I’m Robin Saks Frankel and I’m an Episencial mom. I have two toddler boys-2 and 3.5 and they are always in motion. Both my kids are notorious early risers, which by default means I am too. And when one of them gets sick, it’s a dreaded house of cards where we each fall prey to whatever is going around. The end result being a sleepless mom who also has to juggle a sick family and handle her own recuperation. Ah, the good times that go along with cold and flu season. If there were a magic shield I could build or a miracle elixir to ward off the cooties you can bet your Echinacea I would do it.
I, personally, am a firm believer in getting the flu shot both for myself and for my family. But that shot alone still doesn’t mean we aren’t going to catch one of the bugs that go around every year and pretty much grind me and my family to a halt as we take turns feeling lousy.
Quite honestly, I’m sick of being sick every year. And my heart breaks for my kids when they have even the sniffles because they are too young to take any cold medicine and get at least some temporary relief.
So instead of just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best this year, I took a look at what parenting experts have to say about building up my family’s natural immunity to help keep the cooties away in the first place. Here are my top favorite articles:
- Dr. Alan Greene recommends keeping it clean. In this article (http://www.drgreene.com/qa/preventing-colds-flus-and-infections) he talks about the right way to minimize germs in your home.
- Eat your Vitamin C in fruit and veggies form to help keep the doctor away says Dr. Sears. http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition/foods-boost-immunity/8-foods-boost-immunity
- Several of these 11 tips to prevent colds and flu in kids (http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/11-tips-prevent-cold-flu) are easy to incorporate into your family (especially eating more yogurt and having your kids get plenty of exercise)
- And when the sick hits the fam, this Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cold-remedies/ID00036) article debunking what does and doesn’t work was also helpful.
Have any news and remedies from the heart and home that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know here: www.Facebook.com/Episencial.
Robin Saks Frankel
An Episencial Mom