Single Parents or if you partner is away when you are sick?

[amldaley]

DD has a bad cold..and she generously shared with me. I am in that first day of sheer exhaustion and fever. I need to sleep. I am struggling to stay awake. I thought I would just take DD to her room and let her play safely while I slept in her bed. She is having a major tantrum. She does not want to be in her room. She even threw a toy in my face while I had my eyes closed.

What do you do when you really need to sleep or otherwise just can't entertain your child?

(No. I don't have anyone who can come over - because we are both sick. One friend is an hour away and the other refuses to see us when sick.)

(Should I just leave her in her room to cry it out? She needs a nap anyway and at least I will get some rest, too. I just feel so mean doing that. She really seems to feel she is tortured being "locked" in her room. She keeps saying "You closed the door! You closed the door!")

[crl]

DS gets all the television he will watch under these circumstances.

Hope you feel better soon!

Catherine

[amldaley]

DS gets all the television he will watch under these circumstances.

Hope you feel better soon!

Catherine

But where? I tried sleeping on the couch and let her watch TV and DVD's and she just kept jumping on me, running to play in the pantry, etc. I don't feel safe letting myself fall asleep with her "uncontained". Her room is really the only place I will let her be unattended.

[turtledove]

Do you have a portable DVD player you can put in her room?

[crl]

But where? I tried sleeping on the couch and let her watch TV and DVD's and she just kept jumping on me, running to play in the pantry, etc. I don't feel safe letting myself fall asleep with her "uncontained". Her room is really the only place I will let her be unattended.

Ah, that is a problem. My ds would sit and watch and I could lay on the couch and doze at least. Does she nap still? I would definitely sleep while she naps. Will she play a game where you are the sick baby and she brings you blankets and stuffed animals? Maybe in her room, with you on the bed? Do you have a portable DVD player that could go in her room?

Catherine

[TwinFoxes]

Since it's nap time, I'd let her cry it out. I totally sympathize with you. I was sick a few weeks ago, and made DH come home from work so I could sleep. I don't like the idea of falling asleep with DDs uncontained either. We have a playroom so I could lock them in there, but even then I like to check the monitor every few minutes. :hug:

[Pear]

I try to get her to stay in a contained area. I offer treats. When that fails I ingest as much caffiene as I can and try no to cry in front of her.

[JustMe]

Honestly, it was just miserable under those circumstances when dd was younger. I never, ever could sleep while she was awake and had to do some form of entertainment. When she was sick too, the best I could do was lay on the couch and let her sit with me and watch tv while we were both on the couch. This was only for a limited time, but it was something.

Also,not sure how old your dd is, but the other thing that "worked" was for me when she was not sick or wanted to be up and about was to lay on the couch and have her bring me things (not necessarily things that I needed), "cook" for me in her play kitchen, etc. At least I got to lay on the couch that way.

[resipsaloquitur]

I found myself just laying on the floor, sick, where ever DS was. I'd doze for a second or two but never really sleep, sleep. But when I was too sick to even get up, that was all that I could do. DS would get cherios for breakfast, lunch and dinner at times when I thought I'd throw up looking at any real food.

I've read in some bigger cities there is "sick kid" day care. I think that's a wonderful idea but clearly not an option in my world.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

:hug: to you for having to dealing with this. i know it totally sucks when you're on your own and sick. when dh was out of town last month, it was for 10 days and for the entire time i was sick with a bad cold and couldn't take a lot of meds since i was 5mos preggo. luckily DS didn't get sick till 2 days before DH got back so there was only one night where i was up most of the night with a sick baby but it still was rough.

as others said, i let my DS watch more TV (Baby Einstein) than i usually do. i would put him in a pnp in front of the TV so he'd be contained. or, i would just lie on the floor in the playroom (gated in) and let him play around me with his toys, and hope he woudlnt' kick me in the tummy. i could probably get 10mins blocks of rest that way.

hope you feel better soon.

[niccig]

I found myself just laying on the floor, sick, where ever DS was. I'd doze for a second or two but never really sleep, sleep. But when I was too sick to even get up, that was all that I could do. DS would get cherios for breakfast, lunch and dinner at times when I thought I'd throw up looking at any real food.
.

:yeahthat: and dozing for a minute or two on the couch while the TV is on.
Sorry, you're sick. Hope you both get better soon.

[amldaley]

Thanks, everyone!

Some suggestions are things that DO normally work, but for some reason, today, they are not. I think she saved up all the "terrible" part of being "2" and is unleashing it on me now. There are som other suggestions here that I will catalog away in my "arensal".

I let her cry for about 20 minutes and once she calmed down, I went back to her room. She had crawled in bed and covered herself up. I laid down next to her and snuggled her and we went right to sleep. A few minutes later, I said, "I love you" and she responded with, "I love you, too. Hi Mommy!". We slept for a couple of hours and we both feel better and are being far more civil to one another. Ahh, the wonders of sleep!

Thanks, again. I needed a little support myself before I got tot he "lay on the floor and try not to cry" stage.:grouphug:

[crl]

Glad you got some sleep!

Catherine

[Ceepa]

Glad you rested. When I was really sick I went into survival mode and just counted the hours until bedtime for DC. If that meant the house was a disaster, fine. If that meant Mommy laid on the floor of DC's room and drifted in and out of sleep while DC played, fine. If that meant the TV was on, fine.