Okay, tell me exactly how to keep my kids from getting sick this winter....please!

[ChristusG]

Talk to me like I'm 5 years old and have never bought a vitamin in my life. My three kids were sick SO much last winter. And today, my 2 year old has a fever. I don't want to do this again this year! We miss so many fun things :( What can I do?

 

I'm going to sit the kids down (well, the 9 and 6 year old....the 2 year old doesn't care lol) and have a talk with them within the next few days on staying germ-free this winter. Here's the things I plan on including so far......

 

1. Always wash hands before eating. Especially if we are out of the house. I admit, I'm not as on top of this as I should be.

 

2. Use hand sanitizer every time we exit anywhere.....church, Walmart, a friends house, etc.

 

3. Avoid "kid" places like Chuck E Cheese, Jump Zone, indoor kids play areas. At least until spring. I hate that my 2 year old needs to go into the church nursery and play with everything that all the kids stick into their mouths, but I really can't avoid it. I'd say that we pick up most germs from church. UGH.

 

4. No nose picking....yes, that means you my 6 year old! I'm going to really be on top of this!

 

5. Vitamins! But I don't know which ones, what kinds, how many, how often. I'm clueless.

 

 

Anything else I can do to avoid illness? Any help with what I can give my kids on a daily basis to ward things off?

 

 

[Mom in High Heels]

Never, ever take them out in public.  ;)

 

We just use a standard children's vitamin and Indy gets a vitamin C chew every day.  We also wash our hands frequently, and use sanitizer when we leave places.  Good luck!

[EKS]

Hand washing is a big one--After using the bathroom, every time they come in the house from an outing or just from outside, before eating or handling food.  Oh, and after all nose picking sessions!

 

Avoid enclosed places with other children aged 0-6.  You're probably right that the church nursery is where it's mostly coming from.

 

Drink lots of water.

 

Vitamin D

 

Zinc

 

 

[Um_2_4]

We last year added a chewable vit C for EVERYONE. (in addition to a regular vitamin) and that was it. It was orange flavored and 500mg. We take extra doses if we feel anything coming on (sore throat, ear ache, etc) and that helps big time.

DH seemed to bring the most germs home  :glare:. So he washed hands and changes clothes when he gets home (he works in an office nothing medical or the like).

Washing hands often and wiping down surfaces at home with lysol wipes or similar helps a lot. Do doorknobs, phones, counters, etc.

Wipe down shopping carts, boosters in restaurants, etc when out.

Avoid playing with the kid at the park (library, etc) who is sneezing, coughing, has a runny nose..... :laugh:

 

[Garga]

My two friends whose kids are sick ALL the time have spotless homes.  I mean, spotless. I wonder if all the cleaning is killing off the normal bugs and creating super germs.  

 

This observation is unscientific.  Perhaps they were already sick first, and now are clean freaks because of it. 

 

We don't get sick and my house is kept tidy and only somewhat clean.  I dust/vacuum a couple times a month and wipe out the bathrooms once a week.  We wash hands whenever we get home from places.  We only use hand sanitizer when we leave the doctors or before we eat if we go through a drive through. We don't wash hands before eating at home.

 

I think I've heard that eating snot is good for you. Gross, I know.  I still catch my 8 and 11 year olds sneaking snot.  Oh, that's so disgusting.

 

ETA: I wipe the shopping cart handle.  

[kewb]

Frequent hand washing.  Sing the abc song 2x while washing.  Hand washing is better then using too much hand sanitizer.

Actively trying to remember not to touch your face or rub your eyes.

If you are not a vegetarian-plenty of home made chicken stock based soups.

Avoiding public places with lots of kids whenever possible.

[Incognito]

We've found that washing hands every time we enter our house - so we've either been visiting with people or in the yard getting dirty - seemed to make a big positive difference.  It's easy to do, since we always do it. :)  When we usually did or when we'd wash when we left places when we could or whatever it wasn't as consistent and/or didn't seem to work as well.

 

We don't do the lysol or the sanitizer - I don't actually like hand sanitizer.  You are killing the good germs with the bad germs.  Better to wash with a non-antibacterial soap for 20ish seconds. 

[Ottakee]

My two friends whose kids are sick ALL the time have spotless homes.  I mean, spotless. I wonder if all the cleaning is killing off the normal bugs and creating super germs.

There might be something to this. Our doctor says that the farm kids tend to be the healthiest kids around.....you know the ones that are playing outside in all weather, in the barns with all kinds of manure, dirt, etc.

 

I will say that since we got horses, my kids have been healthier than they have ever been---and the 2 girls have immune deficiencies.

 

We do wash hands but not as intensely as many of you. We rarely use that hand sanitizer stuff and my house is clean but certainly never spotless.

 

I would strive for some outside time just about every day. Buy good warm clothing and boots and head outside as much as possible.

[Whereneverever]

Sambucol, oil of oregano, gse, lots of raw garlic, raw honey, and I try never to use hand sanitizer.

[nmoira]

Doorknobs, and to a lesser degree handrails and the like, are big disease vectors. Whenever possible use hips and elbows to open doors.

[fairfarmhand]

Sleep is a priority.

 

If one kid comes down with a sniffle, do everything you can to isolate him from the rest of the family. (sounds mean, but it doesn't have to be. Can he take over mom's bedroom and watch movies for a day till he feels better? It may mean that you and dh have to sleep in weird places, but if you have ever been sick ALL winter it is worth it. )

 

REally though.....until my youngest was 4, we had a very hard time staying well in the winter.

[RoughCollie]

Flu shots and pneumonia shots.

 

Zinc for all at the first sign of anyone getting a cold.

