How to Keep Your Kids Healthy This Holiday Season

Between traveling, going into the city, seeing family, and the weather, there are a million reasons why it’s easier for your kids to get sick during the holidays. And even if you encourage hand washing, proper nutrition, and healthy habits…your kids can still get sick! So how do you differentiate between a common cold and the flu or other upper respiratory infections, establish healthy routines your kids will follow, and know when to keep your child home from school? Gustavo Ferrer, M.D., FCCP, a pulmonologist and author of Cough Cures: The Best Natural Remedies and Over-the-Counter Drugs for Acute and Chronic Cough, is here with tips on how to accomplish all of the above.

Establish routines with your kids.

It can be hard to get your kids to wash their hands and eat their fruits and vegetables, so Ferrer recommends creating a routine and doing it with them. He began washing his hands with his kids as soon as they got home from school when they were about nine years old–and now, as teenagers, they automatically go to the sink when they get home.

If soap and water aren’t nearby, Ferrer recommends hand sanitizer, which will do the trick in a pinch–but doesn’t replace hand washing. Make sure you kids are getting proper nutrition and staying active, as well.

Protect kids with fragile immune systems while traveling.

“During this season, we travel a lot, and we’re maintaining close contact with people for a long time,” Ferrer says. “Planes are becoming smaller and smaller and have more and more people breathing and recirculating the same air, and that increases the transmission of viruses. If the person or child traveling has chronic diseases like chronic bronchitis or asthma, or they have cancer or they’re on chemotherapy, it is strongly advised that they use a protective mask to cover their mouth and nose. On top of that, use protective hygiene.”