Boosting Immunity During Cold and Flu Season

 The winter months are dragging on and we know that means the cold and flu season is staying with us too! It’s hard to stay healthy when it feels like every week brings more sniffles and germs. We wanted to share a few ways we’ve found to help keep our families' immune systems up when the sickness is going around! 

Hygiene:  We all know hand-washing is important but it is so easy to get lax about one of the key ways we can keep our kids healthy. Washing hands before and after eating, after playing outside (yes even in the snow!) and whenever returning home can stop so many germs. Try singing a song or making a game out of it to make hand washing time more fun!

Nutrition: Getting back into a routine after the holidays, with school and life being busy, can make it hard to think about keeping our kids snacks/meals nutritious (stay tuned for next months blog post on some easy/healthy breakfast ideas). It is very important to take the time to grab a healthier snack, blueberries, apples and citrus fruits are great and easy snacks to keep your kiddos (and your) immune systems up! 

Hydrate: Sometimes when it’s colder outside it’s easier for us to forget about staying hydrated. But just as important as eating nutritious food, is drinking lots of water. Make sure your kiddos have access to water when they are playing around the house or at school (Pro tip: a new and fun water bottle can really motivate them to stay hydrated). And don’t forget to keep drinking more water yourself. When our kiddos see us drinking water and forming healthy habits they are encouraged to do the same! 

Good Sleep: This one is a bit of a no-brainer but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. Good sleep is so important for keeping our kids' bodies up and running (and ours too). Keeping your kids on a solid sleeping schedule and paying attention to when they are getting tired is really important. Especially when kids are getting a growth spurt they may need more sleep than you, or they,  think they do. Sleeping is the best way to help our bodies stay in tip-top shape and ready to fight off all those bugs going around. 

Humidifier:  Sometimes having a humidifier in your child’s room can help improve their sleep. Check out this article for reasons that your child may benefit from a humidifier and maybe consider having one for these winter months!  

Exercise: With the cooler weather it can be difficult to get the kids outside. But, exercise is so important for helping our children remain healthy and strong! In a previous blog post we recommended these Connecticut indoor play areas; which is perfect for when it’s a bit too cold to get outside. Even when it’s a hassle, sledding, snowball fights, and building snowmen are great ways to burn off some energy too! Want to stay at home? Try some indoor physical activities like dancing, playing with a balloon, or even doing some yoga! Looking for more indoor activities for your kids? Check out our blog post from last month here. 

These are just some of the ways we’ve found that help keep everyone’s immune systems strong and healthy during the cold and flu season. Do you have any other suggestions? Dm us on Instagram we’d love to hear your ideas! 

As always, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more blog posts and don’t forget to subscribe to our monthly family newsletter here, follow us on Instagram, or like us on Facebook for more content!