"New and Improved" Sick Baby First Aid Kit

My baby girl woke up later than usual on Halloween. I was jumping for joy that I got to enjoy my coffee and breakfast and got some other things done that I needed to do. But when she did wake up, she had a stuffy nose and cranky mood.

OH NO! My baby has a cold! I broke out the sick baby first-aid kit and got to work.

In our normal kit, we keep

Books - Always the comfort item. When she is sick we can read through her entire collection of books.

Boogie Wipes - This helps to avoid her nose from getting dry and chapped when we are wiping it a lot. I have one on each level of our home and keep one in the diaper bag.

Nose Frieda - Works so well when you get over that you are sucking your child's snot. For her first cold, we used the aspirator and she HATED it. We gave in and tried this. It is wonderful! You control how hard or how long the suction is and you can see how much you get out {and dishwasher safe}...TOTALLY recommended.

Humidifier - We use the warm mist humidifier. Many times the cool mist humidifier is recommended because of the chance of bacteria growth. We have never had a problem with it but we do rinse it everyday and soak the base chamber with vinegar once a week to avoid calcification buildup.

Saline Drops/Spray - Our daughter was not a fan of the spray, but it does work better if your child can take it. We do drops a couple times a day and always before we Nose Frieda. It really helps to clear out her nose.

Tylenol - We do check for fever but sometimes even without the fever she just doesn't feel good. We all know the feeling and take something to help take the edge off. We only use this if we need it, but it's nice to have on hand.

Wubbie - The wubbanub pacifiers are fantastic! Our daughter does not suck on a pacifier but chews. She also likes to snuggle with the stuffed animal attached. The giraffe is one of her favorites.

Warm Bath - When all else fails, there is nothing like a warm bath to make you feel better. We actually fill the tub with the shower so she gets extra steam to help with her nose. My husband also dims the lights and puts on spa music. {How do I get this treatment?}

This time, I added something new. I have been hearing all this great stuff about using essential oils but knew I wouldn't have a chance to go out and get them. I also wanted something edible in case she put it in her mouth {inevitable} so I thought about what I had on hand to make something that could help her stuffy nose.

So I made peppermint {extract} edible playdough.

I followed this recipe for oatmeal playdough, knowing that it was edible and would be ok if she had residue on her hands.

I added 1/8 - 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract to the dough as I was kneading it. I added a little at a time until I could smell the peppermint as I kneaded it.

She had a blast playing with it! At first, she wasn't sure what to do with it. She tasted it once {didn't like it} so it didn't go near her mouth again. Her nose started running like crazy, so obviously it was working to help unclog her stuffy nose. I played with her with it for a while and then she was ready to move on. We cleaned her up and played with some other toys.

Spirits brightened and she was breathing better. This will be added into the sick kid first aid kit for sure!

What items can you not live without when your baby or child is sick?

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