The first year I taught elementary school I caught everything that passed through the school system; colds that turned into sinus infections, the flu with a 103 degree fever, strep throat (twice) and an assorted collection of stomach viruses. It didn’t help that I taught lower elementary where the kids wanted to sneeze on their hands or wipe their noses with their fingers and then grab my hand, touch my face or hug me. Over the years I became more resistant to germs and also learned a few ways to prevent getting sick. Here’s five ways to help your child avoid picking up those germs that are running rampant through the classroom.
1. Send their own water bottle. Did you know that water fountains are one of the germiest places in the school? The kids don’t realize putting their mouth on the water fountain is a sure way to pass on viruses.
2. Don’t share! I know we teach our children to share from an early age, but be sure to tell them not to share their water bottles or anything that comes in contact with their mouths like lip balms.
3. Teach kids the right way to “blow.” Remind kids to only use a tissue once and then throw it away. A good reminder for young children is never use your clothing as a tissue. Believe me, this was one I stressed often! I know school supplies like tissues can be in short supply during flu season so it’s a good idea to add a travel pack to your child’s backpack.
4. Remind children to wash their hands often. It’s never too early to tell kids to wash their hands before meals, after using the bathroom and after coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose. It’s not a bad idea to provide them with a small bottle of hand sanitizer in case they can’t wash their hands.
5. Wipe down backpacks. These mix with other backpacks, get dropped on the floor and passed around by the kids. Be sure to wipe them down with an antibacterial wipe to help keep them sanitized and, if possible, toss them in the washer once a week.
Even following all those tips, kids still get sick. Mine always get sick during holidays, weekends or after hours when our doctor is closed. When that happens I rely on MinuteClinic, located in select CVS stores in 28 states and DC, that are available after hours and open seven days a week with no appointment necessary. It’s been our one stop shop for flu, ear infections and strep because once we’ve finished our appointment I can have my prescriptions filled and pick up our over the counter medicines at CVS. We can even have our flu vaccinations here. It’s much cheaper than going to the ER and with a much shorter wait time too! .
What do you do to help prevent colds and flu?
I have never thought to wipe down their backpacks, I am going to start doing this.
Great tips, especially the backpack one! I think a lot of people forget just how much gross stuff those packs touch on a daily basis!
Thank you for sharing these great tips. I feel like a broken record to my 4 girls about sanitizing hands and their personal items, but at times I know it goes through one ear and out the other lol. I carry hand sanitizer with me and it drives my girls and hubby mad! =)
I’m working so hard to teach my children to sneeze in the nook on their arm and always wash… Its so hard with other children though. Snot everywhere this year it seems!
It’s tough not to get sick at school and then bring it home to the family at home. These are all really great tips. Very important!
Got to load them up with good vitamins and minerals in the winter, Vitamin C and zinc are 2 of the best for boosting the immune system. I also like the Wet Ones wipes – I think they do a little better job than the hand sanitizers, as you can wipe the germs off your hands with them, as well as applying the alcohol or other sanitizer.
All good tips – and good reminders for adults too! I’m great at hand-washing post-bathroom, but I never think about doing it after working at my desk all day and other things where germs thrive!
These are all great tips but nothing is as important as good hand washing and keeping your child home if they are sick. Before touching food or face, hand need to be washed.
These are some great tips, I can see how school can affect a lot of the germs surrounding them
I never thought to wipe down backpacks. Thanks so much for sharing these tips all great ones.
Hand washing is so very important. I make sure that my kids also carry around hand sanitizer in their back packs because sometimes water isn’t always available. Great tips!
Great tips. We always end up getting sick every year
These are such great tips. I will definitely keep them in mind. Thanks so much for the info.
In seasons like this, my mom stocks up on Vitamin C, making us take two doses everyday.
These are some really good tips for keeping germs at bay.
Sneeze into your shoulder to prevent germs from flying in the air. Don’t sneeze into your hands since you’ll be touching things…
oh yes hand washing is a HUGE one for me. We have used this clinic before – works out great when our doctors office is closed.
Thanks for all of the tips for prevention. You can never keep your kids too safe.
I’m a huge hand washer and I try to avoid touching my face at all because so many germs make their way in through eyes, mouth and nose!
Great tips! Most don’t think about wiping down the backpacks!
These are some really great tips to stop the spread of viruses in school. I also think it is really important to keep your kids home if you think they may be contagious, fever or green/yellow sputum. Too much emphasis is put on perfect attendance.
Ugh. We have two kids with colds right now. Great tips, we need them!
Well I did everything but wiping down the backpacks. I’ll remember to start doing that
Great tips! However, at my kids school, they are not allowed to carry water bottles without a doctors note.
