Fighting winter bugs and keeping your kids healthy this New Year

As we kick off 2014 it’s important to remember that we’re still in the middle of winter and often this means viruses and infections are still spreading around schools, nurseries and playgrounds. It’s important to do everything you can to prevent minor illnesses from hampering the cheerful holiday season. 

There are more than 200 types of viruses that can cause a cold, and if symptoms persist for more than three weeks, it’s important to see your GP. Having provisions like private medical insurance in place can give you peace of mind that your child can receive specialist medical treatment immediately in the event of a serious illness. There are also healthy habits you can do to teach your child to prevent sickness from spreading. 

So take on board these 5 helpful tips for fighting winter bugs this New Year:

Washing away nasty germs

One of the easiest things you can get your child to do is learn basic hygiene, giving you the peace of mind that they are preventing the spread of nasty bugs and viruses on their own on a day to day basis. It also stops your child from passing on anything they may be carrying themselves, causing other children and even adults around them to get sick.

A fun way to encourage your children to get into the habit of washing their hands for at least a minimum of 20 seconds is to sing a song along to the washing of their hands or make up a fun rhyme to scrub the germs away to.

Getting those all-important vitamins 

Even though it can be difficult to encourage your children to eat fruit and vegetables, it’s highly important that you encourage your children to eat their 5-a-day and maintain a balanced and healthy diet is to ensure they get all the vitamins and nutrients they need to set them up for the day.

By getting into the daily habit of eating fruit and vegetables, your children will receive the right ingredients to support their immune systems and feel more energised to boot.

Explaining what’s acceptable to share

Naturally as parents, we want to encourage our children to share with their family and friends, to encourage kindness and a selfless attitude. However, it’s important that children are taught what is acceptable for sharing, for example, toys and what’s not acceptable, such as the sandwich they’ve just bitten into.

Educating your little ones about sharing germs and how it can make other children feel unwell is important to help prevent the spread of common illnesses at nursery, school and in the playground. It should also be explained that taking other children’s food and drink could cause tummy upsets and colds for themselves so they must be careful with what they can share.

Minimise their exposure to viruses

During the winter season, colds and flu as well as other common winter bugs are rife in nurseries and schools and it can often be quite difficult for your child to avoid getting sick in these environments. 

Although it isn’t always possible for parents to avoid these situations at nurseries and schools, try and minimise the risk of exposing your child to such things by avoiding more public breeding grounds for viruses such as playgrounds or crèches in public places like shopping centres.

Rest up

Even in our adult lives, getting the right amount of sleep and rest can do wonders for your health. Aim to maintain regular bedtime routines so that you children are getting enough sleep to help their bodies recover from illness or to simply stay healthy in general.

While all parents know they can’t protect their child from every illness, these simple steps to help your child stay at the top of their health in the winter will try and prevent the best part of common winter bugs and viruses.