Tips for Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

Follow these simple tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season to help your entire family have their best winter yet.

Your best defense against germs and illness is being prepared. From hand-washing to dietary changes, and even an important lesson to teach your kids, these tips are sure to help your family stay healthy this season.

Make Your Kids Wash Their Hands

According to WebMD, About 80% of infectious diseases are spread by touch. It is absolutely crucial that your kids wash their hands – and wash them well!

In fact, they need to be washing for at least 20 seconds – and they need to use soap.

One of our favorite tips is to use the ABC song! Remind your kids to sing their ABCs while they wash. They'll wash for at least 20 seconds and get in some extra ABCs practice!

Wash Your Own Hands

It can be easy to get distracted and focus on just your little one's hygiene. Don't forget about yours! While you want to stay focused on your sick child, make sure you're washing your own hands frequently, as well! 

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Bump up the water intake for your entire family during cold and flu season to help flush germs and toxins from your body.

If your kids aren’t that interested in drinking water, get creative. Have a competition to see who can drink the most water during a day. Buy special cups for each child or even let them decorate a cup themselves.

Teach Your Kids To Blow Their Nose

You expect to teach your kids how to walk and talk and use the potty. But teaching them to blow their nose? Yes, that’s an important life skill too. Keep those little fingers out of noses by teaching your kids to blow their nose.

It’s best to take teaching nose blowing in phases. Rather than overwhelming your child with a tissue in his face, capitalize on other opportunities to familiarize your child with blowing air through the nose.

Make it a game! Make it a game by seeing who can blow a feather across the table fastest – using only your nose.

Take advantage of bath time! Have your child put his nose just below the surface of the water and blow bubbles using only their nose. Always ensure appropriate supervision at bath time.

Use a mirror! While you might know that blowing your nose causes something to happen, it can be a hard concept for children to grasp.Have your child stand in front of the mirror the next time she has a stuffy nose, and although it may be gross, have her blow until she can see the mucus coming out.

Take Action Fast

If someone in your house does get sick, take action fast! Keep those germs from spreading to other household members and consider a quarantine.