My daughter was sick with a fever and wheezing. She had been laying on me snuggling for 2 days. I took her in to the Drs to get X-rays of her chest. I hoped the wheezing didn’t go into her lungs. As she was getting her chest X-ray, she turned and vomited all over the machine and everything around her. I didn’t have to clean up, but I did have to put her back into my car and drive her home all smelling ( ugh, gagging just thinking of it) covered with puke.
Two stories. One just happened the week before Christmas. My husband was away for work and my 5.5 year old woke up at 430 and came to my room. She started to tell me that her stomach hurt but before she could get all the words out, she threw up EVERYWHERE. While I was in the middle of cleaning up, my son woke up and told me he had peed the bed.
The second time was 3 years ago. My kids were almost 3 and 1.5. Both kids and my husband and I all had a stomach bug at the same time. My husband and youngest ended up in the ER. And we lived 1000 miles from any family who could have helped us.
Sick kids and being sick with kids are the worst. I love any kind of remedies that help – especially getting a good night’s rest! – without any unnecessary ingredients.
Two winters ago when my daughter was about to turn 1 she woke up in the middle of the night and when I went in to check on her she threw up all over me. I called to my husband that I needed his help so in his half asleep state he comes running in to help me and proceeds to crash into and break the mirror in the hallway. So my daughter and I are sitting there naked because our pajamas are covered in puke, and my husband is cleaning up the broken glass all over the floor so we can get to the bathroom safely and clean up. After a bath and shower she and I fell asleep in the glider eventually but the next morning she clearly is still not feeling well and now my husband has come down with the same virus and is sick all morning. (Did I mention this was valentines day, added bonus for me!) Luckily my mom lives in the same town so she takes the day off of work and comes over to help me. My daughter is not eating or drinking so I called the pediatrician and she suggests heading to the children’s hospital to be on the safe side. So I head outside to try to dig my car out because of course it had snowed the night before. My mom in a panic decided to call the police because I am having trouble shoveling and my husband is out of commission and shes scared I wont get the car out of the driveway. So the cops show up at my house to escort me over to the hospital (humiliating). Luckily I got my car out and did not need a police escort to the ER, but the icing on the cake was while we were gone my husband makes his way downstairs to feed our dog and faints and no one was home to help him. Luckily my little girl was fine after some zofran and pedilite. If i ever have a day like that again I’m retiring from mommy hood.
My twins were about 20 months old at the time. My son had taken a tumble down a few steps, but he got right up and we thought nothing of it. A few hours later after dinner he threw up (in my husband’s sneaker, no less!!), and we were concerned since he had fallen and bumped his head earlier. The pediatrician said to go to the ER to get checked out as a precaution. He threw up in his car seat as I was pulling up to the ER and then again in the ER waiting room. Once they took us, they wanted to do a head CT scan, but he needed to be asleep, so they gave him some benadryl, which he threw up. Then they gave him something to stop him from vomiting and to help him sleep. One CT scan and several hours later we were cleared to go home. I arrive home at 11:30 and we bring him upstairs to put him in his crib, only to be hit by a vile smell as we walked into the room. His twin sister had puked all over her crib. We woke her up to change her and clean up her bed and she started throwing up. We then realized the stomach bug had invaded our house. She threw up every 20 minutes from 11:30 till 4, the whole time, trying to go back to sleep in between. I felt so bad for her. I spent the night cleaning her up and trying to do emergency sub plans for my class. In the AM, my son woke up and since the meds they gave him at the hospital to stop the vomiting had worn off, started throwing up again. Once the puking stopped, the diarrhea started. Everyone in the family got the bug, except, miraculously, me! We have had stomach bugs since, but nothing as bad as that night!!
On a side note – I told my husband to throw out the sneakers that had been puked in – he refused and hosed them out. When he got sick, I told him it was his fault because he didn’t throw out the shoes!
