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Learn how we plan on helping CC battle colds and flu bugs this Winter. Discover three simple methods to keep kids healthy during cold and flu season.
As a parent, making it through cold and flu season with your sanity intact is no small wonder. Last year, during CC’s first winter in preschool, he went on an illness marathon that lasted more than six weeks. Thankfully, his maladies were mostly mild colds and random viruses, but still, it was pretty brutal for everyone involved.
The poor little guy would recover from one thing only to be smacked hard with something else a few days later. I ended up missing WEEKS of work from having to keep him home with me, and my husband and I both ended up catching several of the bugs that he brought home. We spent the last month and half of 2015 in utter misery, but not this year.
Do you hear that, Universe?! This year will be different!
CC is no longer in preschool, which I predict will drastically reduce his number of sick days this season. We’re also all getting flu shots, getting plenty of sleep (or trying to), and being super diligent about navigating public spaces with care. That means no rubbing our eyes, chewing our fingernails, or obeying five-second rules outside of our own home. These are good rules to live by anyway, but more important than ever during cold and flu season.
Of course, keeping ourselves healthy is a whole lot easier than keeping our two-year old from getting sick. He rubs his eyes about ten billion times between 10am and nap time, thinks his fingers are the world’s best chew toy, and will eat just about anything he finds on the ground (besides vegetables, of course. We’ve tried that trick.)
How do you get a child who seems utterly determined to seek out germs to better protect his own wellness? We’ve come up with three simple tips to improve CC’s chances of making it through cold and flu season with zero illness marathons. I hope they’ll help your little ones too.
Hydrate with Healthy Drinks – Just like adults, kids need to drink plenty of fluids in order to be at their best. Guzzling healthy drinks like water, caffeine free teas, milk, and natural fruit and vegetable juices can help their immune systems fight off illness. And, if they do get sick, they’ll start the battle with the advantage of already being well hydrated.
For kids over two, try adding a squirt of honey to an herbal tea like Bigelow’s I Love Lemon or Cozy Chamomile. Served warm or over ice, these fun tasting teas can help encourage kids to drink up!
Make Hand-Washing Fun – My son loves any excuse to play in water, but getting him to actually WASH his hands instead of just making a big mess was more challenging than I expected. One thing that really helped was switching to a foaming soap dispenser. The foam soap is all lathered up and ready to go, making the process easier for little ones. Plus, they love to smush the big fluffy bubbles between their fingers!
We also like to sing Happy Birthday while washing hands. CC and his cousin, Fox, get a big laugh out of singing Happy Birthday to their soapy fingers, and I like that the ritual keeps them in one spot long enough to actually get them clean. As far as frequency goes, it’s best to wash hands after returning home from being out, before eating, after potty, and after playing outside. I am hoping that making hand-washing a habit from a young age will help the habit stick for life.
Pack a Cold & Flu Defense Kit – Yes, sometimes I’m that person at the store wiping down my cart and dousing my son and I with antibacterial gel. I wasn’t always that person, but after last year’s illness marathon I have stopped messing around with germs. We don’t always disinfect ourselves or public property when we are out and about, but when CC is in a mouthy mood (as in everything goes into it) I’m glad to have my little bag of tricks handy.
My Cold & Flu Defense Kit is a small zipper pouch that fits right into my diaper bag or pocketbook. I stock it with antibacterial wipes, antibacterial gel, travel-size tissues, Vitamin C gummies, and a tiny bar of soap packed in a travel case. The soap is a habit I picked up from fellow soap makers who prefer using their own homemade stash to the generic pink goop found in most public restrooms. For me, I like having a spare soap on hand for the inevitable empty soap dispenser – a disastrous thing to encounter post diaper change!
I shopped for Bigelow Tea for this post at my local Walmart. You can find a great selection of Bigelow Teas in their coffee and tea section. I’m a big tea drinker, and I love having a nice stash on hand – especially during the colder months of fall and winter. A nice hot cup of yummy tea is great for soothing a sore throat or just warming your belly when you’re feeling low.
I really like that Bigelow carries a wide variety of caffeine free teas. That means I can drink as many cups as I like and share them with CC without worry about over-caffeinating anybody. Their fruit flavored teas, like Lemon Ginger and Perfect Peach make lovely iced teas as well. Staying well hydrated is one of the most tried and true methods of fighting off a cold, and drinking tea makes the job extra tasty.
As far as tea brands go, Bigelow is a great choice. Bigelow drinkers TEA PROUDLY enjoying something manufactured in the USA by a family-owned business. Bigelow prides itself on using high quality ingredients and thoughtful packaging methods that ensure freshness in every box. Follow Bigelow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see how Bigelow drinkers TEA PROUDLY.
Right now you can save a little something on your purchase of Bigelow Tea with the Ibotta App. Ibotta helps shoppers earn rebates while shopping which can be turned in for cash or gift cards. Use Ibotta to earn $0.75 when you buy any box of Bigelow Tea at Walmart.