This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FightFever #CollectiveBias

As a parent, the one thing I truly dislike is seeing either of my children sick. Last week I was out of town for 3 days and returned to find both boys (i.e., the 6yo and the adult one 😉 ) under the weather. Both stayed home on Friday for much needed rest and recovery time.

No matter what age, I have found there are 3 keys to beating the sick day blues and getting back to healthy …

Rest

My son is past the days of napping (unless he’s really sick) so I often need low-key distractions to help him relax and take time to get better:

• laying in bed reading;
• stretched out on the couch watching a movie;
• coloring or working on an activity book;
• playing a board game with me.

Hydration

No matter what sickness we’re fighting, I push to keep my kids hydrated. For my son, that often means a special water bottle or cup with fancy straw; a splash of flavored drink watered down; even popsicles & freeze pops – anything to help get something into him.

Also, I typically don’t let him have any food or drink in his room. The one exception? A bottle of water when he is sick – especially if he has a fever. I don’t want him to pass on a chance to get fluids into him just because he doesn’t feel well enough to walk to the bathroom or downstairs to the kitchen.

Medicine

If either of my kids are running a fever, I turn immediately to Children’s Advil® to help give them a bit of relief and, hopefully, break that fever sooner rather than later. I found almost every flavor of Advil® Liquid in the Children’s Medicine aisle at my local Walgreens as well as tablets, chewables, and infant drops – all offering the same 6-8 hours of relief. For my son, we tend to stick to the Sugar-free Dye-free liquid in Berry flavor, but I also stash a bottle of Junior Strength Advil® Chewables in the diaper bag because, unfortunately, you never know when a fever will strike. Those chewables were a huge help when we discovered he had a sudden fever earlier in the year while we were an hour from home. I was able to give him a dose immediately and his fever was gone by the time we got home.

Be sure to visit the Children’s Advil® website to learn which products are right for your child’s age/weight as well as download free printable coupons. Always read all dosage information on the product packaging and/or speak to your child’s pediatrician first to ensure proper dosage amounts.

And, while it’s not shown in the photo above, one trick I use to help keep the dosage straight for my children is to write the dosage in permanent marker on the bottle or package. This is especially helpful in the middle of the night when I don’t want to be second guessing and it also helps when another family member has to give a dose. Since my kids are 5 years apart in age and need different strengths (Liquid or Chewables for him; Infant Drops for her) this is easy to do without confusion over which child the dosage is for. If you have more than one child using the same medicine, you might want to try this with different colored ink.

How do you help your child get rest & relief when he/she has a sick day?