I don’t have a story about the entire family being sick at night, thankfully, but I do have a nightmare story about my 1 year old daughter, Harleigh, being sick. She had been filling a little off that day, but was fine for bedtime. She woke up crying in the middle of the night and felt warm, so I took her temperature with a forehead thermometer. It said “error”, then said 107 degrees. I figured it must not be working, so I got the rectal thermometer out and proceeded to take her temperature that way (much to the dismay of my daughter… My child has a tendency to run warm when she’s not feeling good, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw next! The thermometer just kept going up and up…. and didn’t stop until it got to 106.8 degrees. I was shocked! I didn’t know it was physically possible to be that hot! I freaked out and stripped her naked, gave her meds, called the pediatrician, and put her into the bathtub to get her fever down immediately. Of course my husband wasn’t home, so I called him and the only words I could mutter were ‘get home now’. My 4 year old was sleeping, so I couldn’t just walk out the door. The pediatrician asked if she was still conscious (YES, but OMG I didnt know she could pass out! Now I’ve got another fear!) and said we could drive her to the ER ourselves, without calling 911, as long as she was coherent. During this time she was screaming and fighting me to get out of the bath, but if you didnt’ know her temp was through the roof, you’d never know she was sick! She literally had no signs or symptoms of Anything being wrong. She was hospitalized for 4 days, and all we were ever told was ‘it’s a virus’. She basically has a hyper-immune system that can fight off anything trying to attack the body, without compromising the functionality of the rest of her organs. She is truly the strongest person I know, even at her young age. That is why her nickname has been Hurricane Harleigh since the beginning.
This post came at the right time because I just put both my kids to bed with fevers and coughs. Here is a play-by-play of last night. Right around 11pm (just as I was falling asleep), my two year old daughter started coughing and crying. She coughed until she spit up. Change sheets, inhalers, rock to sleep. She refused a pillow that would prop her up a bit. I barely crawled back to bed before my five year old started coughing. He may be older, but is miserable when sick. One cough and he is crying hysterically. Cough medicine, pillows, back rub. I slept in his bed until he fell back asleep, then snuck out to retreat to my bed. Three hours later—repeat! Long night followed by longer day.
So, Christmas holidays started a few weeks ago and our family was gearing up for a double hockey tournament for both kids. About 2.30a Friday night, my 10yr old daughter calls out. I arrived in her room to find out she’s thrown up 3 times all over her loft bed (ceiling & wall). We get her in new pj’s and bring her in to bed with my husband and I. About 4.30a she wakes up to use the bathroom and throws up again all over the bathroom floor. Ugh! A few days of rest with high temperatures gives us a late night trip to emerg to be safe. Christmas morning, still sick, she ends up losing consciousness and taking a trip back to emerg via ambulance for more tests and ends up missing our family Christmas dinner. Just a bad flu. (Did I mention my husband and 7yr old son also got sick and I may have had a bad cold that is wrapping up?! Happy New Year!
We had the WORST season of illness last spring. We had our two oldest boys swapping sickness back and forth so frequently that our daycare felt terrible every time they had to call us to pick up a kid and we would often have to pick up more than one in a day. It all started on the day we celebrated their joint birthday party. About an hour after everyone left from the party, our 5 year old started complaining of a stomach ache before he proceeded to throw up more than I have ever seen come out of someone all over our living room. We assumed he ate too much cake as he informed us he had eaten three pieces(how did we miss that?!?!), we were very wrong. He kept getting sick every hour and we felt like terrible parents for scolding him for eating so much cake. He started to keep food and liquids down by the next evening and then we hear his brother start crying in the middle of the night. Our two oldest share a room and now our 3 year old got sick all over his pillow/bed/face/head as he was partially asleep when it happened. This back and forth sickness kept happening over a month. They be better for a day and then another one would be sick. My husband and I are both teachers and had about 9-10 days each that we had to take off for our kids illnesses last school year. It. Was. The. Worst.
Night before Mother’s Day 2015, we were awoken by a puking three year old. He projectile vomited all over his bed. He then wailed like a banshee and we hoped the 1.5 stayed asleep. He continued puking every half hour for about 24 hours. So Mother’s Day was awesome between loads of laundry and puke bowls. His virus also was the kick off of puke week 2015. Every 24 hours another child was taken by the flu. Then us parents. It was a week to remember.
A few years ago, a nasty stomach bug was going around our schools. We thought we beat it out until Christmas Eve. We were driving around looking at lights and I felt my stomach churning. We got home and I was throwing up. My husband got sick in the middle of the night so we were swapping turns throwing up in the bathroom. We wake up early in Christmas morning and barely get through Santa gifts. We crash on the couch and my sister had to come over and take care of our kids. Then the kids started getting sick too.. Thankfully my sister never caught it but it’s definitely a Christmas we’ll never forget!
My youngest daughter started throwing up at 10pm last winter and threw up every 20-30 minutes for the next 6 hours. 🙁
I snapped a screen shot of my Fitbit sleep log because it was so crazy.
