This post is part of a sponsored relationship with Temp-N-Toss. We love products that make our lives easier, especially when those products help us make our little ones feel better!
Is there any sweeter, more innocent, more germ-infested building on the planet than an elementary school?
All those cute little kids, eager to learn, play, and share every virus and bacteria they come in contact with – every school year is a game of “how long can we go between runny noses” in my household!
We do things we know make a difference for their health including plenty of sleep, teaching them to use tissues and cover their mouth when they sneeze and cough, and making fruits and vegetables part of every meal (whether they are actually eaten or not is a whole different story of course).
Here are a few other tips I’ve picked up that made a difference in the number of colds we saw last year:
- Pack hand sanitizer or wipes in your child’s backpack for them to use on the bus or car ride home.
- Have a drop zone for your kids to put their things down immediately after arriving home, and then head them to the bathroom for a warm, soapy hand wash! My kids love bar soap that they can slip around in their hands, but if yours are more motivated by scented foamy hand soap, make sure that’s what is stocked in the bathroom they’ll be using. Don’t forget to regularly change the hand towel in that bathroom – if I let it go more than a few days, that towel can stand up on its own!
- Especially during flu season, have a set of “cozy home clothes” waiting for them to change into once they wash up. Cold and flu germs can live on school clothes for hours after a classmate sneezes or coughs on them, so getting those school clothes off right away and into the laundry can help stop the spread.
- Have a family mini spa night for nail trimming on Sunday nights as you go over the weekly schedule! Not only will be something to look forward to instead of the Sunday Scaries before another school week, but keeping your child’s nails short and neat might help keep them from nibbling on them and will minimize how many little bacteria can stow away during the school week.
Of course, there’s only so much prevention we can do, and no matter how fastidious we are as parents, kids are bound to come down with a virus or infection at some point.
Those little temperatures can creep up before you even realize it, and it’s important to monitor whether it’s a runny nose from allergies, or if their bodies are fighting off a nasty virus.
I like to keep a small go-to kit of tools handy so that whether it’s me, my husband, or Nana taking care of the kids, everything to handle fevers and a basic set of the sniffles is easily accessible. I try to keep my kit free of any medicines so that it can be stored in a location that one child can fetch it for me while I tend to their sick sibling. Not everything requires a full arsenal of medicines and tools, most things can be handled with these items!
- Bandages in a variety of sizes. I know, this is a “duh” for moms, but just take this as a reminder to make sure that you’re stocked up! My kids have a way of sneaking in and depleting my supply so that when I need it for a cut, all that’s left are those tiny circular bandages that are made for…? Anybody know?
- Temp-N-Toss strips to monitor a fever. Once you apply the medical-grade adhesive paper strip, it can give you an accurate real-time read within 1 degree- for up to 48 hours!
That means even in the middle of the night when your child is cozy and sleeping, but you’re awake and wondering if they’re warm from the blankets or warm from a raging fever, you can check without waking your child.
The bonus of these strips is that you never have to worry if the battery is low (100% battery free!), panic over a broken thermometer spilling mercury and broken glass in the carpet, or search for those annoying plastic caps for the earpiece that the thermometer won’t work without. (Looking for those little plastic covers has made me utter a cross word or two to my sick child since I know I saw those bad boys being used as hats for his models at some point in time!) You can easily pick up Temp-N-Toss strips on your next Target run, or order them online through Target, Walmart, or Amazon. - Microwavable heating pad. Sometimes curling up with a warm “bean bag” on the couch for a while is all my kids need to feel a bit better during those cold weather months.
- Petroleum jelly or your choice of lubricating salve. This cures a variety of problems from a sore nose caused by frequent wiping, a scab that is still healing but getting a bit dry or adding a layer of protection to a sore bum during a tummy bug. And, it works great as a quick lip balm if your child is a frequent lip licker!
What other things do you keep in your quick care kit to handle sick and feverish kids? I’m always looking for new additions that can help soothe my family during what they feel is a time of “crisis”- even if we moms might just call it feeling a bit under the weather.
