How to Keep Kids Healthy
As long as school is in session, kids will be passing around germs – aren’t they good at sharing!? Colleen Padilla, a mom and founder of ClassyMommy.com shares her tips on how to keep kids healthy.
- Scrub-a-dub-dub: Wash hands frequently and encourage kids with fun, kid-friendly soap dispensers.
- This is the #1 way to keep healthy – teach your kids to do this whenever they get home, before they eat, after they sneeze/use tissues, etc. We use Itzazu Kidz Color Changing Soap to encourage kids to wash for 20 seconds.
- Encourage your kids not to touch their eyes, mouth, and nose – this is how the germs we have on our hands reach our systems.
- Crowd control: Schedule play-dates only with friends that aren’t sick
- As moms, it is our responsibility to ensure our own kids don’t go to school or to playdates when they are sick – especially if they have had a fever or thrown up within 24 hours – it is our responsibility to help from spreading the nasty germs.
- Cover up: Cover your mouth when you cough – cough into forearm.
- Bundle up: Dress to stay warm against the cold weather
- This is a great lesson for all of us – wear hats, gloves, and warm coats every time you head out in the cold – you never know when your car may break down!
- Disinfect your world: Clean high traffic surfaces in your house regularly to rid them of germs.
- That reminds me, I need to disinfect all the door knobs, light switches, and play surfaces that my son touched tonight because he is coming down with a cold that I don’t want to spread to the rest of the family!
- Disinfect shopping carts, including the kiddie cart area where your toddler sits – including the seats – you know how often accidents happen with diaper leaks!
How to Treat a Cold
I have an entire system in place whenever someone comes home from school with the sniffles.
- Humidifier – I run a humidifier almost all winter long. It helps put moisture in the dry air so that their nasal passages don’t dry out – plus it keeps their rooms warmer. My son suffers from nose bleeds, so a humidifier helps this too. You must clean the humidifier out ever day to prevent mold
- Sleep – Kids at various ages need different amount of sleep. Kids ages 3-6 need 10-12 hours of sleep a day, ages 7-12 need 10-12 hours. Sleep is even more important when fighting a cold, my kids go to bed a hour early while sick.
- Hydration – Get plenty of hydration with water, milk, watered down juice, and Pedialyte
- Popsicles – My kids almost like getting sick because it means they get to enjoy popsicles -get low-sugar ones
- Chicken Soup – Even the Mayo Clinic agrees that a bowl of chicken soup can help with cold symptoms – it’s an anti-inflammatory and speeds up mucus movement
- Stay Home – If your child has a fever or is vomiting, keep them home from school at least 24 hours after they return to health without medication. My son stayed home on Tuesday because he was just exhausted – getting the rest they need helps them to get better faster – and keeps other kids from catching it.
- Call the Doctor – If your child suffers from a high fever, vomiting, chills, extreme fatigue, or a cough that last more than a week, call the doctor. It may be something more serious than the common cold.
- Medication – If your child has a fever and aches, use a pain medication like below.
Kids Cold Medicine
Your best bet is to go with natural remedies – like the ones above and with natural products like Little Remedies. Their approach is “Less is More”, using as few ingredients as possible and keeping them free of alcohol, artificial dyes, or artificial colors. I personally like this approach, why put unnecessary ingredients in a product – and in our children?
Little Remedies® For Colds™ Honey Elixir calms throats and coughs naturally with honey. This is a great alternative to traditional cough medicine. It is safe for toddlers 12 months and older. I like that Little Remedies provides relief without extra stuff your kids don’t need or that could be harmful.
My kids both used the Little Remedies brand through toddler-hood. I felt confident that I was giving my children the relief they needed without all the unsafe extras. Our pediatrician actually recommended it during the uncertain times of baby products being pulled off the shelves.
I haven’t tried this exact product but know that honey is known to help treat colds and I trust the Little Remedies label. I have always felt safe using this products with my children and it is always readily available at stores I shop.
Infant Fever and Pain Reliever
Another confusing product to try to find right now is a fever and pain reliever for infants! Little Remedies® For Fevers™ Infant Fever/Pain Reliever is one of the only brand name fever reducers available. That should tell you something! I’m not sure where the other brands went or when they are coming back.
Little Remedies For Fevers can help reduce your infant’s fever as well as all the aches and pains of the common cold. It is so hard to treat a baby with a cold. It is a relief for parents to have a choice that is safe for their baby without all the extra saccharin, alcohol, artificial flavors, and artificial coloring and dyes that other brands use.
Use the provided AccuSafe dosing syringe to get the exact dosing amount for your baby. Ask your doctor if your baby is under 2 years of age. You always want to give the exact dosage to your baby/children. The issue with so many products is that parents don’t follow the label for dispensing the product. If you aren’t sure, ask your child’s doctor for the dosage based on your child’s age AND weight.
They also have available Little Remedies® For Fevers™ Children’s Fever/Pain Reliever for older kids ages 2 and up. I have used this product and my kids think it taste good – this is so important as kids don’t need to taste something yucky when they don’t already feel good! I’ve found that this is a good product for aches, pains, fevers, and sore throats for my kids.
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Little Remedies. I received product samples as well as a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.
