If you’re a working mom, you might be sending your baby to daycare or some form of group childcare at least a couple days out of the week.
Sending our kids to daycare has its benefits, but we also have to be prepared for the occasional illnesses and injuries that come with that. It helps to keep a fully stocked medicine cabinet, especially if you have little time for much else besides work and mom duties.
Last minute grocery store and pharmacy trips usually take much longer than they should, and it can be stressful when your schedule is already tight and the to-do list is long. Do yourself a favor and stock up with the essentials sooner so you’re not rushing to catch up later.
Daycare sickness is common
After first enrolling your baby in daycare, get ready for the dreaded cycle of sickness (otherwise known as “daycare syndrome”) when you and your baby are sick for what feels like every other week during the first year of daycare. Trust me, you will need all the medicines and tools at your disposal to help ease you and your child’s symptoms while you adapt to the transition.
Even after that first year, they will still continue to get sick fairly often because they are always exposed to new germs. Research suggests that babies under 3 years old in group childcare or daycare will get sick significantly more often than babies who aren’t. Most of these illnesses are respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal illnesses, and ear infections.
Daycare injuries happen
Occasional falls, bumps, scrapes, scratches, and bruises also happen while kids are at daycare. Your child’s teachers will do the best they can to keep everyone safe, but kids will be kids. They are curious about their bodies and their surroundings. That means they will get into things they definitely shouldn’t, and they may get mildly injured in the process.
When my son turned 2, he had a hard time walking and would basically run everywhere, regardless of where he was. The library, our house, school, the grocery store – everywhere I put him down, he’d just take off. Unsurprisingly, this led to a lot of falls and accidents at daycare until he learned how to slow down – which meant a lot of bruises, squished fingers, and scratches to deal with at home.
For working moms with kids in daycare who don’t have a lot of free time, it helps to prepare for the inevitable illnesses and injuries by stocking up your medicine cabinet with what you need (before you actually need it). Here are 10 things you should keep in your medicine cabinet if you have kids in daycare or group childcare.
10 things to keep in your medicine cabinet when you have kids in daycare
- Infant’s or Children’s Tylenol
Age-appropriate Tylenol is a must-have when you have kids, whether they’re in daycare or not. Tylenol helps to relieve some of the symptoms like pain, fever, and coughing that are associated with respiratory infections. It’s always a good idea for parents to keep this in the medicine cabinet, especially if the kids are in daycare.
- Saline nose spray or drops
Saline nose spray or nose drops are helpful to clear up mucus from your child’s nasal passages when they have a respiratory illness like the cold or flu. They can help your child feel less congested and breathe a little easier. Saline drops or sprays are useful for young children who aren’t that good at blowing their nose, and they are very effective when used with a snot sucker to draw out nasal mucus.
- Snot sucker
If your kids are still little, they are probably still learning how to blow their nose. If they are congested because of a respiratory infection, a snot sucker can help by quite literally sucking the snot out for them. Sounds gross, but it’s worth it when you see how much it actually helps relieve their symptoms.
- Pedialyte
Pedialyte can help to keep your child hydrated and restore lost electrolytes if they have diarrhea, have been throwing up, or just won’t drink enough fluids. When my son was very young, he had the habit of throwing up his food whenever he was sick. Pedialyte really came in handy in those days to keep him hydrated and avoid any ER trips (dehydration in babies and toddlers can require immediate medical attention if it gets severe). Before giving babies under 1 Pedialyte, it’s best practice to consult with their pediatrician first.
- Baby Vicks
This isn’t really a necessity, but it can be helpful when your child has the cold or flu. Baby Vicks is the little-person version of regular Vicks, minus the potentially harmful or irritating ingredients like camphor, which can be toxic to children. Baby Vicks is considered an ointment and has soothing smells of eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender. Applying it to the chest, neck, and back can help comfort your child when they’re sick.
- Digital or rectal thermometer
The old hand on the forehead might be able to tell you if your child has a fever, but a thermometer helps take the guesswork out of things. For infants under 3 months, rectal thermometers are most accurate, but after 3 months you can use a digital forehead thermometer or an ear thermometer once they’re over 6 months old. Knowing your child’s actual body temperature helps you make the best decisions for their care – low fevers might not require much more than at-home care and supervision, but high fevers may warrant trips to the pediatrician or even the emergency room.
- Adult cold and pain medicine
When your child is sick, it’s only a matter of time before you also get sick. It’s a good idea to stock up on cold and pain relief medicine for yourself so that you can at least be functional when it does hit you.
- Sanitizing wipes or spray
Regularly sanitizing your home and surfaces can help limit the spread of bacteria and viruses that make their way into your home after picking up your child from daycare. Your child may already have caught an infection, but keeping your home clean can limit the spread of other germs on surfaces their little hands come into contact with.
- Cold packs
Cold packs come in handy for those bumps and bruises that your kids might get while they’re at daycare. Even though their teachers will likely manage minor injuries until you pick them up, you still need to continue managing at home if there’s swelling or lingering pain. Cold packs are an effective pain and inflammation reliever for things like jammed fingers, fall-related bruises, or minor contusions.
- Bandaids & first aid kit
For all the cuts, scratches, and scrapes you’ll need to manage at home, you should always keep bandaids and a first aid kit in your medicine cabinet. First aid kits usually have everything you need to handle minor injuries, including bandages, gauze, antiseptic wipes, neosporin, tweezers, anti-itch and antibiotic ointments, gloves, and tape.
When kids are enrolled in daycare or group childcare, it’s likely that they will get sick often and sustain minor injuries from time to time. Preparing for this by stocking up your medicine cabinet in advance helps prevent any last-minute stress and anxiety, particularly if you’re a working mom on a tight schedule.
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