Okay, so you’ve got a sick kid and you’re concerned he may throw up in the night. Ever tried to clean a mattress after a kid’s been sick on it? Ewwww. What about the dangers of running from his bed to the bathroom in the night? How do you keep him safe and minimize the cleanup you’ll have to do?
Simple!
You need the following ingredients for this recipe:
- 2 sleeping bags, thick blankets or comforters
2 waterproof mattress pads
whatever blankets your child requires
Take the sleeping bags/blankets/comforters and lay them on the floor, all in one stack. Use a waterproof mattress pad to encase your stack and voila! Instant bed. You can cover the pad with a fitted sheet if you like to get all fancy. Lay your kid on the stack, cover him up and he’s got a soft bed on the floor that’s easy to clean because it all goes into the washing machine.
You can set up the bed wherever is convenient, like on the floor near the door so he has a straight shot to the bathroom. If he does happen to throw up or otherwise have an accident in the night, all you have to do is replace the mattress pad and any blankets as necessary. Throw the soiled linens in the washer so you’ve got them ready for the next round.
So there you have it. AmyL’s nonpatented surefire soft-washable-safe sickbed for kids.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on The Manager. He’s sleeping on one tonight, poor thing.
Earnest Parenting: help for parents of sick kids.
Amy,
We have a different problem… My second son (2 years of age) is a disabled child who does not have neck control nor can sit/walk. He’s on the bed most times except when we carry him.
The issue we are facing now is that, since he cannot turn, his back get really heated up while on bed.
Question: What would be the ideal bed system for him? We do not have too many options in this part of the world… But I could shop online if you have any suggestion. I only know that the cotton materials are the coolest options, anything else that you know?
Ajith
Best tip for sick kid in your house. Now its easy for me to manage the hot tip for my little kid whenever such circumstances come.
From your other comment I know in the hospital we’ve used gortex overlays on specialty beds and they do wipe off and I know they breathe because we use them on air flow beds. The hospitals also have cotton incontinence pads. However, not sure if that kind of thing is available on the internet or not. I would bet you could get some good idease from chat groups with other parents of disabled children.
For the mobile child I like you idea amy….but it only works when they know they’re going to be sick…LOL I do know if I know they’re sick I leave a bucket at the bedside (why do they always seem to miss?) The other option that works well is…. my kids had allergies so they had the plastic protectors for dust mites on the mattress. I put a mattress pad on top of this to keep it from getting too hot but if they did throw up (or when they were younger have an accident) I only needed to clean up the sheets and mattress pad.
Oh, and sorry the munchkins are sick!
this kind of beds must need for children…
Ajith, Mary is a nurse so she knows what she’s talking about. 🙂 My only thought on the matter is that when hubby and I had a water bed, it was a lot cooler than the one we have now. Water can pull heat from your body. Might that be an option for you?
Mary, you’re right it only works if you know they’re going to be sick. 🙂 I keep a waterproof mattress pad on each bed anyway, and I’m fairly good at carpet cleaning. Once we do know there’s an issue, we use the sickbed, spread beach towels where people have to walk, and we do keep the bucket handy. 🙂 Lord willing, the kids are on the mend. Along with Hubby, who had a pretty rough week poor guy.
Niroshan, nice to see you here.
Thanks for the tip. I should try the water beds. And I must say, Amy, that you have a great blog. I will keep visiting this from time to time and learn a tip or two that can make me a practical parent.
Cheers and all of you have a Wonderful Christmas
I really like what you guys are doing here on this blog… just reading Ajith’s replies to your posts showing that you’re helping out people that you probably don’t know, in no direct return for anything 🙂
Keep it up! 🙂
Ajith, we’re all here to learn from each other. One of the reasons I started this blog was to make friends; I think it’s just amazing to be able to talk to people all over the globe from my humble home. And thank you so much for the compliment!
Oliver, thanks. We will! I get as much out of it as anyone. 🙂 Hope to see you both around often.
Brilliant! You should patent it 🙂
How about getting an inflatable mattress at wal mart or target for $50? You kid use it when your child is sick or when you have guests. Make sure to get the one with the batter operated inflation unit built in.
They are actually really comfortable.
LOL InstantAmber I have a terrible track record with inflatable beds. I can buy the one with a hole in it every time. We gave up on that option years ago. It’s a fantastic suggestion though. Have you used it?