Winter Time in Schools Not Only Brings Shorter Days but the Common Cold

This time of year not only brings shorter days of sunlight but also the common cold.  One of the worse places for the spreading of these germs is inside the classroom.  It is an uphill battle for your children to avoid the thousands of germs that are being sneezed through the classrooms. For families that have more than one child the battle becomes even harder as one sibling brings it home and then lovingly shares it with the remainder of the household.

The first symptoms of a common cold are often a tickle in the throat, a runny or stuffy nose, and sneezing. Kids with a cold may also have mild fever, cough, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and loss of appetite.  There are a few things that should be remembered. Always maintaining the diet of eating our 5 a day, this provides us all with the nutrients and vitamins that are needed to build a barrier and/or fight off those germs. During this time the drinking and intake of vitamin C should be increased. Fresh air is essential as opening the doors and windows will help to blow the germs away and not containing them inside your home.

We should also make sure that we have some medical essentials within each household.  A non-contact thermometer will always be needed, especially in the younger children in order to monitor any fever.  The use of a vapour rub or inhalation humidifier will ease the breathing, especially at night time.  Saline nasal drops which can be used to relieve congestion.

We have to remember that the cold is a viral infection and we need to let it run its course.  The key to success is getting plenty of rest, avoiding large amounts of vigorous activities and drinking lots and lots of fluids such as water, juice and decaffeinated beverages, all of these things will assist your child or children to feel better while they are on the mend.

Even though sending your children to school will not make the cold any worse, you should remember that this increases the likelihood that the cold will spread within the school.

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