Another time my oldest daughter and I had the stomach flu the day before we were supposed to fly to my in-laws. We rescheduled the flight and then My husband came down with it when we got there.
Mommies are not allowed to get sick so I’ll pretend nothing like this has ever happened in my house.
When my now 3 yo daughter was 13 months old she had rotavirus, it was awful and we ended up having 2 separate hospital stays. During her second hospital stay, my then 7 yo son had a high fever and bronchitis. Leaving my husband stuck at home, with me at the hospital refusing to leave the babies side. On the day of my daughters release, the hubs came down with a stomach bug. Still he had to drive 45 min to come get us from the hospital, pulling over multiple times to vomit. It was a very long week for us.. by some miracle I managed to stay healthy as a horse throughout!
New Years Day, 2016– Stomach bug hit our house. I was changing our 1.5 year old and I did not realize she pooped. I took her diaper off and she immediately stuck her hands in it. I was trying to hold her so she couldn’t touch anything while trying to get her wiped and diapered. I was yelling for help from my husband who was on the toilet with the stomach bug, so I wiped what I could and decided to give her a bath. I pu t her in the bathroom with my husband so I could wash my hands and get her bath ready, where she then peed all over the floor (did not manage to get a diaper on her, as anyone with a 1.5 year old knows changing her is like trying to wrangle a greased pig) and then she fell and sat in it. My husband was unable to get off the pot, and found it hysterical, so our daughter was splashing in her pee on the floor. Happy New Year!
Oh man… see comment #1. It is THE WORST. There’s nothing like watching family members drop, one by one, knowing that it’s only a matter of time before the next falls, and then eventually you will, as well. Also, vomit is super gross.
I use to nanny for a family, and at Christmas one year, both kiddos came down with the stomach flu.. it was a rough few days, but everyone was feeling better, so I packed them up and took them to the museum as a treat.
Well, they’re playing in the jungle gym, and I start to feel nauseous. At that moment, the younger one suddenly decides shes “Stuck” in the jungle gym, and I need to come get her… which at this point, i’m in no position to do. A mom takes pity on me, and helps me gather the kids.
We make it outside before I get sick all over the curb… and have to stop three more times on the way home. I call the parents, and tell them to come home… where they find me napping/puking on the floor of their bathroom. I had to spend the night because it was impossible for me to drive.
Merry Christmas!
Three weeks later, we all (parents & me included) came down with Hand, foot, and mouth.. it was a rough winter!
I only have one child so no horror stories here about multiple children being sick. We use a warm mist humidifier every night and nap time in her room which has been very helpful with prevention. However, if my daughter isn’t feeling well and wants to snuggle she refuses to sleep in our bed. When we have tried in the past she immediately thinks it is time to play and jump around even now that she is 27 months. She wants to stay in her bed but she wants me to be in her room with her so I end up sleeping on the floor. Not very comfortable, but could definitely be so much worse.
We had a stomach bug move through our family the day we flew home from Disney. Fortunately each kid only threw up once, but then I was the mean mom telling my kids they could not eat more than crackers and water in the airport or on the plane… once we got in our car they could eat whatever they wanted. Neither my husband nor I were feeling great either, so puke in a public place was sounding pretty awful. Then we got home and found out our house sitter had come down with a really nasty stomach bug, so I spent my first hours home disinfecting the house. She had cleaned, but I wanted to be sure it was gone.
Our worst sick night so far was last winter. Twin 2 1/2 year olds simultaneously woke up screaming at 2 am. Woke up and groggily stumbled into their room only to have my sense of smell assaulted. They both had diarrhea diaper blowouts. Manage to wake up my husband, who could sleep through an earthquake, and get him started on changing the bed sheets.
Take both girls into the bathroom and realize wipes don’t stand a chance against this blowout.
As I am getting the girls undressed I hear mommy my tummy hurts. Oh No! Thinking it is more diarrhea I stick my not at all potty trained kid on the toilet only to have her violently vomit onto me.
This awful night turned into a stomach virus that spread all through the family over the next four days.
Hoping this year now that they are potty trained we can keep things confined to the bathroom.
My 2 yr old was feeling down with a fever that I was keeping an eye on and treating with tylenol…around 3 am his fever got pretty high and I called the on call doctor who told me to give him ibuprofen and then rotate the medicines with each dosage. No children’s ibuprofen in our house, the local pharmacies aren’t open until 9am, hubby has to drive a half hour each way into a bigger town that has 24 hour stores to buy some. 2 yr old is crying and wanting snuggles. As daddy pulls out of the driveway our newborn starts screaming.
