This post on 5 Ways to Keep Your Child Healthy This School Year is sponsored by Doctor On Demand. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own.
Whether we’re ready for it or not, school has either started or will be starting soon and children will be heading back into the classroom. Our long days of unrestricted fun are over and we’re forced back into the structured routine of our life for the next 9 months.
A return to school means the exposure to an overabundance of germs. You can’t necessarily control your child’s exposure to germs but you can definitely minimize the effects. Here are my 5 simple and inexpensive ways to keep your child healthy this school year.
5 Ways to Keep Your Child Healthy This School Year
1. Set a sleep schedule. Lack of sleep makes way for a weakened immune system which can lead to colds, flus, or any number of illnesses. Children have varying sleep needs based on their age and own physiology, however, until they’re a teenager kids need a minimum of 10 hours of sleep for healthy immune function. If your child has a hard time falling asleep or quieting their thoughts at the end of the day, try a sound machine to help them fall asleep.
2. Give your child a multivitamin and a probiotic daily. These will both help support a healthy immune system and ensure their tiny bodies are getting the nutrients they need to keep your child healthy this school year. Gummies are an easy to get kids to take their vitamins because they look and taste like fruit snacks.
3. Offer your child lots of water. Until they’re a teenager, kids need to drink 5-7 (8-oz) glasses of water a day. Hydration plays a critical role in helping your body fight off infection and to operate at its full potential. If your child, isn’t a big fan of water, try adding some fresh fruit to naturally enhance the flavor.
4. Encourage hand washing. I know plenty of parents that have their children change clothes as soon as they get home from school. While that’s a great practice, I don’t relish having two extra outfits of dirty clothes added to my laundry pile each day. Instead, I focus on the germs that are on my kids hands and have them wash their hands when they get home from school and attach a fun smelling hand sanitizer bottle to each of their backpacks to encourage them to apply throughout the day to keep the germs at bay.
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