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!  

Toddler Stocking Stuffers

I had a hard time coming up with stocking stuffers for C this year, since at 2.5 he is still too young for candy but I also don't want a bunch of tiny junky toys coming into my house!  Maybe I'm lame, but I am all about the practical / useful stocking stuffers, even for toddlers.  Here's what C is getting in his stocking this year:

Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo - we'd been using Aveeno baby shampoo, but I wanted a bottle with a pump and Burt's Bees is rated slightly higher on the EWG scale.

Finding Nemo underwear - because potty training is happening soon.  Eek.

Crayola Bath Dropz - C demands a "color bath" every night.  He loves picking out the color tablet, throwing it into the water, and watching it dissolve.  I'm not sure he even remembers that taking a bath in clear water is a thing.

Christmas socks - I got these in the dollar section at Target.  

Busy Day sticker book - A friend gave C the ABC version of this sticker book for his birthday, and he loved it!  They're super cheap on Amazon (like $3) and provided several hours of entertainment while he matched all the stickers to their designated spots.  The stickers are technically reusable, although he has some trouble getting them off the page, so I have to help with that part.  Still, for $3, even if you only use it once, this is cheap entertainment!  It is a thin book so perfect for your purse for a doctor's appointment or airplane ride.

Safari Water Wow! Book - this is another great doctor's office or car activity, since it is mess-free (paint with water) and the 4 cardboard paintable pages are reusable after they dry.  C has the vehicles version of this and I thought a second version would mix it up some, since the first book gets so much use!  Again, cheap ($5) fun.

Christmas Play Pack - I got this in the Target dollar section; it has a little coloring book, crayons, and Christmas stickers.  A friend got C a Finding Dory version of this play pack for our summer trip to Maine, and it was great on the airplane (and we still keep it in his backpack for entertainment while waiting at restaurants, etc.)  You can't beat it for $1!

Christmas stickers - These were also from the Target dollar section.  "More stickers please" was the only thing C asked Santa for......done x 500!



I'll add in a small bag of Goldfish and some mandarin oranges (am I the only one who grew up always getting oranges in your stocking?!) and call it a day!  I know these items will all get used and were pretty budget-friendly!

A Day in the Life: 2.5 Years Old

As much as I would like to think I'll never forget what life was like with a toddler, I know these details will slip my memory more and more as time passes.  This is a typical Wednesday home with C at just shy of 2.5 years old:

8:00 AM - C wakes up.  He is usually up around 6:45 on day that we work, so sometimes he sleeps in a little on Wednesdays since we don't have to be up and out the door.  He'll sit in his crib for a little while to fully wake up, then stand up when he is ready to get out and yell "Mommy Daddy, where aaaaaaaaaaaaaaare you?"

8:01 AM - If we let him wake up in his crib for a little bit and wait for him to stand up before we get him, he wakes up in a sweet mood!  He is always standing at this corner of his crib holding Lyle and Dog when we go into his room.

8:03 AM - Still holding Lyle and Dog, the first thing he does this time of year is ask "Is it still Christmastime?", run into the living room, and demand the lights on the Christmas tree be turned on.  He is in awe of the lights every single day!

8:05 AM - Carter asks for "peanut butter toast" for breakfast everyday these days.  I pop a slice of bread in the toaster and start unloading the dishwasher, which we typically run overnight since the new energy efficient dishwashers take forever to run!

8:11 AM - Carter is eating breakfast while I continue to unload the dishwasher.  By "peanut butter toast", he means one slice of toast, cut in half, with jelly and peanut butter spread on one half each.  So basically a PBJ for breakfast.  And a banana.

8:17 AM - Dishwasher is empty; I re-load it with the dishes in the sink that wouldn't fit last night before we ran it.

8:24 AM - I move laundry from the washer to the dryer and start a new load of laundry.  I've started doing a load of laundry on Tuesday nights so it is ready to go in the dryer when I wake up; this saves a few minutes of laundry time on Wednesdays!