I manage a health food store and every year in December there is a huge, several day long, natural food trade show that I attend to find new products. Well, the night before I’m scheduled to leave, my normally rock solid sleeper of a husband wakes up in the middle of the night. And runs to the bathroom. And stays there all night puking his brains out. Shortly after he starts, I hear my sister, who was living with us while she was attending college, get up. And run to her bathroom. And stay there all night puking her brains out.
Food poisining.
All the puking and moaning wakes up the sick (typical random snotty daycare cold) baby, who is incapable of falling back to sleep.
So, instead of spending three days in a hotel by myself, sampling delicious food, and attending seminars, I got to stay home and take care of an entire house full of sickies.
What joy.
We have two boys, Griffin is 1.5 and a terrible sleeper (relevant info) and Luke (3.5). A few weeks ago Luke was complaining that his stomach hurt. We didn’t do anything because we thought he was using it as an excuse to use the iPad. As I was putting his shoes on to meet some friends he tells me again that he stomach hurts and then erupts projectile vomit all over me, our table, and the floor. My husband and Griffin were conveniently closer to the door, so they left for the playdate and I stayed home with a child who threw up every hour (but got to watch hours of the iPad) and cleaned up the mess. The next day Luke was FINE but still couldn’t go to school. That night my husband got sick and was throwing up every hour but was fine the next day. By the morning we were on pins and needles waiting for Griffin and myself to get sick. One night we were clear. The next night our defenses were down. At 8:30 Griffin sat up in his crib, but since he isn’t a good sleeper we didn’t think much of it until he started mopping up his bed with his blankie. We ran in to his room and there we was, covered in vomit and mopping it up with his blankie. He slept with us that night.
Not exactly what you asked for, but I was just thinking earlier today about how lucky I feel about my son’s getting sick habits. Despite the fact that my husband works 70-80 hours per week and never seems to be home, I have never been alone with my kids during an episode of vomiting. There was even one time that my son threw up at school, so again, no mess for me. I just don’t know how I’ve gotten so lucky…
A couple of months ago, my 2 year old grandson threw up 3 times in less than 2 hours and the last one was right after I picked him up so it went ALL down my back, butt, and legs (even my slippers got it) and in my hair as well. He was clean as a whistle thou!
my girls are one and four. last winter the baby got some sort of stomach bug and was vomiting every time she ate. but the only way she felt better was to eat. which made her vomit. and then the big one got it, and like you said, just wanted her mommy snuggles. fortunately, she knows enough to try to get it in a bowl. unfortunately, bowls are easily tipped over. on mommy’s bed. sigh. hoping for a stomach bug free winter this year!
My husband and i had food poisoning which of course means its the perfect time for our 1.5 year old to get her molars in with a high fever and snot everywhere. We were up ALL NIGHT for the 87th bathroom run for us or to rock her back to sleep for the 79th time….
My daughters were 4 and 5. I managed to get swine flu, double ear infections, sinus infection and strep. Thought I would die. My youngest suffers from abdominal and head migraines but we didn’t know that at the time, were still trying to figure out why she keeps getting sick. Needless to say she caught the swine flu which then (in hindsight) caused migraines. Waves of Vomiting and sobbing for days lead to ER visit for dehydration. And magic anti barf meds that we hoard like gold. We talk about her $5,000 popsicles because that’s what the ER bill was.
My husband was away and I had just put my daughter (1 1/2 at the time) down to bed after a nice bath. I’m not halfway down the stairs and she starts screaming. I rush back into her dark room and see she is standing in her crib. I pick her up and then the smell hits me – she had just thrown up all over herself and her crib and it is now all over me too. I give her another bath, clean myself up, and change her crib sheets. I put her back down and again on my way downstairs she starts screaming. I run back up and approach a little more cautiously, she had gotten sick again. After her third bath of the night I take her into bed with me as I am out of crib sheets and I get my first dose of mommy/daughter sick snuggles since this was her first time ever being sick. I didn’t get much sleep but luckily she slept it off and was feeling better by the next evening.
