How to occupy toddler when he's home sick (erev pesach!)

amother

Ginger

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 8:50 pm

I'm a work at home mom, and we're making pesach! My toddler came down with a low fever and cough this afternoon.
I'll give him Tylenol and liquids tomorrow, but if he still has fever tomorrow I cannot send him to playgroup on Monday.
How can I keep him occupied while I work on the computer and try prepare for pesach???? I don't want to sit him in front of a DVD etc. any other ideas????

ectomorph

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 9:23 pm

amother wrote:

Huh?

just sit him in front of DVD. It's one day. I did it for 3 months when I was pregnant and 2 sick to move and too stupid to ask for help ( I'll be smarter iyh next time) . My now 2 year old has no I'll effects.

I have my 2 year old at home with me and a baby. Long term I have a schedule we follow. We do activities.
Some quiet activities are coloring, playing handball if your toddler does that, riding around on a toy, putting stickers on a wall, playing with toys. This will all require more input than you estimate.
You will get your whole list of activities done withinthe first hour. If you need to get work done, After that I advise DVD.

pesek zman

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 9:23 pm

Tv and videos were made for sick days. He needs distraction and you need him occupied. Period. The end.

amother

Ginger

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 9:29 pm

Problem is it might not be just one day. He might be sick all week (it's happened often in the past). And in the past, when I've let him watch videos all day, it took him a long time to get used to NOT being able to watch. He would fuss and tantrum

ectomorph

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 9:54 pm

amother wrote:

Yes it does take time for them to get used to not seeing videos again. But I just ignore the fussing. It will be yom tov on. A week which will be a natural end to it. Then. There will be chil hamoed trips.

amother

Ginger

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 10:30 pm

ectomorph wrote:

Good point. I felt like it would be horrible of me but I see I wouldn't be alone in doing such a thing...
Let's hope he has a Refuah and can go to school so this whole thing won't wnd up happening, but just in case... I guess I know how ill manage

ectomorph

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 10:42 pm

amother wrote:

refua shleima. I gave you some quiet activities. At least that will help assuage your guilt.

mommy_r

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 11:34 pm

I've had the same experience with sick toddlers (letting them watch and then hearing begging for it for quite some time). The dollar store may be very helpful - spend 15 minutes there, picking out things your child will enjoy (coloring books, playdoh, stickers, string and pony beads if your child is old enough not to swallow, a bunch of new cars/balls, etc.) - new toys can be very distracting...

smss

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 11:55 pm

I don't give my kids screen time very often at all but being sick before pesach definitely calls for it IMO! Refuah sheleimah

bargainlover

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 11:57 pm

Things my 3 year old loves and has been using for about a year:
Melissa and doug water wows, we have all the versions
Stringing cheerios on a pipe cleaner
Water paints
Coloring books with crayons and color pencils
Stickers on a paper
Magnets on the fridge

Last edited by bargainlover on Sun, Apr 02 2017, 12:08 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Chocolate

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 11:59 pm

Challah dough!! My little kids love playing with it and can play for hours! If you don't wanna use chametz then find a doughy pesachdick cookie recipe

rachel6543

Sat, Apr 01 2017, 11:59 pm

If your kid is sick and you need to work from home, then I also vote for DVDs and videos. Not ideal, but I've done it to when I needed to work while taking care of a sick kid. Otherwise plan to work in the evening if you can after kid (hopefully) goes to sleep.

Your other option is to hire a babysitter to keep your kid entertained while you work.

amother

Chocolate

Sun, Apr 02 2017, 12:02 am

bargainlover wrote:

Stringing cheerios on a pipe cleaner, see if u can get gluten free cheerios so no real chometz

Find out but I don't think gluten free necessarily means they're not chametz

Stars

Sun, Apr 02 2017, 12:03 am

A new toy may occupy him for an hour or so but if you really need the entire day to work I vote for hiring a teenager to watch him. A lot of them are off from school/yeshiva now.

amother

Seashell

Sun, Apr 02 2017, 2:20 am

amother wrote:

Find out but I don't think gluten free necessarily means they're not chametz

oats=chametz.

lifesagift

Sun, Apr 02 2017, 2:27 am

amother wrote:

Challah dough!! My little kids love playing with it and can play for hours! If you don't wanna use chametz then find a doughy pesachdick cookie recipe

A klp play do is equal part cinnamon n applesauce. Pour about half a cup each into a bowl n let him mix n mash away. A lot of fun, very mesmerizing

amother

Lemon

Sun, Apr 02 2017, 3:01 am

many schools have off this week, and some families need extra income before pessach. maybe there is a teenage girl that could babysit him (while you work at home) for a couple of hours. I think I would look into this option, because we dont have a dvd player.