Surviving the Stomach Bug (and How to Kill Norovirus)

We made it over a year without a round of the stomach bug in our house, but...the jig is up.  As awful as it is, at least we know what we're doing now and can hopefully prevent it spreading to the rest of the family!  I got a call from school this morning that C was sick, so I made a quick stop by CVS on my way to pick him up to pick up the missing supplies in our go-to stomach bug arsenal:

CVS-brand Dye-Free Strawberry Pediatric Electrolyte (aka generic Pedialyte)


I'm not sure why, but the actual Pedialyte brand does not make a flavored (strawberry/grape/whatever) version that is dye-free.  C is not interested in drinking the unflavored variety, which is the only dye-free version that Pedialyte makes, and since the whole point is to ensure he stays hydrated...I buy the flavored kind.  The flavored Pedialyte brand products are all dyed purple or pink, and when I have a pukey kiddo, the last thing I need is dye making the clean-up/stain removal process even harder.

For rehydration purposes, a kiddo should drink 1 ML of Pedialyte per kilogram of body weight every 5 minutes for 3-4 hours.  Since C weighs 11 kg, this is 11 mL of Pedialyte every 5 minutes.  I use the little medicine cup that comes with Children's Tylenol to measure it out, and set a 5-minute timer on my phone.

Cheerios


Bland, starchy, easy on the stomach.  I think toast or saltines are the more conventional choices, but C isn't interested in eating those.  When he was a baby, I used puffs as our stomach bug starch of choice, but now it's plain Cheerios.


Applesauce Pouches


Another easy-on-the-stomach (and hydrating) food to try once it seems like his little stomach can handle some food.  These are from Costco, but they sell them pretty much everywhere now.  Normally, I buy the single-serve applesauce cups for snacks (since they are cheaper), but for stomach bugs, I buy applesauce pouches.    It's one less utensil contaminated with stomach bug germs, and they're mess-free for him to eat on his little sick-bed pallet on the floor.


Disinfectants


I learned this the hard way with the first stomach bug that ravaged our house -- many "disinfecting" products do not kill norovirus, which is the common culprit of stomach bugs.  Normal Lysol and Clorox wipes, as convenient as they are, do NOT kill norovirus.  The spray version of Lysol says it kills stomach bugs, but the surface has to remain wet for 5 minutes for it to be effective, and the fine aerosol Lysol mist usually dries before that. 


The easiest solution is plain old bleach, diluted with water in a spray bottle.  I use "concentrated" household bleach and a ratio of 1 part bleach to 20 parts water (I generally use 1 tablespoon of bleach to 20 tablespoons, or 1.25 cups, of water).  Bleach deteriorates over time, so if your bleach is old, you might consider investing in a new bottle for maximum effectiveness - bleach is cheap!  I spray this on EVERY hard surface that may have been touched, breathed on, or vomited on - floors, counters, cabinets, light switches, TV remotes, door handles, toilets, tubs, sinks, toys, etc.  Again, you want to make sure the bleach solution has ~5 minutes to work its magic, so I douse things with the solution -- it's not a light spray, I make sure the surface is totally wet.  If it's something that will come in direct contact with food or someone's mouth, I rinse with water (AFTER the solution has dried) before using it to eat or drink.

For times that I don't want to mess with mixing a bleach solution, or for surfaces I don't want to spray bleach on, I use Clorox Healthcare products, which are EPA registered to kill norovirus.  Note that this is different from the Clorox spray or Clorox wipes you can buy at the grocery store or Target!!!  You can't buy these products locally, so I like to keep them on hand IN ADVANCE of a stomach bug hitting my house.  Specifically, I like the Clorox Healthcare wipes and the Clorox Healthcare spray.  These products are hydrogen peroxide-based (again, this is not the same as the hydrogen peroxide you buy in the brown bottle at the drugstore!).

I try to minimize the contact C has with non-washable soft surfaces (e.g., area rugs, carpet, furniture).  I make him a pallet on the floor of multiple layers of blankets and/or towels to try to contain the contaminated area....that way, I can throw them all in the washer (on hot! Maximum length cycle! and machine dry!) along with any clothes, stuffed animals, rags, or other bedding, if they get soiled.  I make his pallet setup directly in front of the TV to entice him to stay on it (a a kid who gets very little screen time, he will stay glued to the TV on sick days!)


I'm crossing my fingers that this stomach bug will pass quickly and that no one else will catch it!