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Cold and flu season is upon us! If you are not prepared, you face spending outrageous amounts of money making a late night stop at an all-night convenience store, and/or shopping with a sick, cranky child. Stock up on "sick day" supplies to save your sanity, time and money.
Medications
Make a list of the medications you prefer to use to treat pain and fever, cold symptoms, diarrhea, constipation, nausea and vomiting, and so on, and purchase them in the age-appropriate form (drops, liquid, chewable, tablets) for every member in your family.
Become familiar with the ingredients in combination medications (those that treat several symptoms). Acetaminophen (more commonly known by the brand name Tylenol), for example, is an ingredient in many combination medications. If you give the combination medication along with a separate dose of acetaminophen, you may be giving an overdose of acetaminophen.
Go through your medications once or twice a year to make sure they have not passed their expiration date and to make sure they are still in the age-appropriate form for your children.
Be sure to have an ample supply of prescription medications to treat chronic illnesses like diabetes or asthma. When a child or adult with a chronic illness becomes sick, he or she might require more medication, or medication of a different kind.
Other Pharmacy Items
Sanity-Preserving Items
These items will keep your children occupied when they're on the road to wellness, but bored, or when you are sick and need to keep them busy.
When they're on sale, purchase a supply of DVDs, coloring books, markers, crayons, stickers, pads of blank paper, simple craft projects, electronic games, and so on. Keep hidden until they're needed!
When you hear that a bug is going around school, or your mother's instinct tells you that your children are on the verge of getting ill, check these supplies and stock up as necessary! You'll be as ready as you can be to cope with the next sick days.
Shelly Burke, RN, is the author of Home is Where the Mom Is
Shelly's next book, What Should I Say?
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