These are some great tips because I believe that most of the germs that come into my house are brought by the kids from school. Also, since I am a teacher, I bring a lot of stuff home too without realizing it.
Great tips. Anytime my kids get the sniffles…I end up super sick.
Definitely good ones! Never thought about encouraging “no sharing” during the season, but that’s very smart!
Why did you not do this post sooner, I am sitting here with the flu ready to go to bed, lol. Great tips!
Great tips. We are lucky and usually don’t catch a flue bug. If I did, I would head on over to CVS. I trust them!
There tips are so important, thanks for sharing. Nothing worse than getting a cold or flu.
thanks for the great reminder and good list of tips
yout photo looks amazing, but it does look cold!
These are great tips. My son always takes his own water bottle. I’ve also taught him to cough or sneeze into his elbow and not his hands. I also try to make sure he’s taking his vitamins and getting enough rest.
I’ll have to start sending my son with a water bottle to preschool to help. If it is a bottle that he likes, he’ll drink more than if he uses the little cups at school.
Great tips! Its so hard to teach kids not to share when we always say share..HAHAHA
trisha
I will definitely have to check out the minute clinic. What a great idea and comforting to know they are there when you need them.
Thank you for the great tips! I need to restock tissues so we are ready for cold and flu season.
Great tips… how ironic as soon as I brought your post up I started to sneeze 🙁 … soo gonna run and wash my hands and grab some tissues and what a great reminder to wipe down backpacks I always forget about stuff like that..thanks for sharing
I love these tips, hopefully we can prevent sickness this year. I have been trying to teach my son how to blow his nose properly for 14 years.. it’s just not working, LOL. Help!
I don’t know why I haven’t paid more attention to their backpacks. I bet they’re just crawling with germs! From now on, I’ll be wiping them down.
These are all great tips! Proper handwashing is so important…
#2 is the biggest rule that my mom must have implanted in my brain, haha! never share – it could spread out anything that causes sickness of sort. these are good tips!
I make sure my kids drink lots of orange juice. I like the backpack tip- never thought of that one.
Great tips…the flu has hit in Wisconsin. Many are sick especially with sore throats.
Good idea to wipe down the backpacks, they certainly come in contact with lots of germs! We focus a lot on keeping hands clean throughout the year and I try to make sure the kids have easy access to antibacterial wipes to use for quick clean-ups.
Great tips! I’ve never thought about wiping down the backpacks. I don’t think mine can go in the washer.
These are all great tips. That picture above looks a lot like how our outdoors looks right now. brrrrrr That is a great idea to put a travel pack of tissue in their backpacks. I had never thought to wipe down their backpacks!
Those are excellent tips, getting a new tissue each time for use is so important. That picture totally makes me feel chilly. 🙂
What great reminders! I am frequently surprised by how many people don’t wipe down the backpacks!
I know it is about cold and flue, but your pic is so pretty. I’m thinking warm fuzzies 😉
With germs running rampant this time of year, these are some great tips! Thanks for sharing these!
Thank you for these tips! If you can believe it, my daughter is in the next room sneezing away as I was reading this! LOL!
These are great tips for me at work too 🙂
ugh, preschool germs have already hit our house once. thanks for the tips! we love cvs minute clinics!
Very Good advice! Thank you!
I have one home with me sick right now! This is the season where too much sickness is passed around!
Schools are definitely filled with germs–but so are grocery stores, shopping malls and anywhere else a lot of people tend to go! It is not only the kids who don’t always use a kleenex—take hand sanitizer wherever you go and try not to hold onto the handrails of escalators!
I always thought it was so funny trying to teach my kids to blow their noses when they were really little, trying to blow inward and all sorts of other sillies! Makes me smile just thinking about it, lol.
Washing your hands regularly is such a huge help. I really try to remind the kids to do that regularly.
Our kids use hand sanitizer at school and we are big enforcers with hand washing.
We try and makes sure they drink a ton of water, eat right and get the sleep they need to keep them healthy too.
Wiping down backpacks is such a good idea!! Thank you!!
Oh we also send our kids with those mini anti-bacterial clip onto your backpack sanitizers
These are great tips! I also include making sure the kids have a great balanced nutrition and are taking their multivitamins. Then they have better immune system to fight off the colds.
i think keeping your kids HOME when they start to not feel well helps too!!
I love these tips! I often forget about wiping my daughter’s backpack and lunch box down!
What great tips these are! And not only for children, but for grown ups as well. Don’t have a backpack? You probably have a purse!! Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands! Thanks!
we send in “fun” soaps for the classrooms regularly and i send in hand soap jugs. my theory is if the soap dispenser is appealing maybe they’ll like it more
I never thought to wipe down their backpacks, but it makes sense now that you say it. I am definitley going to start doing that.