5 Cleaning Tips for Cold and Flu Season

5 Cleaning Tips for Cold and Flu Season: To be fair I was warned everyone said to me as soon as you send your kid to daycare you are gonna get sick too now I’d really have a pretty strong immune system I eat well I take my vitamins I take probiotics so I was feeling pretty empowered I didn’t quite believe all the hubbub that people were saying but the first week riling went to daycare she was fine the second week is when the nose started to run and when her nose started to run my nose started to run and it all went downhill from there since she’s been in daycare we have all as a family just had this ongoing cold cough flu cycle and just this past weekend I had a cold and then layered on top of that I had a -hour bug it is non-stop over here so in this article I want to address the inevitable cough cold and flu season that is abound whether you’re a new parent or anyone else on the planet this could happen to you and I just want to help you prepare.

If you are done with cold and flu season of course there will be those germs you can’t avoid those airborne pathogens those are going to get into your system regardless of what you do but there are those germs that exist on surfaces that you really can avoid and you can prepare for in advance and those surfaces that you want to be particularly mindful of are what we call here points of contact those are things that you are frequently touching and that other people are frequently touching now of course it’s important to be mindful of points of contact outside the home but the things that you really can clean and control are the points of contact inside your home now to clean these you want to use a disinfecting product we have a DIY recipe and a whole video about points of contacts that I will link for you down below but essentially think about any air that you might touch frequently and that someone else might touch frequently and that is where the germ transfer can often happen something like a handle you know a microwave handle or a drawer pull a button a touchpad anything along those lines in your house things that are frequently touched or used are going to be carriers for germs so if you can disinfect them and keep those clean during cough cold and flu season you are gonna have a much better chance of staying healthy at home.

When kids leaves the house every morning she is so fresh so clean so adorable and by the end of the day she comes home her hair’s a mess she’s got snot on her face food and paint all over her clothes she’s a mess and of course she’s absolutely adorable but I know when she comes in there’s a lot of cleanup that needs to happen and I know that a lot of the germs that I picked up were specifically from when she got from the door of daycare to the door of our house so now we kind of have a management system where when she comes home we bring her to the sink and we give her face in her hands a good wash with some soap that way we clear away all of those big hair germs then we change out her clothes pretreat the stains and throw them in the laundry and get her into something fresh we’ve all received this simple advice for years probably since we were old enough to even understand language we’ve been told wash your hands not just before you eat but after you finish in the bathroom or any other activities that you’ve taken on you should probably wash your hands after you do that the reason being our hands are really a primary transporter for all sorts of germs and if you can keep your hands clean and your hands are constantly touching your face with mucous membranes which is where a lot of germs are absorbed you can actually keep yourself a lot healthier.

Now washing your hands we all know about that proper hand washing really is the way to keep yourself healthy and a lot of public places have signs posted that’s your sign post it about how to properly wash your hands but I’ll run through it really quickly any type of soap is important I get my hands a little bit wet then I put the soap in my hands and I give them a good scrub I do two rounds of happy birthday in my head if you don’t like the sound of your own singing voice in your head you can also count to thirty thirty is your magic number you want thirty seconds on the clock you’re gonna rub your hands together you’re gonna get in between your fingers the backs of your hands under your fingernails if you can then you’re gonna give them a good thorough rinse until you feel some friction you feel some squeak enos some nice clean emotions going on on your hands you going to turn the water off if you can I like to do it with my elbow and then you’re gonna reach for your drying product of choice me I’m a paper towel girl but I know some people really love those air dryers that’s the up-and-down area that’s the under air dryer and actually I’d love to know in the comment are you guys a paper towel kind of person or are you an air dryer kind of person when you’re hit with something and this just happened to me over the weekend like a cough a cold or a flu the last thing on your mind is going to be getting yourself dressed and functional and going on and picking up that thing that you need to make yourself feel better.

What I recommend is to keep your coverage stocked with age-appropriate products that will help make each person in your home feel better Chad and I have recently started using this new robitussin with honey formulation it works just like regular robitussin but we love it because it includes truce or certified honey and is gluten free and doesn’t contain any artificial colors now some other things that I love having on hand eucalyptus essential oil I love bringing that into the shower when I’m sick I – a few drops on the bottom I run the hot water and it steams up and makes me feel real good I also like to have a cool mist humidifier going it really helps when you’re out of the shower but you still want that extra boost and it’s really helpful for little kids you know we have ongoing in Kid’s room overnight and it really helps loosen up that phlegm in her chest the other thing to keep in mind is of course again I feel like a mom but you know what I am a mom hydrate drink whether it’s water or chicken soup or whatever it is that you need to get in your system make yourself feel good by keeping the fluids going that helps things move it helps pass whatever you’ve got going on once the worst of it has gone away and your cop colder flu is tapering off that’s where I’m at now you can start the healing process which is really most exciting part so aside from taking good care of yourself making sure that you’re well rested you’re back on track in terms of your eating and your drinking and all the other things that you do to keep yourself nice and healthy you want to make sure that you’re getting your space back in shape too.

Now when it comes to toys what we do with Kid is we limit the amount of toys that she can play with at the onset of a cold so again she’s sort of in this tapering off stage we’re not gonna limit her toys at this point but when things start you want to sort of contain what the kids are playing with so that they’re not getting their germs all up in all the toys and that way you only have to clean a very limited amount of stuff so you can just Park the rest of the toys in a little toy bin somewhere else the next thing you want to do is make sure that all of the clothes and the bedding and the towels that you were using during your sick period are stripped off and thrown in the laundry put on the hottest cycle possible and finally I hate to be repetitive but let’s be honest gifts are nice but not when they’re germs so in order to keep your family friends and yourself protected from what could come again you want to make sure that you clean those points of contact and any surfaces that you’ve come in contact with so that you don’t get anyone else sick with those germs and of course you might have built up immunity to those germs but other people might not have my hope is that these tips will help keep you and your family healthier during this coughs cold and flu season.

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