I put long term in quotes because I recognize that what we are dealing with is far from chronic.

LO has had ear infections on and off for the last 8 months, and we are meeting with an ENT this week about having tubes put in. While I am hopeful this is going to help and hopefully things will be much easier after, I am curious how you handle tantrums, lack of appetite/picky eating (and 4am screaming from hunger as a result), and separation anxiety if these all seem to stem directly from the sickness. LO has been all out of sorts for such a long time now. I would assume these are just normal toddler behaviors, but there is a very clear difference between his temperament when he is sick vs. when he isn't. I can tell an ear infection is coming several days before the other symptoms appear, just based on his behavior. And I can tell when the meds start working, because he is his normal chipper self again..

So, do you let your kid get away with more and let go of some of the normal rules or expectations during extended periods of sickness? Or is it better to keep things consistent? We have had a lot more screen time and I have not been trying to get him to eat our normal dinner (he is now eating pretty much exclusively applesauce pouches, baby teething crackers, pepperoni, and oatmeal. sigh). But now he has started not wanting to leave the house. We were in the car on the way to the YMCA today and he screamed hysterically the entire drive that he wanted to go home. I gave in and took him home, but I wonder if this is the right thing to do.

Anybody have thoughts on this? What would you do?