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Adventures in Babysitting
Dec. 16th, 2007 10:37 amSo, last night I had a chance to babysit the little boy I'd taken care of once a week for the last year but stopped when I started working full-time. (Actually, I passed the job to Adrienne so she knew all about his quirks before she started, and I still get to hear the stories about what he's doing.)
I put him in his crib around 7:15 and he went right to sleep. About 9:45 suddenly I hear him crying over the baby monitor, seriously upset. I went upstairs to his room. By the hall light I could see he was sitting up and I went over and touched the side of his head. It was soaking wet...and slimy...and the room smelled really bad. Mom radar kicked in. When I turned on the light, sure enough, he had thrown up all over the crib and himself, and was crying hysterically.
Well, this certainly isn't the first time I've dealt with kid puke, so I scooped him up at arms' length and carried him to the bathtub. Found a washcloth, cleaned his face, turned on the tub water, peeled off his pjs, and wiped him down. Then I wrapped him in a towel and sat in the rocker with him until he calmed down, poor kid.
Clean pjs, message left on his mom's cellphone, and I sat him on the floor so I could tackle the crib cleanup. Had to take off the crib bumper, all the blankets and stuffed animals, and then the crib sheet. Of course, I couldn't figure out how to get the railing down on this newfangled crib, so I did all this leaning over it, and then threw everything in the bathtub. Then came the biggest challenge: finding crib sheets. I went through his dresser, his closet, and the hall linen closet. No sheets. Okay, time to improvise. I carried him downstairs and got a fleece blanket from the couch, folded it in half, and tucked it around the edge of the mattress as best I could.
I am almost done when I hear him make a strange coughing noise--sure enough, he's throwing up again. Fly him to the bathroom to puke on the tile floor, he's all upset again, I clean him up and put on clean pjs. Grabbed some cloth diapers I'd come across and sat in the rocker with him. This time when he started to throw up I just held the diaper under his chin and caught everything. Not exactly the most pleasant sensation but way better than the alternative.
Finally he falls asleep, I put him back in the crib, and go back downstairs. 45 minutes later I hear him start to gag over the monitor, race back up and get there in time to catch most of it in the diaper I'd cleverly left on the side of the crib. Only required a little clean up and rocking and he was back asleep.
His mom called later, not having heard her cell because she'd been in a noisy place, totally horrified at herself for not having raced home immediately, and she and her husband came right home. I assured her it really wasn't a big deal, he didn't have a fever, I figured it was just an upset tummy. She admitted she would probably have rushed to the ER because this had never happened before, and was gratefully apologetic that I'd had to deal with it.
The part that I am proudest of: 4 pukes and not a spot got on me. I'm so good. And now I have another story to add to the one about the Halloween where all 3 of my girls spent 24 hours puking. (Lined 'em up on the living room floor on sleeping bags, each with their own puke bucket. But that's another story. And you probably don't need the details.)
I put him in his crib around 7:15 and he went right to sleep. About 9:45 suddenly I hear him crying over the baby monitor, seriously upset. I went upstairs to his room. By the hall light I could see he was sitting up and I went over and touched the side of his head. It was soaking wet...and slimy...and the room smelled really bad. Mom radar kicked in. When I turned on the light, sure enough, he had thrown up all over the crib and himself, and was crying hysterically.
Well, this certainly isn't the first time I've dealt with kid puke, so I scooped him up at arms' length and carried him to the bathtub. Found a washcloth, cleaned his face, turned on the tub water, peeled off his pjs, and wiped him down. Then I wrapped him in a towel and sat in the rocker with him until he calmed down, poor kid.
Clean pjs, message left on his mom's cellphone, and I sat him on the floor so I could tackle the crib cleanup. Had to take off the crib bumper, all the blankets and stuffed animals, and then the crib sheet. Of course, I couldn't figure out how to get the railing down on this newfangled crib, so I did all this leaning over it, and then threw everything in the bathtub. Then came the biggest challenge: finding crib sheets. I went through his dresser, his closet, and the hall linen closet. No sheets. Okay, time to improvise. I carried him downstairs and got a fleece blanket from the couch, folded it in half, and tucked it around the edge of the mattress as best I could.
I am almost done when I hear him make a strange coughing noise--sure enough, he's throwing up again. Fly him to the bathroom to puke on the tile floor, he's all upset again, I clean him up and put on clean pjs. Grabbed some cloth diapers I'd come across and sat in the rocker with him. This time when he started to throw up I just held the diaper under his chin and caught everything. Not exactly the most pleasant sensation but way better than the alternative.
Finally he falls asleep, I put him back in the crib, and go back downstairs. 45 minutes later I hear him start to gag over the monitor, race back up and get there in time to catch most of it in the diaper I'd cleverly left on the side of the crib. Only required a little clean up and rocking and he was back asleep.
His mom called later, not having heard her cell because she'd been in a noisy place, totally horrified at herself for not having raced home immediately, and she and her husband came right home. I assured her it really wasn't a big deal, he didn't have a fever, I figured it was just an upset tummy. She admitted she would probably have rushed to the ER because this had never happened before, and was gratefully apologetic that I'd had to deal with it.
The part that I am proudest of: 4 pukes and not a spot got on me. I'm so good. And now I have another story to add to the one about the Halloween where all 3 of my girls spent 24 hours puking. (Lined 'em up on the living room floor on sleeping bags, each with their own puke bucket. But that's another story. And you probably don't need the details.)
