30+ Books for Kids with Special Needs Siblings: The Ultimate List

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When my youngest son Davy was born, my three older kids were 6, 4 and 17 months old.  The next year or so was very hard on my whole family as Davy spent countless hours at doctors' appointment, was hospitalized five times and, and required one-on-one care during most of his waking hours.  The guilt of not being able to care for all my kids' needs was crushing and made even worse when people would "helpfully" point out that I had three older kids who needed me too.  I knew that having a medically complex, special needs sibling was hard on my kids and I didn't want them to resent him or feel left out.

When Davy was around six months old, I found a book about kids with G Tubes on Amazon and got it to read to the older kids.  It helped them see that their brother's button wasn't scary and other kids had them too.  That got me thinking of how helpful books could be for kids who have siblings with special needs.

Keep reading for a list of over 30 books for kids with special needs siblings.

How to Make No Sew DIY Rice Heating Pads

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There are five people in my family who have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which means that pain is a normal occurrence around.  I prefer to try alternative methods of pain relief such as using essential oils (Panaway is a great one for muscle pain!), massage, ice, and heat before turning to tylenol.

A few weeks ago, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed and was in excruciating pain for 10 days straight.  After applying ice to both sides of my face for the first 48 hours, the oral surgeon recommended switching to heat.  He said I could heat up the ice packs he'd sent home with me, but they just didn't seem to hold the heat very well so I decided to grab one of our trusty rice socks that I'd made with one of Hubby's (clean!) tube socks instead.  The problem was that it was too big and bulky to work well for my face.  In a rare moment of clarity, I grabbed a leg warmer from the kids' mis-matched sock basket and turned it into a perfectly sized rice heating pad.  

Want to make your own rice heating pads that are the perfect size for kids AND adults?

How to Make a Snot and Chest Rub with Essential Oils

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I don't know about your kids, but when mine have stuffy noses and coughs, no one sleeps in my house, which makes for cranky kids and a cranky mama.  Thankfully, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help everyone sleep a little better!

First, I run a diffuser in the sick child's room at bedtime for about 30 minutes with a drop of R.C. oil from Young Living.     

Secondly, I rub some of my Snot and Chest Rub on the bottom of my little one's feet and on his or her chest.  

When I first got some Snot and Chest Rub from my oily friend, I had doubts about how much it would help, but after four sleepless nights with Anna, who was three years old at the time, I was getting pretty desperate.  Guess what?  We both slept all night!!

Want the recipe?  You can find it below.

10 Survival Tips for When Your Child is Sick

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

Cold and flu season are just around the corner!  Yay. *insert sarcasm here*  

So far, we haven't been hit by anything, but I know it's coming especially with school starting back up again soon.

To make things a little bit easier, I thought I'd share with you some of tricks I use to prepare for and survive when my kids get sick.