 

Every day, I use wipes and spray faucet handles, door knobs, toilet handles, phones, stair rails, keyboards, etc. with Lysol.  Okay, maybe I don't spray the keyboards -- I actually can't remember that part; maybe I just use wipes.

 

When entering house, everyone is supposed to go straight to the kitchen to wash their hands for 20 seconds with Hibiclens. I buy it by the quart from Amazon and put it in foaming soap dispensers that I got at Big Lots for $1 (empty out the original soap and rinse the dispensers well).

 

Usual hand sanitation.

 

In public restrooms, everyone is instructed to wash their hands for 20 seconds, dry them, and then use a paper towel (if there is a doorknob) or their elbow to open the door to get out.

 

Hand sanitizer.

 

Purses and backpacks, from what I've read, carry lots of germs, so I keep all those off my kitchen counters.  Maybe I should start cleaning their little bottoms, too. (Even I know that is going too far!)

 

Every time DD gets a cold, she gets bad asthma along with it, so I am pretty diligent about trying to prevent that. 

 

 

 

 

[my2boysteacher]

Vitamin D and probiotics. My kids get these daily in addition to their multi-vitamin. There is a ton of research on Vitamin D keeping viruses at bay.

Also, we use Colloidal Silver in lieu of 'sanitizer', and use essential oils. I rub Thieves on my kids feet every night at bedtime when we are around big groups of people.

[Jayne J]

Elderberry tonic. I think it is sold under the name Sambucol? I make my own from elderberries from the backyard and local honey to help with allergies. Two years ago I had enough berries to make a lot, so we took a small dose everyday and we were all healthy as can be. Last year the bird got the berries that the frost missed and I had none. Instead of ordering dried berries I decided to just skip it, and we were sick ALL winter long it seemed. This year I will definitely be making it (with dried berries. Darn birds got them again this year...:( )

And proper hand washing and standard precautions of course.

[bolt.]

I understand that fresh outdoor air is much healthier than enclosed recirculated air.

 

Take walks, play outside, open household windows frequently.

[Whereneverever]

I also have all my kids drink kefir. Saline rinses. We don't avoid crowded places and seem to do pretty well.

[Barb_]

Vitamin D is the only thing that finally made any difference for us. When one of the girls came down with mono one summer, she had her D levels tested and I was shocked to see how low they were. We live I AZ, so we get plenty of sunshine year round. It never occurred to me we could be Vit D deficient. I started giving the smallest kids 1000iu chewables and the preteens 2000iu. The the fully grown people get 5000iu. Since then, none of us has gotten sick with anything but a mild cold we toss off in 3-4 days.

[lynn]

You can just do the best you can and hope for the best.  Sorry, not what you want to hear but you are doing everything right.  My 2 older boys go to school and work so I know we can't prevent everything bug, virus from coming into our home but I try to keep everyone as healthy as possible.

[Ali in OR]

-Stay away from sick people. As you mentioned, church is a big culprit for germ spreading. Too many families don't stay home when sick. Mom's down with norovirus, but here come Dad and the kids to church. Oh joy! (Noro spreads so easily that if one family member gets it, most everyone else probably will too. And now if you were in church with them you will too). I would keep my 2 yo with me and out of the nursery. I would avoid the "passing of the peace" if your church does that.

-Regular hand washing

-Plenty of sleep for all

-Multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin D. We get brands that the kids like.

-Flu vaccines

[AmyontheFarm]

When the kids were little I would hand them a baby wipe while I used a Lysol wipe and we would wipe down everything we touched.  Light switches, toilet bowl handles, sink facets and phones were my jobs. Door knobs, tv buttons, dishwasher buttons, fridge handles, fridge buttons would be the kids jobs.  I made a game of it everyday.  It helped to teach the kids that germs can be everywhere, and 1 of my kids stopped touching the windows because she didn't want to help wash them any more.

[OK Family]

My kids take vitamin c chewable daily. Works for us.

[Karen in CO]

This pretty well summarizes my thinking on colds.  I do encourage hand-washing to help prevent stomach viruses.   I bleach my surfaces like crazy if a stomach virus comes into the house to keep it from spreading.  

 

I have read several times that 200 is the magic number for colds - that is how many you can expect in a lifetime.  

[Catwoman]

If you believe your family is getting sick because your toddler is being exposed to lots of germs and illnesses in the church nursery, I would think your best and most effective solution would be to keep the 2yo out of the nursery.

[DianeW88]

Your children are still young...they will get sick repeatedly until their immune systems are more mature.  In any given winter, expect 2-3 colds, an ear infection, a throat infection and a stomach bug.  They will pass them around to each other, and it will feel like everybody is ALWAYS sick.  It's the nature of the beast.  The illnesses will decrease significantly by age 10.

 

Overuse of hand sanitizer, antibacterial soaps, etc., actually contributes to the likelihood of more illness in your family.  The only thing that strengthens the immune system is exposure to illness and the body learning to overcome them by manufacturing antibodies against them (in a child with a normally functioning immune system).  The more exposure to germs and viruses you have, the less ill you will be...eventually.

 

Or as my grandmother used to say, "Every kid has to eat their pound of dirt."

 

It is true.

[Lisbeth]

Teach them not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth. I'm serious.

[ChristusG]

Thanks so much everyone!!

 

Looks like I'll pick up some vitamin c and d. And I just ordered the Sambucol through Amazon.

 

I kmow we can't avoid illness completely but I'd like to lower the amount of times we get sick. We're also going to stop drinking from water fountains. I've read that those are germ infested. I'll make sure the kids bring their water bottles from home.

 

We're pretty good about getting enough sleep. I don't wake the kids in the mornings so they sleep as long as needed. We could definitely use upping our water and veggie intake though.