Disclaimer
Information shared is for informative purposes only. It is not intended for assessment, diagnosis or treatment purposes. If you feel you require medical assistance, please seek out a qualified health care professional for a proper assessment.
As soon as school starts up again I get parents asking me how they can protect their kids and themselves from colds and flus. It seems like the day after they step foot in that school or daycare they come home with a runny nose and a fever! Ahh!
Rest assured there are many things you can do as a family to stay healthy but first let’s figure out what “healthy” actually means. Here’s how it breaks down….I always ask parents these 3 questions:
1. How often is your child sick?
2. How long does each illness last on average?
3. How severe were your child’s symptoms? Did it lead to a more complicated illness which requires antibiotic or medical intervention (visit to hospital)?
So here’s what I’m looking for when asking each of these questions:
How often is your child sick and how much is too much?
Answer #1: The “healthy” number of colds and flus will change as your child progress from infancy to childhood to adulthood.
Toddlers: Average 8 colds/flus per year (say whaaat??!?)
Pre-teens: Average 6 colds/flus per year
Teens and Adults: Average 2-3 colds/flus per year
So you can see why new parents feel concerned when their kid is home every 4 weeks with a cold! It seems like they are barely over the last one before they catch another. This is actually a healthy and normal part of the development of a child’s immune system. They are building their “immune library” so they can eventually become more resistant to infections. This is a process that I encourage my patients to support and not to squash.
How long does each illness last on average?
Answer #2: A healthy cold or flu can vary in its duration from 2 days to 7 days. It is healthy and normal for a healthy child to be wiped out for a couple of days (fever, lack appetite, fatigue) but after that initial onslaught your child should begin to consistently show improvement in symptoms. Stuffy noses may linger for weeks after but you should see that your child is 100% back to their old self in terms of energy and disposition.
How severe were your child’s symptoms?
Answer #3: If every time your child gets sick they end up with pneumonia, strep throat, sinusitis or require antibiotics to recover, this could be a sign that their immune system is not mounting an effective response against the virus and it is leading to a secondary infection. This is where seeing a naturopath to come up with a plan to better support your child’s immune system can be very helpful.
So what if you answered, yes, yes and yes to all 3 questions? Don’t panic. If you think your child is having too many illnesses or that they are not self-limiting it’s time to support their immune system.
Here are a few simple things you can do at home:
1. Teach them hand-washing – encourage everyone to wash their hands when they come in from school or daycare and then wash up again before suppertime
2. Teach them not to pick their noses – just joking, we’re not miracle workers after all!! That’s my daughter’s favourite snack…not true, her favourite snack is her toenails…but a good booger comes in a close second!
3. Supplement with probiotics. One study of 326 kids in daycare found supplementing with probiotics to be a “safe effective way to reduce fever, rhinorrhea, and cough incidence and duration and antibiotic prescription incidence, as well as the number of missed school days attributable to illness, for children 3 to 5 years of age.”
4. Use a saline nasal spray or wash to treat and prevent colds. One study Their result showed significant improvement in sore throat, cough, nasal obstruction, and secretions when given as treatment for a cold, as well as fewer illness days, school absences, and complications in children receiving the saline as a preventative.
I hope some of these strategies help keep you and your family healthier this winter!
Medical Disclaimer: Information shared is for informative purposes only. It is not intended for assessment, diagnosis or treatment purposes. If you feel you require medical assistance, please seek out a qualified health care professional for a proper assessment.