Around a year ago my son woke up at about 1am crying in a puddle of his own vomit…he sleeps with us so I also woke in a puddle of his vomit. We got up took a shower changed the sheets laid back down and he immediately started throwing up again only this time I ran to the bathroom and joined in. This went on (out of both ends I might add…TMI sorry…) all night through 5 sets of clean sheets and every towel we owned until finally morning came and he suddenly felt like a million bucks and I was left feeling like a million piles of dog crap laying on the bathroom floor and had to call my mother over to save the day so he didn’t destroy the house with his new found energy while I was withering away. PLEASE GOD NEVER EVER AGAIN, Amen.
I don’t have an “up all night” sick story since I don’t yet have children of my own, but this would be lovely to win for my coworker who is due with her first in June & will surely have stories of sickness as her baby grows.
My son got sick very unexpectedly, and very quickly. We went from kisses goodnight and all is well, to less than 5 minutes later he has thrown up 4 times. Now, I missed him throwing up because he was very quick, and made it to the bathroom and was quiet. I apparently did not show enough belief or something, so to ‘prove’ he was sick, two hours later he came upstairs to the main bathroom where he proceeded to be sick as loudl as humanly possible. It was awesome. By the next day, it was coming out of both ends of the poor boy, my husband was nauseous and trying everything he could not to be sick, the oldest was throwing up and coughing, and I was fine. Which means I got to take care of everyone and clean everything up and disinfect and hope we all survive. Then a week later, they are feeling better, so obviously, it’s my turn to be violently ill. Of course by this time, they all have to be back at work/school. So, once again I’m the one cleaning and disinfecting everything again. I looooove being the mom sometimes 😉
My daughter got a terrible flu, and my husband and I both caught it and I was pregnant. Both our extended families were out of the country, so we had no one to rely on to help us. I was running to the bathroom to vomit right before bedtime and didn’t make it and vomitted all over the floor, my toddler wanted to come help me so she came over to try and clean up the vomit and then vomitted herself so my sick husband had to take care of both of us (but sick husbands are not so useful like that…) over the weekend my toddler came to me every time I was crouched over the toilet and rubbed my back and tried to feel my head like I did to her when she was sick. Precious and pathetic
My brother in law came back from a trip and got everyone in the family sick. Since my my mother in law watches my brother in law children and our son, we all ended up sick. It was horrible and we could not keep any food down.
my toddler got sick and got her baby brother who was 10.5 months old sick, his first cold, and he was sooooooooooooooooooo miserable, he didnt understand what was happening and was so cranky and needy, i felt horrible for him since he didnt know what a runnny nose was, snot, coughing, and waking up non stop because he was so uncomfortable with his cold and slight fever….. then of course he got me sick by sticking his germy fingers in my mouth :X bah!
Keeping this short – baby-to-be and I contracted a stomach bug (which, btw, I do not recommend at 5 months pregnant – the pain each time… the pulling ugh) and then we were kind and passed it on to daddy. It was a LONG weekend. Lots of cleaning and buckets.
My family came down from Indiana so I rented a big historical home in Galveston. We all got some kind of stomach flu and the first night there everyone was losing their fluids from both ends. There was only 2 small bathrooms and the house was old and all wood so it was like a symphony of awfulness all night long. The minute the sun came up I was out of there to find charcoal pills and peace.
After taking my 7 year old to her pediatrician for an ear infection I caught a stomach bug. I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant with my second daughter and was up all night long. Essentially I slept next to the toilet that night. The worst thing is my hubby and 7 year old both caught the bug after me. It was one of the worst weeks we’ve ever had at home.
um, can i still enter if i don’t have one of those stories…? or is my luck its own reward? DON’T HATE ME–I’VE JUST CURSED MY WHOLE FAMILY BY SAYING THIS OUT LOUD.
Glad I’m not the only one with a norovirus story! Started with my husband on a Friday night. I picked up the 8 month old and a bunch of gatorade to hunker down to tend to my husband. Put him to bed, then the baby had an epic diaper (you know the smell of norovirus diarrhea). I felt queasy, but attributed it purely to the stink (no way was I getting it too). 10 minutes later, in the bathroom throwing up, I knew I had it too! Worst 24 hours of our collective lives, just trying to do simple things like diaper changes when you can’t stand for more than 10 seconds without falling over, breastfeeding when you can’t sit up straight… Those are the days!
