3 Ways To Stop Your Kid From Being A Walking Petri Dish, Per A Pediatrician
You can’t germ-proof your kid, but a pediatrician says these three habits get you pretty close.
Most parents can relate to the joyous feeling of their child(ren) finally returning to school after summer break and, by mid-fall, (hopefully) hitting that back-to-school-routine stride. And conversely, the underlying anxiety of knowing it’s only a matter of time before they get sick and have to stay home. It’s a question worth asking: Is there anything we can do to prevent our kids from being a petri dish at school? I spoke with Dr. Brittany Odom, a board-certified pediatrician, mom, and trusted pediatric health educator, to see if she had any useful advice on preventing the many, many illnesses our children pick up this time of year.
“There are definitely some things we can do to prevent our kids from getting sick, but it is impossible to totally prevent it. So, them getting sick is not a parenting fail,” Dr. Odom wants to first point out. She then highlighted three ways we can take action against these seasonal illnesses.
Set Up a Landing Routine
A landing routine is what your kids do the moment they walk into your house after school. Kind of like stop, drop, and roll, minus the roll. Have them immediately remove any items from school, like their jackets, backpacks, and shoes.
Then, kids should wash their hands. “That way, we are not tracking all of the germs from school throughout the house,” she explains. Furthermore, this is even more important for families with babies at home because “older siblings bringing illnesses home is one of the most common ways babies get sick.”
Know and Avoid the T-Zone
“Your eyes, nose, and mouth create your T-zone, and this area is where a lot of germs can enter our bodies,” shares Odom. So simply emphasizing to our children to keep their hands away from this area is majorly helpful. Furthermore, if kids are apt to touch the T-zone regardless of what you say, enforcing handwashing is obvious, but worth stating again. “Washing hands at the most important times is helpful too. So, before we eat, after we use the bathroom, and before touching a baby sibling.”
If we can also teach kids to cough and sneeze into their elbow instead of their hands, that’s one more way to prevent the germs from entering the T-zone.
Have Your Wellness Toolkit Ready
“Have a basket already set up with everything you need at 2 a.m. when your kid wakes up with a fever and they’re feeling terrible,” Odom recommends. These are the products Odom suggests having in there, and luckily, they are all easily shoppable in stores and online:
- Thermometer: Odom prefers this rectal one for the most accurate results for infants. For babies and kids over 6 months old, she finds this ear thermometer to be a convenient option.
- Correct dosing cup or syringe
- Pain or fever reducer: The Mommy Bliss Infant & Children Acetaminophen is the first-ever acetaminophen to be Clean Label Project Verified, and I’m a big fan of this product.
- Cough suppressant: I recommend the Mommy’s Bliss Kids Organic Cough Syrup & Mucus + Immunity Support and Mommy’s Bliss Kids Organic Cough Syrup & Mucus Nighttime.
- Elderberry syrup: Odom shares that there have been some small studies that show elderberry syrup may help with upper respiratory symptoms, so add this to the toolkit as well.
Beyond these three tips, Odom recommends that all children ages 6 months and older get both the flu and COVID vaccine. (Mom tip: An easy option for accomplishing this is CVS’s MinuteClinic, which is faster and oftentimes more convenient than a trip to the doctor’s office.)
Additionally, if you have an infant under 8 months old entering their first RSV season, and you did not receive the maternal RSV vaccine during pregnancy, talk to your pediatrician about getting this one too. It's also approved for babies 8 months to 19 months old who are considered "high risk.”
How do you know when it’s OK to send your kid back to school?
“Send your kids back when they are fever-free for at least 24 hours and symptoms have dramatically improved,” says Odom. As much as we want them out the next day, sending them back sick is harmful and disruptive to other students. And you don’t want to be that mom!
What do I do if my baby catches my big kid’s cold?
Since typical cold care medicines aren’t recommended for children under 4 years old, Odom says to focus on “supportive care.” These are ways to bring them some comfort and relief from their symptoms. Non-medicated saline sprays are useful, as well as a nasal aspirator. “There’s a lot of watchful waiting, making sure they are feeding well, still giving you wet diapers, and staying hydrated,” shares Odom. A humidifier is also helpful: “I recommend a cool-mist rather than warm-mist humidifier. It should be emptied and cleaned regularly to prevent mold or bacterial growth.”
Taking Odom’s words to heart, I tried to institute a landing routine today when my 3-year-old returned home from preschool. Sure, he said “no” when I asked him to wash his hands. But then, with the promise of some lollipops, he reconsidered. Hands washed, he immediately ran to my 6-month-old in her bouncer. And yes, he went for her T-zone, but hey, at least his hands were clean. I’ll take the win!
