Sick Toddler, Guilty Feeling Mom.
I’m not a perfect mom (please if you know one send them my way!), but I like to think I do a decent job. Yesterday though, I had an experience where I just felt awful and figured it was worth sharing. Our toddler (who will be two later this year) is a pretty well behaved girl, but she has just gotten into the phase of being fussy about some foods. My husband was out for work, and we went to meet my mother-in-law for dinner. We actually were bringing our own food with us and I stopped at Subway. Riley wasn’t super interested in what I was orderng her but I figured once we actually got to eating she’d be fine.
Well, I was wrong. She refused to eat for over an hour straight. I was pretty annoyed because we hardly ever eat out and in my mind this was a “treat” and she actively didn’t want any of it. Not only this but she was being very squirmy and we were out in public with my mother-in-law and her friend. I couldn’t help but worry that this lady was thinking my child is just always like this and naughty, but it was very out of character. We went home and I was pretty frustrated. The last times she hasn’t eaten enough before bed she woke up my husband and me at 1am wanting food (which we gave her). So I put her to bed, fully expecting her to wake up at some point.
Sure enough, about an hour and a half later she was fussing pretty loudly. I was annoyed because “just like I thought,” she was up and now probably hungry. So I let her cry a few more minutes. Then I went in to go grab her and give her a snack. When I opened the door, the smell immediately hit me. Then I turned the light on and poor Riley was completely covered in vomit. There was a big puddle on her bedding and she immediately screamed “mama, uck!” when she saw me.
I felt my stomach drop and tears well up immediately. I had assumed the worst in her earlier when really I just had a sick toddler and didn’t realize. Then I literally let her sit in her vomit for a few minutes because I was frustrated. Immediately, she got a shower (which did NOT make her happy at that moment), then into some cozy clean pajamas, and cuddling on the couch with a movie on.
Fast forward with a sick toddler…
Fast forward several more vomit sessions (thankfully I’d grabbed a bowl and no more showers were needed), some laundry, and lots of squirming…..and it was 4:30am and the sick toddler and I were up for the day. Did I mention she woke up every hour so I got no actual sleep? We took a quick trip to the local 24hr grocery store and I picked up some Pedialyte and crackers. I didn’t realize there weren’t any medicinces for infants vomiting/nausea (the youngest age I saw showed 6).
Thankfully, now in the afternoon she has kept down both the liquids and crackers and half a banana. I called the daycare and they said a few others in her classroom were out as well, and about an hour later they sent out an email that almost the whole class was out or had been sent home. Eventually she took a three hour nap. The whole time she’s been in pretty good spirits, except for the first big uck and shower.
And Finally
So there is my most recent mom fail. My sweet husband (who was gone overnight for work) said he understood being frustrated because he had also gotten up with Riley before when she fussed about food. We usually let her cry it out for a few minutes before checking on her, so I hadn’t done anything unusual. Riley just happened to be sick. We both were surprised that she hadn’t communicated that she felt sick, so throughout the evening and today I’ve been trying to get her to say her tummy felt ucky and things like this.
How have you handled little ones getting flu-like symptoms? What works to soothe your sick toddler? Let me know!
-Rachel
Rachel is the creator and owner of Fresh Pine Co. and its subsidiaries, including allwavyhair.com = the #1 Web Source for naturally wavy hair information & tips. Rachel received a Breakout New Blogger Scholarship at FinCon 2018. She enjoys writing niche content about budget lifestyle, eco-friendly living, and mental health.
