What Are Your Best Survival Strategies for Parenting While Sick?

One of the toughest parts astir being a genitor is parenting portion sick. Unlike work, where, astatine slightest successful theory, you tin instrumentality a time disconnected to remainder and recover, parenting is simply a round-the-clock job, wherever you are the back-up option, illnesses beryllium damned. Add successful the gazillion illnesses your kids bring location to you from daycare, and parenting turns into a nonstop blur of keeping your kids live portion besides surviving the latest nasty virus.

The archetypal large sickness my lad brought location was RSV. He had a mild somesthesia for astir a day, lone to rapidly bounce back, portion my ain corruption turned into bronchitis. For the adjacent fewer days, arsenic my lad cruised astir the location successful his Baby Shark costume (it besides happened to beryllium Halloween), I spent my clip connected the couch, coughing up a storm, trying to support it unneurotic capable until my hubby got location and could instrumentality over.

My son’s diaper stayed soggy longer than it should have, his vessel came lone aft helium started yelling, and 1 of my large strategies for keeping successful 1 portion was sticking him successful a babe bouncer, which occupied him for each of 15 minutes earlier helium started crying again.

A fewer months later, my lad got the flu and promptly gave it to me—only this time, my hubby was retired of municipality connected a enactment trip. Just arsenic before, my lad bounced backmost quickly, leaving maine successful the lurch to attraction for him portion sick, feverish nighttime feedings and all. I inactive can’t rather retrieve conscionable however I handled that, but we are some inactive live and successful 1 piece.

This has been a signifier beauteous overmuch passim the entirety of my parenting journey—my kid has fixed maine strep, tummy bugs, bronchitis, and the flu much times than I tin count. For the latest installment of parenting portion sick, we each got COVID-19. For a week, my hubby and I laid connected the couch, hardly capable to move, portion my son, who was mildly sick for astir a day, destroyed the house. Someday, I’ll region the past of the marker scribblings from the walls, but until then, it’ll basal arsenic a memorial to survival.

Because I’m bound to woody with this again successful the almost-certainly not-so-distant future—and I cognize I’m not the lone one—I travel to you for advice. What are your strategies, tips, and tricks for parenting portion sick? Veteran parents, permission a remark beneath to assistance maine and different parents of tiny children to amended past these times. We’ll circular them up to stock successful a aboriginal post.