Additional Tips for Keeping Children Healthy During Winter

The winter months are generally filled with fun and laughter for families as there are a number of holidays celebrated during this time of year. However, all of those smiles quickly vanish when a member of the family becomes ill, especially if that member is a child. I’m not sure about you, but I personally dread the winter months for the fact of dealing with all the flus, stomach bugs and other viruses that float around this time of year.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I don’t look forward to the holidays, because I do. All it means is that I dread winter because of the sickness that can easily be caught. I didn’t used to pay much attention to the “stuff” floating around during the winter months, but now that I’m a mom, I’m much more alert. I have put together a small list of additional, not so common, tips that I use during the cold months to help keep my kids healthy.

• Cook more from home. My family enjoys going out to eat every now and then. Why? Well, I don’t have to cook at home on those nights, but also because it’s nice to get out as a family and eat at a restaurant. With a five year old, going to a restaurant also helps us work with him in regards to his table manners as well. However, when winter comes along and the cold weather is finally here, we don’t take the kids out to eat as much. I choose to cook more from home, because I can control the environment my kids are subjected to when they are at home whereas I can’t at a restaurant. 
• Opt to hire in-home babysitter more often. When there is something that I want to go do, whether it’s go to the gym and workout for an hour, get my hair done or go out on a date with my husband, I try to get an in-home babysitter before other options are considered. For instance, at the gym, they have daycare. However, if I my babysitter is available, I will call her to come watch the little ones while I go work out because then my kids aren’t subjected to all the germs the other kids at the gym bring with them.
• Carry wet wipes and hand sanitizer with me at all times.Obviously, there are times when I can’t leave my kids at home. This is why I carry wet wipes and hand sanitizer with me at all times. If we go to Wal-Mart or some other store, I wipe the cart down with a wet wipe before I let my five year old touch it. I also give him hand sanitizer several times when we’re out and about to kill any germs he may have gotten during our excursion. Hand sanitizer and wet wipes are great when you attend a special occasion, such as a wedding. Believe it or not, hand sanitizer can be used to get stains out of various fabrics and wet wipes can be used to quickly clean up sticky messes…like jelly dropping on a flower girl dress or something similar.