How to Be Prepared When Kids Get Sick – #SickJustGotReal

This post has been sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

I think everyone had started back to school by now, right? I’m amazed at what a difference there is in school start dates across the country. But now at the end of September, we’re fully into fall, and here in the PNW the weather decided to start matching the calendar. Chilly mornings that call for hoodies and boots, early morning bus stops with backpacks full of books, and pumpkin spice everywhere you look.

But, the cooler weather brings more than just school days and lattes – it also brings coughs and colds and kiddos with a runny nose. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten through a winter without at least one cold – and now that I have a little one in elementary, the germs are everywhere. So, it’s pretty inevitable that someone in your home, somewhere, at some time this season, is going to come down with a cold, or at least cold-like symptoms of stuffy head, body aches, coughs, and more.

See this kid? This is NOT a sick kid. This is a kid who didn’t want to clean her room. :) She used a marker to color under her eyes – you can read the whole prank story here – and she did an incredibly skilled job at creating a sick-kid face. She walked into my office saying she was really, really tired, and didn’t feel good. Normally it wouldn’t have startled me, but it did. You want to know why it startled me so much?

It startled me so much, because just days before that, she had spent a couple of days in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. So seeing her all dark eyes and sad faced – I panicked. I thought for sure something was wrong, bad wrong, and my mind raced. Then she giggled. Then I realized. This kid. She’s much too clever. But – as I was saying, as a mom, you need to be prepared for ALL THE THINGS. Including colds. But you already know this. These kids are a non-stop roller coaster or bumps and bruises and colds and coughs and shenanigans. Bless their hearts, ;)

Now, a run to the grocery or drugstore, with a sick kiddo, in the cold weather, is something that NO momma has got time for. So – just like you stock up on school supplies for the house, to be prepared for last-minute school projects and daily homework, you need to stock up on cold and and cough and sick-day supplies too – a toolbox of products that every mom needs for when SICK GETS REAL. Because it will. And when it does, you’ll be awfully happy to have the right treatments for every age and stage and symptom, right in your own medicine cabinet. {Out of reach of little hands, of course.} I make sure to have our favorites on-hand, plus a few cans of chicken soup, lots of boxes of tissues, and her favorite snuggle-up movies.

I know that stocking up on cold meds isn’t always easy. There you are, facing an aisle of eleventy million different brands and formulas and flavors and descriptions. It can be overwhelming in the best of times – if you’re in a hurry to get back to a sick child, it’s even worse. So then you just blindly grab at the first thing you see, only to get home and realize it’s for the wrong age range, or for a totally different set of symptoms than your kiddo even has. But – never fear, I’m here to share a few of our faves with you, that you can stock up on now, to be sure you’re prepared for anything the Sniffle Gods throw your way this season. {Is this where I throw in a “Winter is Coming” joke? I’ve been trying to find a place… #GOTfan}

Most kids, even big kids, should still be using a pediatric version of cold meds – not just a smaller dose of adult meds. And Pfizer Consumer Healthcare is kind of an expert at kid’s cold meds – with all of the brands you know and trust, that can tackle even the ickiest of symptoms. Check out this quick list so you know which ones to buy for your family:

• 6-23 months – Infants’ Advil® White Grape: This is for the youngest kids; it comes with a syringe too, for easy dosing of children 6-23 months. It provides “unsurpassed fever relief (among OTC pain relievers).” You can order it on Amazon here, to have it ready when you need it.
• 2-11 years – Children’s Advil®: This is your go-to for easing aches and pains, while reducing fever too, in kids 2-11, making it a great choice if you have lots of kiddos to care for. Children’s Advil® comes in several great-tasting flavors, {seriously, my daughter LOVES the bubble gum flavor} including: Sugar-free Dye-free Berry, Bubble Gum, Grape, Blue Raspberry, Fruit and Dye-Free White Grape. Get it here.
• 4 and up – Children’s Robitussin® Extended-Release 12 Hour Cough Relief: This one is for a little bit older children, ages 4 and up. You’ll want to choose this one when your kiddo has a cough – it’ll help to control that urge to cough that can keep them up at night, while also controlling symptoms without major drowsiness all day. Available in grape or orange flavor. {Please note, certain Children’s Robitussin® products are only suitable for children ages 6 and up.} Find it here.
• 6 and up – Children’s Dimetapp® Multi-Symptom Cold Relief Dye-Free: This one is a multi-tasking med for multi-symptom cold relief. It eases your child’s stuffy and runny nose, while quieting a bothersome cough. All in a great-tasting grape flavor that’s dye-free, for children ages 6 and up. Stock up here.

And note: It is important to remember to always read and keep the cartons for complete warnings and dosing information on Pfizer Pediatric products and to use as directed.

There – now that you’ve remembered that it’s time to stock up, you also know exactly which brands and types are the right choices to treat cold symptoms in the kiddos in your family. Now, for the fun part. Because talking about germs is not fun. I’m giving one of your lucky mommas a chance to WIN a prize package with everything you need to be prepared for your own sick day – you know it’s coming. One winner will get each of the products listed above, plus a $25 digital gift card, to use online-only, to stock up on other sick-day must-haves like tissue and movies and a soup and a snuggly blanket. Use the form below to enter. Have fun, and good luck!

Sick just got real.™ website

Sick just got real.™ Facebook page

And take a minute to check out the #SickJustGotReal sites above for TONS more really helpful info – even a symptom checker where you can enter ages and symptoms to see which product is right for your needs. Awesome stuff.

Pfizer #SickJustGotReal Prize Package!