How to Keep Your Kids Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

It’s officially cold and flu season. And when you have little ones, there’s nothing worse than one of them bringing home a cold from school. Before you know it, the whole house will be sniffling and coughing. 

While our super soft bamboo pajamas are the comfiest remedy for a sick day, today we want to share a few tips to help keep your family from getting sick this cold and flu season. 

Before we dive into that, make sure to shop our newest winter collections and sale pieces! Stock up on cozy pajamas and plush blankets for everything life throws at you this winter. 

How to Keep Your Kids Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

Practice Good Hand Washing

One of the best ways that you can protect your kids during cold and flu season is by teaching them good hand washing. You want to make sure that you’re building a good handwashing habit at home – that they’ll continue when they’re out of the house. 

We recommend making handwashing fun! Especially when kids are little, making handwashing fun will make them a lot more likely to do it. You can give them a toy to wash with their hands, or come up with a handwashing song that you always sing together. 

You can also practice leading by example. We all know that our little ones love to mimic us! Regularly show them that handwashing shouldn’t be considered a chore.

Eat Well

This time of year, one of the best ways to protect your whole family from cold and flu season is by eating meals that help to strengthen your immune system. Meals with lots of colorful fruits and vegetables should do the trick! It’s also good to avoid preservatives and look for foods that are rich in vitamin C and vitamin D. 

We LOVE this ‘Cold Buster Smoothie’ from Babyfoodie. You can also make it into popsicles for a fun afternoon snack. It is loaded with vitamin C, natural electrolytes, and probiotics that boost the immune system. Plus it’s free from preservatives and sugar. Try it in your house this cold and flu season. Here’s the recipe to follow along.

Stay Active

Studies have shown that being active can actually help to reduce cold and flu episodes. So whether you’re indoors or outdoors, add active play to your kid's routine. Regular, moderate exercise can help improve their immune system and keep the whole family happy this winter. 

Here are a few of our favorite ways to get active in the winter months:

• Set up an obstacle course either indoors or outdoors (depending on how cold it is where you live)
• Throw a dance party in your living room
• Do kid-friendly yoga together
• Go ice-skating 

Focus on Getting Good Sleep

One of the best things that you can do during cold and flu season is to get enough sleep. This will make a huge difference in your whole family's immune system and ability to heal. 

Our little Birdies need between 9-14 hours of sleep a night, and missing out on sleep can be one of the first things to weaken the immune system. Make sure they’re getting the sleep they need by creating a special winter nighttime routine. 

We find that our Birdies are more excited for bed when they get to pick out their pajamas for the night. If you haven’t already, you need to try our extra-soft bamboo viscose. Our pajamas are sure to become their new favorite and they can even match with their favorite doll or teddy bear.

Here are some things we include in our nighttime routine for better sleep:

• Eating a nutritious snack so no one goes to bed hungry
• Talking about their day
• Reading a book together
• Pick a song to sing together

Encourage Hydration

Lastly, make sure your kids are staying hydrated. This is a simple way to help support your immune system. A lot of kids don’t drink enough water, simply because they’re not thinking about it throughout the day. You can help by making sure they have a drink of water each time they come into the kitchen. 

How much water do kids need? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children drink this much per day:

• 1–3 years old: 4 cups
• 4–8 years old: 5 cups
• 7–8 years old and older: 7 cups

You can keep water in the fridge that has fresh orange slices or mint leaves in it. You can also make sure that your family is eating plenty of hydrating snacks. Watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and cucumber all have a high water count. 

We can’t stop cold and flu season from coming – but we can take steps at home to protect our Birdies as they head out into the world! These are just a few of the ways that you can help prevent cold and flu for your children. 

But when those sick days do come, make sure you’re prepared with plush blankets and soft, breathable pajamas to curl up in all day long. Shop our new collections for all of your favorite styles today. And make sure you’re following us on Instagram for the latest product launches and giveaways.