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Tips To Cope With a Newborn and a Stomach Bug

stomach bug teddy bear

I never expected to pick up a stomach bug so soon after the little guy was born but we did. Little Piglet came home from nursery with a horrible diarrhoea and vomiting bug that swept through the house over a two week period. Piglet was by far the poorliest with vomiting and sleeping and barely no eating for a week. Thankfully the little guy barely noticed but I suffered with a bad stomach, nausea and two days in bed.

Coping with a Newborn and a Stomach bug

It was one of the things I was dreading; a stomach bug and having to breastfeed and cope with a newborn. I get horrible nausea and really struggle to drink, ending up quite dehydrated, with a stinking headache.

But like most things in life it happened and you just have to deal with it don’t you?

However, from these sort of horrible experiences you do learn something and that is how to cope and can pass some of these tips to others:

– The most obvious one is to get help!! However, if like my family when there is a stomach bug in the house, everyone wants to keep away and that is fair enough. My hubby had already been unwell and could help out, so he took the little guy away from me as often as he could, to give me a break.

– Keep hydrated and this is especially important if you are breastfeeding like I was. It may not be possible to neck a load of water due to vomiting but have small sips every few minutes. I found sucking ice was useful too, as there wasn’t a large volume making me feel sick.

– If you can cope with rehydration solutions try them. Diorarlyte is a good one. I found these made me feel worse but they will help with rehydrating. If you can drink them, do!

– Keep breastfeeding if you are! It’s good for the baby, as provides them with antibodies against the bug. If they haven’t already had the bug it may keep them safe or if they get it, may be mildly. You can read more about this here.

– If you feel you can perhaps let your baby have the odd bottle. When I felt really rough, hubby gave the little guy a bottle of formula and he took it. If you don’t feel comfortable with this, perhaps you have some expressed milk. If not for you, keep breastfeeding!

– Lie down to breastfeed if you can. This helped me with my tiredness and nausea.

– Let them sleep on you or near to you for comfort. This maximised their sleep time and more rest for me. Good for clingy babies.

– If you are on your own and can’t hold them dashing to the loo, place them down. somewhere safe. They may scream but they are safe and won’t remember. It’s hard but just a one off.

– Try and eat something when you feel better for energy. I was so wobbly from lack of food but managed dry crackers and ginger biscuits which boosted my energy levels a little.

It’s a rough, rough time being ill with kids and worse with a baby who you are breastfeeding.

It doesn’t last forever and you will get over it. I hope some of these tips help!!

tips for coping with a newborn and s stomach bug

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