Lea Michele may be well-known for her time in the spotlight as an actress, singer and New York Times best-selling author, but these days she’s also starring another important role: Being the mom of two.

The former Glee actress, who just gave birth to her second child, recently teamed up with Children’s TYLENOL to make sure parents are ready to handle life’s surprises, such as fevers, in addition to checking ahead of time to make sure the medicine in their cabinets isn’t expired. Days before the August birth of her daughter, Michele shared why this mission is important to her.

This interview has been edited for length.

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The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Your fans have seen you become a wife and mom over the years, and now you’re partnering with Children’s TYLENOL to talk about the whole family staying healthy during virus season. What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve had as a parent so far?

Lea Michele: I think the truth is that we’re learning every single day. Every day, there’s a different revelation; a different lesson; a different wonderful, beautiful, messy moment. I think more than anything, what I’ve learned is that preparation is key, and being as prepared as possible is really the best thing that we can do for ourselves and for our family.

I really learned that when I was pregnant with my son—our pediatrician recommended filling up our medicine cabinets with all the necessary first aid items. That’s when she recommended Infants’ TYLENOL, which we immediately bought, and before we knew it, our son had his first ear infection and fever. I was so grateful that I had on hand what he needed.

For me, the most important thing is to just be as prepared as possible. Life’s going to throw stuff at you, but if you’re prepared, it’s the best thing that we can do for ourselves to just help navigate stressful situations.

The Healthy: On top of being a mom, we’re heading into virus season and there’s an election happening that’s touching so many of our lives in personal ways. How do you manage stress?

Lea Michele: I really just try to prioritize self-care for myself, making sure that I’m giving myself time for meditation and yoga and getting as much sleep as I possibly can. I try to take the best care of myself so that I can be the best mom, wife, friend and family member possible.

Lea Michele Hosts An Event In Nyc With Tylenol To Share How She Is Preparing Her Medicine Cabinet For BabyMichael Simon/Getty Images

The Healthy: When you do get sick, what are your go-to ways of perking up? Any favorite comfort foods or anything you like to do with your family when you’re not feeling well?

Lea Michele: Well, first of all, I know we’re here talking about Infants’ TYLENOL, but I take Adult TYLENOL and have literally my entire life. So that’s the first step. I love to cook, and my favorite thing to cook when I’m not feeling well is soup. My grandma made chicken soup for me and my aunts always would make chicken soup, and it’s the first thing that I do. I put a really good bone broth in it, with tons of veggies and kale and spinach and carrots and celery and garlic and all those good things in there, just to really help my immune system. I just give my body the rest that it needs, hydrate and relax, get good sleep, and just let my body heal.

The Healthy: Has there been a memorable time where you’ve had to push through an illness?

Lea Michele: Doing a Broadway show for a year, every single illness you know can come up, especially when you have a toddler at home. You’re always navigating something, so I did my absolute best to always be there and push through as best as I could. I’ve certainly had some incidences of having stomach bugs while working on the stage, and that’s not a fun thing to have to navigate through while you’re performing and climbing up ladders and tap dancing. But I really feel that over the course of the year of being in the show, I did my best to push through so that I could be there and do my best on the stage.

The Healthy: Is there a self-care routine that you can’t skip?

 Lea Michele: For me, it’s so boring, but it comes down to the basics: hydrating during the day, drinking as much water as possible, eating nutritious foods, and getting as much sleep as we possibly can. And I know that’s so hard, and I get it. I’m pregnant and literally waking up every hour in the middle of the night, and I have a four-year-old. But I just try to prioritize sleep as much as I possibly can because I know that those very simple but tried-and-true staples are really what help the most at the end of the day.

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Originally Published: September 23, 2024