I think our family’s worst family sick week was the days leading up to our first international flight with the kids. After months of planning we were going to Israel with our 4mo and 6yo and leaving our 2yo b/g twins with a friend. Boy twin got the stomach virus first but we would never know as he leaned over his crib and threw up all over his sleeping sister in the neighboring crib before going back to bad. His fever gave it away but of course my daughter caught the virus a day later. Nothing like piles of diarrhea and vomit while handling a baby and packing for vacation. Unfortunately the day before we left I caught it and it looked like our vacation plans were doomed but the sun shone on vacation day and everyone woke up feeling better (or so we thought). Twins got settled in at friends, we were seated on the plane ready for takeoff when little 4mo who was all cosy in the front carrier vomited down my shirt and all over the seat. I’m so happy I brought multiple changes of clothing for both me and him in our carry on because we went through all of them throughout the poop and vomit soaked flight. The baby was so kind to bring the stomach virus to Israel where it spread through my sisters family as well.
My husband says the time I got food poisoning when 7.5 months pregnant with twins was the worst. I was vomiting and hemmoraging and shaking was chills from E Coli but when the medics arrived to transport me to the hospital my husband had to run back in for codeine. He had his wisdom teeth removed the day before and needed his painkillers. Luckily my dad was able to come watch my son as he almost went to my sister instead when we called that we were going to the hospital since my sister was overdue and I wasn’t due for weeks. We welcomed our twins that night and my sister had her baby the next morning.
Your night sounds about like how mine go.. I remember one night my little boy woke up with a fever and of course I was out of medicine so had run out to Walmart around 2-3 AM. I get back and after a 30 minute fight with my three year old to take the medicine we get my son, husband, myself and 5 yr old daughter all snuggled in same bed. Not even an hour later my daughter wakes up needing to puke and since she was against wall she did not make it to the bathroom. And pukes all over me, her brother and her daddy. And next day, the both had stomach virus, puking all day. Every sheet in the house is dirty because they can never seem to get to the bathroom on time..
I am a mommy to a soon to be 1 year old! When he gets sick, it’s not long before we all get sick!
The first time he had an ear infection, we had no idea what was wrong! He was about 5 months old and we were already sleep deprived as it was. It was winter, colds were going around (per usual!) and he would not sleep for more than half an hour if at all. We ended up calling the hospital, they told us to give him a pain reliever but that didn’t seem to help at all. We drove around for about an hour, but my husband and I were just exhausted. So we ended up propping him up in bed with us and sleeping for those 20-30 mins at a time, and taking turns trying to soothe him. Finally, it was morning and I was able to get him to a doctor and get some medicine. I am so thankful that he was back to himself within 24 hours, and that we were able to get some decent sleep 😉
Oh nighttime sickies is the worst!!! Does Mazzy get ear infections often? Warren used to get them every month – they finally put tubes in and it was like having a brand new kiddo!
We only had one child at the time but we also have 2 large dogs as well. Our LO started to throw up and was super upset by it. She wasn’t made that she was throwing up but rather that she got it all over me! She didn’t want it to touch her. She kept saying she was sorry, poor kid! As I finally got her calmed down, the dogs apparently had eaten something and they were now up puking. We tried to get them to tile or hardwood but they would only puke on the rugs. It was a very long night with the washing machine on overdrive and me on the floor.
The evil week between Christmas and new year last year, we unfortunately had to deal with sickness. I had just had an emergency c section at 34 weeks and our preemie baby had just come home from the NICU. I was diagnosed with bronchitis (which after a c csection is no fun). My husband had the majority of child responsibilities then so the preemie didn’t get sick. Then the 2yo started puking in the middle of the night. We were forced to isolate the 2yo from the newborn and divide and conquer. Since I was also sick, I got to take care of the sick 2yo. That was such a long night, but we all recovered and the baby never got sick. However, the man cold my husband developed the next week….
We had old college friends in town for the weekend. One couple without children and one with a little one. Our little one, who was two at the time, woke up not feeling so great. She just was just very quiet, had a slight fever, played a little, but pretty much laid on the couch. Dinner time came around, pasta with sauce, and my daughter had a few bites before it all came back up. I grabbed her, apologizing profusely and ran her to the bathroom. Our totally awesome friends all helped clean up the mess and a few days later they all came down with a stomach bug.
This just happened over new years…stomach flu to the MAX. It started with our 7 month old and progressed through the house for the next week. I have never done sooooo much laundry or felt so horrible for my kiddos. It is NO fun watching a 7 month old dry heave in your arms. Boooo!
