Cheering Up A Sick Preschooler (Plus a $100 Giveaway)

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Does this look like a happy baby to you?

Of course not. She was sick.

She didn’t go to day care that day because she had a fever.

Nonetheless, we tried to make her happy.

What do we do when Grace is home sick?

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Similasan. We nap. We cuddle. We watch tv, play dolls, color, or whatever she wants to do. If all she feels like is lying on the couch and watching television, then that’s what we do. It’s about her getting better, not about my having fun. That said, I do have a repertoire of things I can do to make her day a little brighter.

Cheering Up A Sick Preschooler

1. Serve special foods. If she’s up to eating, offer her special foods like ice cream, frozen yogurt, and Jello. I encourage Grace to drink ginger ale or juice when she’s feeling sick. Fluids are fluids, and her body needs the extra calories to fuel its immune system.
2. Offer fun foods. Cut toast into a fun shape with a cookie cutter. Put a face on it. Put snacks into decorated muffin cups. Try to think of things that will bring a smile to your preschooler’s face.
3. Cuddle. Spend lots of time cuddling. Preschoolers need gentle touch as much now as they did a year or two ago, so give them lots of hugs and kisses and hold them. It will make them feel better, unless they want to be left alone (and then do that instead!).
4. Have a movie marathon. When Grace is home sick, I let her choose the movies. All princesses all day? No problem. Strawberry Shortcake on repeat? Can do. Whatever she wants, we watch.
5. Read. I don’t know a single preschooler who doesn’t love to be read to. Grace would cuddle up on my lap and listen to book after book after book if I’d let her. When she’s sick, I do. Like with the movies, I let her pick the books, and I make sure we have a great big stack so that we don’t have to get up in the middle of reading.
6. Play computer games. If she’s feeling up to it, I’ll let Grace play video games on PBS.org or another educational website. If she wants to, I don’t usually put a limit on the games. She needs to rest, after all, and sitting in front of my laptop is as fine a means of rest as any other.
7. Listen. Above all, listen to your preschooler. If she says she just wants to lie down, let her. If she ways she wants to play or read or do something, follow her lead. Don’t force her to play just because she’s home for the day; she’s home is to get better.

Similisan via BlogHer sponsored this post.

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Share Your Story – $100 Gift Card Giveaway

BlogHer is giving away a $100 Visa gift card to one lucky Feels Like Home reader. (US residents only, must be 18 or older to enter. Official rules.) To enter: Leave a comment telling how you keep your kids upbeat when they’re home sick. For a second entry: (Choose only one.)

• Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
• Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)
• Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

Good luck! I’ll use Random.org to choose a winner sometime after 11:59 pm on November 18, 2010. The winner is Samantha. Congratulations!

You can enter other $100 giveaways at the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page.

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