Germs are everywhere! Not just in the winter months, but all year long. Germs can make our kids sick, but do you want to know the best ways to keep them at bay? If you have a child yourself, you know how hard it is at times with such a sick society that we live in and with sickness all over the place, to keep your child healthy. That’s why I want to share with you few things that we do to keep our kids healthy so that we don’t have to visit the doctor very often.
Washing hands
The most important thing you can do is get them to wash their hands. As a kid, I was taught to you to wash my hands before eating a meal and after a bathroom break. This is really good advice, but do you know that how you wash your kid’s hands matters too? It’s advisable to use warm water and plenty of soap. Wash for at least 30 seconds making sure you clean the whole hands.
Sleep
Sleep is paramount for a healthy immune system. Make sure you stick to an early bedtime. Keep your sleep routine’ and make sure the kids are sleeping well. If they’re not, it really doubles the risk of catching a cold or flu. Babies need around 14 hours, toddlers about 11 to 12 hours. Think along those parameters and make sure they are sleeping. Make sure that the baby is fully prepared to sleep (mentally and physically). Ensure that the kid sleeps in the right position that will help them maintain the curve in their lower back. Your baby should not sleep on their stomach, especially on saggy mattresses.
Nutrition
When it comes to nutrition, vitamin C and D are particularly important. When trying to prevent them from getting a cold or flu, it’s very important to get a range of nutrients. Stick to a colorful, well-balanced diet if you’re going for vitamin C; from whole food sources, oranges, Kiwis, bell peppers, and even broccoli has a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin D is really important as well. They can get that from the Sun obviously, but if there’s not that much Sun in winter, you can try from eggs. There’s also great vitamin D supplements for kids. Fish oils also have a little vitamin D in them.
Physical activities
The next tip is to help your kids stay active. Physical activity reduces the incidence of cold and flu almost by half. Get creative with your kids. If you’re out for a walk maybe play hide-and-go-seek with them and have them run from point to point. If your child won’t put down the iPad or video game, try mixing it up and find something fun that they can stay active with. You can go to a Children’s Museum that involves a lot of walking. They’ll run around and play together.
Conclusion
Teach your kids how to stay healthy. We often think they don’t listen, and they will forget, but it’s about repetition and reminders. Teach them not to touch their eyes or nose, not to share drinks with friends, not to cough on each other, etc. Try to invent fun ways to remind them, so you don’t sound nagging, but you also want to teach them consistently.