Everyone at my house is recovering from a cold that lasted two weeks, and my neighbor just told me that her daughter woke up with a stomach ache and fever. Naturally her daughter played at our house last night. Here’s to hoping our immune systems are back to full strength!
Cold and flu viruses seem to be rampant right now. Although we do what we can to stay healthy, the germs are out there making their rounds. So this week, take 15 minutes to create or restock your sick stash.
I had the idea of creating a sick stash a few years ago after realizing that we always seemed to run out of certain essentials, like children’s ibuprofen, at the exact moment someone spiked a fever. To clarify, this is not my medicine cabinet or my first aid kit. I keep those supplies in our bathroom closet. This is just an emergency backup stash  I keep tucked away so that we have the basics on hand.
We received some great input from our readers after the original post and have included more ideas of what you might include in your sick stash:
Chicken noodle soup- Applesauce
- White soda
- Gatorade or coconut water
- Tea
- Honey
- Crackers
- Pretzels
- Lay’s Potato Chips (Our super organized friend Karen swears that these work wonders when you’ve lost your voice!)
- Vitamins (C, Emergen-C, Airbourne)
- Neti pot with salt or saline spray
- Children’s ibuprofen
- Cold Medicine (children and/or adult)
- Homeopathic cold and flu remedies (Oscillococcinum, Zicam)
- Cough drops or cough medicine
- Vicks Vapo-Rub
- Tissues
- Vasoline or Aquaphor (for lips and/or nose)
- Toilet paper
- Disinfectant wipes
I keep our sick stash on an upper shelf in the bathroom closet. Have we used it? Oh, yes, indeed. There’s never a good time for sickness, but handling them has gotten much easier since I started keeping a sick stash! What else do/would you include in yours?
Happy Organizing!
I try keep some extra cold medicines on hand so I don’t have to drag myself to the drugstore when I get sick. But having emergency sick supplies including food items like coconut water, ginger ale, chicken soup, and emergen-c is a GREAT idea. Especially keeping them all in one spot. Love it. Thanks!
Thanks, Sarisa! It is truly awful to have to go to the store when you’re sick, isn’t it?
I add echinacea (did I spell that right?) to my stash. Combine that with Emergen-C year around! I can’t say that it holds off those colds completely… but it seems to make them less severe!
Oh yeah… I forgot to add… if they’re nauseous… it helps to keep an empty 5 quart ice cream bucket on hand for those kiddos… or one of those hospital basins… it might make a great container for that sick stash too.
Great suggestions, Shanon. Thanks so much!
Great ideas jennifer! I really need something like this in our home with the flu going around.
Thanks, Arturo! I hope you won’t end up needing a sick stash! 🙂