VicksTricks for coughs and colds

Britmums have challenged bloggers to take part in the #VicksTricks Campaign. I received a free goody pack comprising a bedtime book, finger puppets, magic tricks videos and Vicks First Defence nasal spray.

Regular readers of my blog will know that son1 was diagnosed with leukaemia back in 2013 and was on chemotherapy for over 3 years which he completed last summer. During this period, the chemotherapy drugs suppressed his immune system, so he was much more prone to catching the bugs going round school. We had to follow a protocol of checking his temperature several times every day and if it spiked above 38 degrees, he was admitted to hospital for a course of intravenous antibiotics for at least 48 hours. He was always confined to an individual cubicle and not permitted to leave it for risk of catching infections from other children, so he never got to see the fantastic playroom in the ward.

Instead my number one tip distraction was down to Mum and Dad. Short bursts of tv, games, WiiU, iPad, reading to keep him entertained but not overtire him between resting.

Secondly regular trips by Mum or Dad to Costa to fetch him smoothies and a panini, as needless to say, he didn’t like the hospital food.

Favourite cuddly toys must be there.

And finally making sure I didn’t succumb to any bugs myself. In particular, I remember son1 getting admitted to hospital on Boxing Day 2015. I was the only member of the household who avoided the vomitting bug, which I put down to zealous hand washing. And I’ve always been a big fan of Vicks First Defence even before son1 got cancer, using it whenever I feel the slightest tickle in my throat.

Nobody is ill at the moment, but we’ve been having fun, reading the book, playing with the puppets and watching the magic tricks videos. Son1 has a magic set which he enjoys. And as a child myself, I went through a phase of telling everyone that I was going to be a magician when I grew up. Never materialised along with other equally bizarre planned occupations of farmer or spy. I used to put on magic shows for the babysitter, poor lady.

I’ve attempted the sliced banana trick, but I need to practise it more, as I hadn’t sliced it that well.

Here are the key findings from Vicks consumer research:

• Over half (52%) of parents said that rest was the most important thing for making children feel better
• This was followed by ‘medicine’, which 40% of parents rely on
• More than a third of parents (36%) believe in the power of TLC

And when it comes to keeping children entertained:

• Three out of four (75%) British parents put on the TV or a DVD
• Over a quarter (27%) read to their children
• 1 in 10 parents get really creative; either telling jokes (8%) or even do magic tricks (2%)

I’d love to hear what tricks you have up your sleeve, to make your children feel better when they are unwell.

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Disclosure. This post is an entry for the #VicksTricks campaign.  This post mentions products I received for free. All opinions are my own.