8:26 AM - Carter is still savoring his gourmet breakfast (ha), so I sit down with him and eat a mug of cereal.  It is pretty much this or a cinnamon raisin English muffin on my days at home.  We don't get too fancy with breakfast around here!  The Christmas mug makes me feel festive :)

8:44 AM - First diaper change of the day.

8:50 AM - C is dressed and has done his asthma meds - ready to play!

9:09 AM - I strip the linens from our bed and C's crib to wash them and make the bed.  This was our first day this year to use the flannel reindeer sheets!  My favorite!

9:12 AM - C's crib gets new sheets too.

9:14 AM - Time to read Christmas books!  We have a bin full of Christmas books on the fireplace hearth, and C is OBSESSED.  We read at least 15 a day (and several of those on repeat).

9:21 - Time for another diaper change.  C doesn't even bother putting down the Christmas book.

10:08 AM - Bundled up in the stroller to walk to a neighbor's house for a playdate.  There were supposed to be several neighbors with toddlers there, but 2 families got sick that morning, so it was just us and one other girl.  C had a blast playing with his new friend Emmy.

11:41 - Back home from the playdate and eating lunch.  C didn't get a morning snack today, so he ate lunch a little early.  Today was (unglamorous) leftovers for lunch - a slice of pizza, a piece of deli ham, and mandarin oranges.

11:45 AM - While C is eating lunch, I mash some sweet potatoes I had baked the night before and then been too lazy to finish.  C loves sweet potatoes and demanded some for lunch when he saw what I was making.

11:58 AM - I start folding the first of 3 loads of laundry that day.

12:10 PM - Laundry folding is done!  I move the next load to the dryer and start a third load.

12:29 PM - I join C in the playroom to play.  He loves shooting baskets.

12:35 PM - And "painting" with water.  These Water Wow! books are cheap entertainment and great because they don't make a mess and are reusable!

12:41 PM - And building with blocks.

12:50 PM - Naptime!  C is so good about taking naps and doesn't seem to mind.  He always wants one of us to rub his back before we leave the room.

1:00 PM - As he is automatically scheduled to do, Thomas (our Roomba) starts vacuuming the house.  It is the BEST to not have to do this chore, ever!!!!  (Check out my Roomba review here).

1:01 PM - I make myself a kindergartener  lunch - PBJ and an apple.

1:57 PM - Another load of laundry is ready to fold.

2:16 PM - I finally get a chance to wrap the Christmas gifts that have been piling up.  I'm hosting a baby shower this weekend and can't have a Christmas tree with nothing under it!

3:06 PM - C is up from his nap.  He is pretty reliably a 2-2.5 hour napper.

3:17 PM - We hop in the car to run some errands before rush hour traffic gets too bad.  C gets a little container of Goldfish for the ride as his afternoon snack.

3:43 PM - We wait in line at the tailor to pick up my bridesmaid dress for my brother's upcoming wedding.  This tailor is nowhere close to our house but they do the best job and are dirt cheap!

4:03 PM - A detour through the Starbucks drive-through for a little pick-me-up for Mommy.

5:07 PM - Back at home, I start dinner since spaghetti squash takes so long to roast in the oven.

5:45 PM - Playtime while the spaghetti squash roasts!

6:25 PM - Daddy is home!  He is about 45 minutes later than usual since he stayed to work a little late tonight.   I finish dinner while C plays with daddy, and we eat (not pictured) - spaghetti squash with meat sauce and mashed sweet potatoes.

7:29 PM - After playing some more, it is time for bed!  C is in his PJs, teeth brushed, meds done.

7:30 PM - C always sits in my lap in the glider to say his prayers and then rock for a minute, before he gets in his crib and Blair rubs his back.  

7:47 PM - I'm at the gym, on the treadmill warming up.  Ugh.  I hate working out at night but it is the only time it happens, so I force it!

8:45 PM - I'm back at home, shower, and on the couch to watch TV with Blair.  We are currently addicted to American Crime on Netflix!

10:00 PM - Pass out so I can be at work by 7:00 AM tomorrow!