We have had more than our share of sickness this winter. I am currently writing this blog with my sick two year old asleep on my lap. Having sick children is never easy and is often downright miserable.
So this winter season follow these tips, recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to help keep the germs at bay.
- Wash, wash, and wash. Teach your children to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. It is especially important to wash before meals and after using the restroom.
- Keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse and send one to school with your child. The alcohol in the gel kills most germs. Make sure that you rub until the gel is dry.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. These areas are the primary way disease enters the body. For small children this is especially difficult, that why washing hands often is so important.
- Avoid contact with people who are sick. If you can’t make sure that you wash your hands afterwards.
- Make sure that you are getting plenty of rest, so your body isn’t rundown. A tired body is more susceptible to disease.
- Get enough fluids and nutrients. A daily vitamin is a good idea to insure that you are getting the nutrients you need.
- Stress wears down the body and causes your body to react more slowly to illness. If you are stressed try and do something each day to relax and rejuvenate your body.
If you do have a sick child use the following measures to try and prevent the illness from spreading.
- Teach your child to sneeze into their elbow. This prevents germs from being sent into the air. If you sneeze into your hand the germs are spread whenever you touch something.
- Stay home and limit contact with other people.
- Wash your child’s pillowcase, blanket, and any special stuffed animal.
- Clean all the doorknobs and light switches with a part bleach part water solution, about 1 TB of bleach for every 2 cups of water. Since the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that the flu virus can live for 2 to 8 hours on an inanimate object.
- Try and isolate the child who is sick as much as possible from siblings.
- Don’t share any eating utensils or food.
Following these measures won’t guarantee a healthy winter, but it will help.