As most of you know, L was pretty sick for almost a week.  After two trips to the emergency room, we finally got it figured out: stomatitis.  It was terrible!  She could hardly eat or drink and, forget sleeping!  I was getting up every hour to two hours with her to try and soothe her back to sleep because the pain is terrible for her.  After the second emergency room trip, they were able to give me something to help her eat, drink, and sleep.  Fifteen minutes after the first dose of medicine, she wanted to eat and drink!  After three days of medicine and slowly gaining our appetite and thirst back, she was mostly back to her old self.  The sores have disappeared and the swelling is non-existent.  We are still waking up at least once or twice throughout the night, but I'm not sure the two are related.

After I figured we were in the clear, I started constructing my plan of attack on de-germing the house! I de-germ after every illness that happens in the house, regardless of who it is.  I don't like knowing there are germs hanging around in my house.  I banish them as soon as I can.  Not only does that save on recurring illnesses, but the house feels better after a good de-germing!

I thought maybe my readers may want to know what I do to get rid of germs, so I have compiled a list of things that I do after L has been sick.  This list also works if my husband or I get sick, too.

1.  Strip the bed:  I always pull all the bedding off of the bed and toss it in the washer.  This also goes for any blankie's, lovie's, etc. that a child may have. I then take L's mattress off of her bed and wipe it down with a good, warm rag.  While the mattress is drying, I wipe down the crib with a different warm rag.  I then get my trusty Lysol and I spray the mattress, the crib, and her room down.  I leave the room to air out and move on to my next portion of the house.

2.  Clean the bathroom:  I not only clean my bathroom after an illness, but the toothbrushes get pitched (especially after this illness) and replaced with new ones, the bath toys get sanitized and rinsed, and once again, Lysol is sprayed.  That room now airs out and you move onto the next phase.

3.  Sanitize the sippy's:  Clearly, my husband and I don't use sippy cups, but L does and those need to be sanitized and scrubbed!  I start by taking all the sippy's she has used apart.  Yup, remove all the straws, seals, etc.  Next, fill your sink with as hot of water as you can stand OR boil some water on the stove and dump it in the sink and a capful of bleach.  Toss your sippy cups and the parts in the sink and let soak for about 15-20 minutes.  (While these are soaking, I go back and put the kiddo's room back together since her bedding is clean and ready to be put back on the bed.) Now that the cups and their parts have soaked, you need to rinse.  I used a pair of tongs to reach down and pull out each piece and rinse it off in my second sink.  I then placed it in my dish drainer to air dry.  



4.  Clean the rest of the house:  It never hurts to mop floors, dust, vacuum  etc. the rest of your house after someone has been sick.  I also Lysol everything down, too.  If, by chance, L has played with toys while she is sick, all of those get sanitized, too.  (A lot of the times, this is not the case.  She usually feels too crummy to play.) 

As I stated before, de-germing my home makes me feel better, not only as a person, but as a mother.  There is just something about a fresh, clean, germ-free home that puts this mom's mind at ease!

Tell me what you do to after your child, or the whole household, has been sick.  What is your de-germing method?