Create a Stomach Bug Survival Kit with Homemade Reusable Heat Pack
Cold and flu season is no fun for sick children or their Mommas. Stuffy noses, sore throats and fevers are bad, but stomach bugs are especially horrid. Especially when they hit without warning.
After too many stomach bugs hitting and finding me unprepared, I’ve created a Stomach Bug Survival Kit to keep on the shelf in our medicine closet. No more searching for a bucket or bowl when queasiness hits. I keep all our favorite tummy soothing supplies in the bowl so I’m prepared anytime of day or night. Since our medicines are kept in the linen closet, I just grab our Survival Kit and a few towels when crisis hits.
Two things seem to soothe upset stomachs in our house: a cup of Bigelow tea sipped slowly and a homemade heat pack on the achy tummy.
When I pack our Stomach Bug Survival Kit I just grab a big bowl, add Bigelow’s Lemon Ginger tea and a few homemade heat packs and store the whole thing in the medicine closet until it’s needed.
My children always want me close by when their stomachs hurt, with our Stomach Bug Survival Kit all the supplies we need are on hand so I’m free to cuddle my child instead of running all over the house.
Sewing a Homemade Heat Pack is really simple. In fact I made several this week, because you never know when a stomach virus will take down several kids at once! I’ll teach you how to make one below. These homemade reusable heat packs actually stay on your child’s tummy, thanks to tubes sewn in the pack to keep the rice in place. No more rice sliding all to one side like traditional homemade heat packs!
Make your own Reusable Heat Pack
Supplies
- 1/3 yard flannel fabric
- rice (a 5 lb bag will fill 3 reusable heat packs)
- thread
- disappearing fabric pen
Directions:
Fold the 1/3 yard of fabric in half.
Cut the fabric as pictured below. Do NOT cut the folded edge! You end up with a piece of fabric 9 inches x 26 inches once unfolded.
Open the fabric, and refold it so that the right sides are touching and the wrong sides are showing.
Sew down both long edges with 1/2 inch seams.
Turn the reusable heat pack right side out. Next you will sew tubes to keep the rice in place. Using a disappearing fabric pen, draw one line down the middle of the rice pack, and then two more lines, each half way from the first drawn line and the edge of the heat pack. 
Sew the lines, starting about 1/4 an inch from the edge of the bottom seam, and then stop an inch from the open end of the rice pack. See the photo below. I sewed my seams with red thread so they’d be easy for you to see.
Now, fill the rice pack with rice. Then fold the raw edges down, and sew the opening closed.
Now you have Reusable Heat Pack that will actually stay in place on your child’s tummy! 
What are your stomach bug must haves?
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This is a great idea. All the items are so useful and helpful.
Ok, can you make me one?!?! My sewing machine and I are no longer on speaking terms and the purple one is perfect!! We just have an old sock filled with Rice and it’s not nearly as nice.
Hope your little one feels better!
What a great kit for the stomach bug. I love Bigelow tea and those reusable heat packs are great! [client]
That heating pad is great. I think it’s definitely handy to keep around 🙂
This homemade heating pad would be perfect as a care package gift too!
I need to make one of those reusable heat packs. We had one a while ago, but it died a terrible death.
Drinking tea is really useful to help get over sickness. The reusable heat packs are a great idea.
What a smart idea, and no plug to have to worry about either with the littles. I like this way better than a heating pad.
How long do you heat the pad in the microwave?
My microwave is small and not very powerful- so we heat for 2 minutes. More powerful microwaves 1 minute is usually enough.
Did I miss something, like warming the rice pack? I saw all the instructions to make the pack, but nothing about heating it. I assume you heat it in the microwave?? How long and at what power?
Yes, definitely just heat in the microwave. How long depends on how strong your microwave is. It takes 2 minutes in my microwave, but it’s a small not very powerful one. I’d recommend starting with one minute.
The stomach bug just went through my house. This would have been perfect for us. It is awful when everyone doesn’t feel well.
I am thinking that with the sick child touching these that you would be sharing bugs among all family members. Maybe make a washable cover like a mini pillowcase to go over it
That’s a good idea. I made several so each sick child has their own, but a pillowcase would also work.
Never thought of a tummy pack! This is a great idea. I bet old baby blankets would be great for this too
Great idea! Old blankets would be great!
And comforting!
Lol…. Would take me a month to figure out how to follow those directions ….. I plug ours in… Have has it for 20 years!! No mess no fuss
I make pillowcases for mine so when they get dirty you can wash the case. I have made tons of these in all sizes and shapes.
Love that idea!
How do you clean it between sickies? The RN in me wonders.
We’ve never had throw up get on ours- truthfully they are so quick and easy to make I’d probably just toss it and make a new one.
As far as germs on it, I don’t worry much about that either, figuring that germs don’t usually live long on surfaces. Maybe a quick spray of lysol if it was an especially bad bug.
I would think running it in the microwave again after use would kill germs.
I agree.
Norovirus is one of the toughest bugs there is. It lives on surfaces for 2+weeks lysol doesn’t kill it unfortunately. The microwave probably does though. Anyway I like the idea of having a heating pad, tea, and bucket handy.
Many years ago I made smaller ones filled with salt. They were excellent for earaches.
This same technique for making the warm packs can be used to make weighted blankets or pads for kids who suffer with anxiety. Use a pillowcase as a start for a small child or as a lap blanket for someone older. Just see the length of the case to make several tubes, fill with rice and sew closed. Be sure to store these in a plastic container when not in use if you have a problem with mice in the house.
Great tips! Thanks!
Where did you get your bucket? I really like the handles on the side.
It is a mixing bowl from the kitchen section in Ikea.