We fly from Boston to Phoenix for the Holidays with our four-month-old. Husband’s recovering from a bad cold he brought home for work and downing Airborne everyday. Unfortunately, the close quarters of the plane, and Husband being The Baby Whisperer, (on home turf, I’m the one with the magic touch, but he seems to get her to fall asleep anywhere outside the apartment), meant that, despite the Airborne, the baby got the cold.
Cue to the least relaxing “vacation” (ha–I don’t know if I’ll ever have a vacation again!) of my life, getting up every hour to suck the snot out of baby’s nose, which she is NOT a fan of, and then nursing to calm her back down. The sleep deprivation attacked my already weakened immune system, and voila, it was mommy’s turn to get sick. And husband got a cold all over again.
What a beautiful, cyclical nature. Not.
One Thanksgiving, my husband and I and our only son at the time, were staying at my in-laws house along with my husband’s brother, spouse and son who was the same age. I was enjoying a slice of blueberry pie that both littles decided looked good and gave me the “can we please try that too” cuteness… I let them each have some….only to have both wake up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug and yes….I followed shortly after, followed by my husband, his brother and wife and my father-in-law. Sometimes, it’s best not to share…. =)
I typed up the story on your Facebook page but it involves me almost taking my son to the ER because he had to pee. And I’m a doctor.
Last spring I had a stomach virus and was sick all day. Then I had a fever in the evening when I went to sleep. My 10 year old woke up vomiting at 2am and did not stop until 7am. I had to leave to drive him an hour away at 10 am to meet his dad and then they left to drive to Disneyland that afternoon. I felt terrible having to make him go somewhere after being up sick all night and then having to ride in the car overnight. Thankfully he didn’t get sick again after he left. That night I was so tired I managed to sleep through my 3 year old vomiting in my bed and didn’t wake up until I heard her coughing. She seemed fine the next day and I went to sleep that night for a whopping two hours and she threw up in my bed again. That time I was more awake so I was able to throw the blankets back so it wasn’t quite as big of a mess to clean up. It was awful doing middle of the night clean up three nights in a row.
Let me preface this story by saying, my kids have always wanted only ME when they are sick. Now to the best/worst night of sickness ever. My husband and I were sleeping soundly in our room, when my son comes in(why is it always the middle of the night.). He walked straight past my side of the bed to wake his dad. Before he could get the words out that he was sick or even make enough noise to wake us up, he began throwing up in my husband’s sound asleep face. And let’s just say my husband is a mouth breather. As my husband gagged, and garbled and showered, I took care of the sick one and giggled to myself. I don’t know why on this one night all the stars were aligned in my favor but I have been forever greatful that on this night Dad was the parent of choice.
My worst was when we went to visit a local farm and brought home crypto with us. 🙁 It started with my oldest. He woke up in the middle of the night having pooped the bed. EVERYWHERE. Then the smell was so horrible he started throwing up… EVERYWHERE. we threw him into the tub where my husband started throwing up because of the smell. I grabbed everything to clean up and I started throwing up!!! We finally got everything cleaned and all back to bed… when the youngest got up. He had pooped his bed too. It was a cycle for weeks. And every time we would get them in the bath, it seemed like they would have an accident in the tub. I learned quickly that the only way to kill the paricite was hydrogen peroxide! So the bleach I was using wasn’t killing it!!! It was the most disgusting thing ever. 🙁 there were many tears!
My family of five played round robin with a stomach virus over Christmas break. I would’ve almost preferred it had struck everyone at once instead it lurked around for two weeks dropping us one at a time. I was the last woman standing and sanitizing seemed no help at all, so I was already wondering when my turn would hit, and our five year old looks at me seriously and says, “you know you’ll be next right mom?”. I got sick that night.
Worst night ever? Easy to pick.
I heard noises coming from Abby and Maizy’s room. (Six and eleven at the time) Abby had puked all over her sheets and was crying in her sleep)
I lugged her downstairs and settled her in the guest room bed with the T.V on. Then her sister, Maizy (11) raced into the bathroom and hurled her supper into the sink. I threw Abby’s sheets in the wash and settled her in a guest room bed in the same room as Abby downstairs.
Then Addie was next. (two at the time) She threw up in her bed and I had to lug her downstairs and I settled her on the couch in the living room. (The living room and guest room are attached to each other)
Then Addie’s twin sister was next. She threw up in her bed, causing me to throw Addie and Piper’s sheets in the wash.
I was two weeks after that night! Darn January Flu!