How to Prevent the Spread of Cold and Flu
Preventitive measures you can take against the seasonal flu.
The season is upon us. I’m not talking about the holidays. I’m talking about flu and cold season. Yuck! Here we are, busy as ever, and BLAMMO! You catch a cold or the flu. Since I’m a mom and not a doctor, I can’t help you with the medical stuff. I’ll leave that to our House Call Doctor. I’m here to tell you about natural ways you can help prevent spreading the cold and flu within your family. Mostly I feel like I’m reminding you of all the things everyone else is telling you, but hey, a little reinforcement sure can’t hurt. And, as always, if you have additional tips, please leave them in the comments page on the transcript. We can all use as much help as possible when it comes to staying healthy!
Prevent the Spread of Flu with Cleanliness and Healthiness
Cleanliness is your first defense against germs. Germs are what make kids sick and kids come into contact with a lot of germs all of the time. Washing hands with soap and warm water is the most effective way to clean. Teach your children to wash their hands completely. Wash the fronts, backs, and in between all the fingers, and scrub up the arms to the elbows. This is a great time to practice singing the alphabet. Have kids wash while they sing. They should wash and scrub for the entire length of the song to ensure a complete cleaning. After rinsing, have your children dry their hands on a clean, dry towel, or a disposable paper towel. Children should wash up after using the restroom, blowing their nose, rubbing their eyes, eating, or coming into contact with other children or adults who may be sick. Common sense will let you know when a child needs a good hand-washing. When in doubt, it certainly can’t hurt to wash up.
The Invisible Germs Gotta Go!
While it may not be germ-infested, my son has a tendency to touch the car. He loves to run his hands along the side of the car and the tires. When his hand is good and black, it’s pretty obvious that he needs to wash. There are other much germier things that we don’t see after our kids spend time touching them. One example is the impulse-buying section of department and grocery stores– you know, that little section where you check out. They stock it with gum, candy, beef jerky, and over-priced, mostly-broken toys. My kids are always picking up the yoyos and fake phones which are placed there for that exact reason! Do you think about how many other children have stood in that line and played with that toy? That’s probably why they are broken. I cringe when I see my children start toward those toys and steer them away as quickly as possible. I imagine those toys are just covered with nasty germs and I let my kids know it. Sometimes, willpower wins out over Mommy’s good advice. I turn my back to pay for groceries and hear my daughter telling her brother, “Mommy said not to touch it! Ewwww! Germs!” She’s extremely helpful.
Teach Kids to Keep Germs to Themselves
If your children have good manners, they probably say “excuse me” when they sneeze or “bless you” when someone else does. It’s important to teach the manners of keeping your germs to yourself. If my kids are going to cough or sneeze, I ask them to face away from other people and cough or sneeze into a tissue or napkin that they then promptly throw away. Of course, this should be followed by a good hand-washing. If you have a child who is coughing or sneezing frequently, keep them armed with a nice supply of tissues and keep yourself armed with some hand sanitizer.
I know that some people are not fans of hand sanitizer, but when you can’t immediately get to a washroom it’s a great substitute to keep on hand. Hospitals, doctor’s offices, business offices, stores, and many other establishments now have sanitizer dispensers mounted on their walls. Take advantage of them. If you can’t get to a washroom, grab some gel and help your kids rub it on their hands. Let them know not to lick or eat the gel and tell them it’s to help fight off the bad germs. It also tastes pretty nasty! You can also find handy sanitizing wipes in the front of most grocery stores. These are for the carts, not the kids. Wipe down your carts before you put children in them or before you start pushing them. Remember, these are used by different people, both healthy and sick, throughout the day. You don’t know who was there before you.
Prevent the Spread of the Flu by Avoiding Germ-Infested Spaces
Another way to decrease the amount of germs you are sharing with your surroundings is to go outside. Make your surroundings bigger and give your germs and other people’s germs some space. When you are in a tight, closed space, germs are just hanging around. Avoid spending a lot of time in cramped areas with your kids because cramped areas harbor germs. Yuck. Take your kids out to play and spend some time getting fresh air. Not only will that help keep them healthy, it will encourage exercise, and, my favorite, it will tire them out! This brings us to another germ-fighting tip: make sure you and your kids get plenty of rest. You are naturally healthier when you are well-rested and well-nourished. Playing outside will also increase thirst, which will encourage drinking. More water and fluids are great! Staying hydrated will help prevent illness. Eating healthy meals and staying nourished will also boost immunity.
Finally, if your child is sick, please keep them home from school and away from other children. Also, remember that if your kids are going to school or day-care, they will undoubtedly be coming into contact with sick children. Do your best to shield your child when you can, but don’t fret too much when they are away. We’ve all been exposed to different types of flu or cold viruses. We have our immune systems to defend us. When I’m sharing these tips with you, I feel like a germaphobe, but I’m really not afraid of the germs! I just want to do my best to keep them at bay. Besides, a few germs can’t scare my kids or me away from those fancy mall play-areas! I just try not to think about it while the kids are playing; then I take them home and wash them!
If you’d like to request a topic for the Mighty Mommy you can e-mail me directly at mommy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.
This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!