A couple of weeks ago, my eldest daughter was hit with a vomiting bug. A good 48 hours later, I was hit with gastro and I couldn’t function because I was constantly being sick at the toilet.
It can suck being a mum and being really sick because you’re incapable of doing much for your family. I’m thankful my husband walked into the door from work an hour before I started feeling very ill.
I’m also glad that I had supplies ready in case anyone in the house got sick with a vomiting bug. It’s always good to be prepared when the worst hits.
Here is what I already had in the pantry ready for when the Gastro virus hit. You might like to check if you have these on hand should the unexpected Gastro knocks on your door.
Phone Number of a Home Doctor
My husband had to ring a home doctor at midnight because I couldn’t keep anything down (or in) and I was starting to feel dizzy. The doctor arrived within the hour, gave me an injection so I could stop vomiting and hopefully keep some fluids down. We have the home doctor phone number on our fridge for when we need a doctor to visit out of hours.
Bi-Carb Soda
This is great to shake over carpet or fabric lounges when one has missed the bowl. Once the initial mess has been cleaned up, shake the Bi-Carb soda over the wet patch to help remove odour.
Ice-cream containers
Having spare ice-cream containers means you have a cheap sick bucket. Once they’ve been finished with, they can be cleaned, disinfected and recycled. We recycle all our ice-cream containers for this purpose.
Paper Towel
Good for mopping up when you haven’t been able to reach the bucket or toilet. Can also be used to disinfect the ice-cream container. Of course you can use a towel and that is more environmentally friendly, but when cleaning up bodily fluids from sickness, I tend to stick with what can be thrown away.
Glen 20
I always keep a can of Glen 20 to spray around beds and the toilet. Choose a scent you handle. I usually choose lavender as it doesn’t remind me of toilet spray. Alternatively, Lavender or Eucalyptus oil can be used to disinfect and disarm the smell.
Gastrolyte
It’s always a great idea to have Gastrolyte tablets that can dissolve in water to help rehydrate and add electrolytes to your system. I choose a flavour all the family will enjoy drinking. I also check on the use-by date to make sure the batch is current.
Straws
It’s so easy to skull a big glass of water or Gastrolyte when you’ve been sick and feel thirsty. Straws help to ease small amounts of fluid over a longer period of time.
Arrowroot Biscuits
Dry crackers and Arrowroot biscuits are easy to nibble on when you need something plain to put in your tummy. I was so glad I had some arrowroot biscuits in the cupboard ready for me to open and chew on.
Jelly Crystals
After the initial vomiting stopped, I craved watery/liquid/smooth foods. I had jelly crystals in the cupboard and got my husband to make me some jelly so I could have some if I didn’t feel like biscuits.
DigestZen Oil
This oil is an that I purchased from Doterra and is perfect for tummy upsets. I diluted 1 drop DigestZen with a 1-2 drops of fractioned coconut oil (or olive oil) and rubbed this on my tummy. This seemed to help the churning that I constantly felt in my stomach.
These were just some of the basics I had on hand and as they were used, I have since replenished the stocks should we get hit with it again. But I’m hoping we don’t for a very long while.
Do you keep supplies away for when the kids get sick? Anything you can recommend all parents should have in the moment gastro hits?
3 Comments
Pip
July 4, 2016 at 10:38 amGreat list!!! Over the last few months my kid’s school has been hit with a really severe gastro bug- each of the kids got it- my middle child had it twice in fact! And then we all got food poisoning just after we’d had the gastro go through (we were camping at the time!!!).
I buy big buckets of yohgurt (the 2kg ones with a handle) for the purpose of recycling the buckets (plus my kids are all yohgurt addicts!)- having a handle ensures that the boys will keep it close and carry it with them at all times- so we had very few ‘misses’.
I found disinfectant and bleach were my best friends at that time, as well as carpet foam (though we didn’t have to use it much thank goodness!)
I’m glad you’ve all recovered- and I hope you don’t have to use this list again for a very long while!!! 🙂
Bec Senyard
July 9, 2016 at 5:34 amThanks Pip. Gastro is the worst isn’t it? It can hit quite unexpectedly and it is quite contagious. I love all your tips. Especially the tip about the yoghurt buckets with handles. I’ve just used what’s on hand – and what I know I can put in the recycling bin later to get rid of the germs.
Narelle
September 6, 2017 at 6:10 pmI have a big plastic tablecloth I spread over the carpet beside the bed to avoid any misses going on the carpet.