How to help kids fight off coughs and colds
Promotion
Sarah Lafarge
Editor, Netmums ReviewsA new year is exciting for all of us, but make sure you're ready to hit the ground running when it comes to staying well and fighting off coughs, colds and other viruses, with our round up of the best tools for helping to keep your little ones healthy this year.
We've all enjoyed more freedoms this year, after last year's lockdowns, school closures and social bubbles. But our extra freedoms have come at a price...
Coughs, colds and viruses, which all circulate naturally between us, are running rife through schools, nurseries and playgroups with the return of social mixing.
So, how can you help protect your little one and make sure that they have as fun and bug-free a year as possible, leaving them free to fill their time with all the adventures kids were meant to have? After all, life's no fun when you have to miss school, nursery or playdates with friends because you're poorly. And as parents, cough, colds and other nasties understandably leave us anxious about missed school work and social interaction, as well as their health.
Support their immunity
The good news is, there are several ways you can support your child's immunity against viruses, infections and other seasonal nasties.
They are what they eat
The best known vitamins for immune support are Vitamin C, Zinc and Vitamin D. When it comes to diet, Vitamin C is found in raw fruits, vegetables and herbs; Zinc in seafood, brown rice and pumpkin seeds and Vitamin D in pasture-raised animals and cod liver oil.
In order to maximise your child’s chance of eating a diet rich in these nutrients, firstly, make sure that they eat a varied diet, but also think about making these foods more appealing to your children, says Clinical Nutritionist for Vivio Junior, Eva Hill Hamilton.
‘Try to make food more exciting. Introduce vegetables in unusual forms, such as kale crisps – easy to make and kids tend to love them! For meat or fish, try meatballs with a tasty sauce or fishcakes in exciting shapes.’
Get outdoors
Give them lots of opportunities to walk or play outside – regular bursts of vitamin D, the ‘sunshine’ vitamin, which we absorb from sunlight through our skin, will help support their immunity and studies have shown it can be particularly useful in fighting off colds.
Keep 'em hydrated
According to the NHS, children aged 1 to 3 years should be drinking a litre of fluid per day; those aged 4 to 8 years should be glugging back 1.2 litres, and those aged 9 plus, slurping down 1.5 litres. And that should mainly be water, drunk regularly throughout the day - not fizzy drinks or juices.
If they don’t like the taste of water, Clinical Nutritionist from Vivio Junior, Eva Hill Hamilton, has a great tip: ‘Add the smallest drop of freshly squeezed orange juice to give it a little sweet taste naturally.’
Good hydration levels mean the body can easily transport oxygen to blood cells, keeping our entire system functioning at its best. And fluids are also our body's way of flushing out any nasties, so make sure you're sending little ones out and about with a topped up water bottle.
Sleep matters
Enough sleep is vital to good health, too: the NHS recommends that children need somewhere in the range of 10 to 14 hours of sleep every night. How much exactly depends on their age and if they still nap during the day, but it all adds up to a child whose body has the energy needed to keep up with the demands that climbing trees, riding bikes and racing around playgrounds requires.
Wash little hands
Good hygiene doesn't just stop the spread of Covid. Encouraging little ones to wash hands regularly for the recommended twenty seconds (roughly two rounds of happy birthday - get them to sing as they go to make it more fun), and drying them afterwards (wet hands aren't clean hands!) is the perfect way to wash bugs away.
Consider a multivitamin
A daily multivitamin works like may help top up any levels of vitamins or minerals that they might be lacking in - even fleetingly - which in turn may also help support immunity.
While little ones can be tricky to persuade to swallow tablets, a liquid multivitamin like VIVIO® Junior Multivitamin Tonic can become a useful weapon in your winter bug-busting armoury.
VIVIO® Junior's orange-flavoured tonic is suitable from 12 months and contains 12 vitamins, zinc and iodine to support children's normal growth and development, while also helping strengthen their immune system. It's also preservative-free, with no added sugar, while packed with great flavour, giving us parents even fewer things to worry about.
For more top tips, why not check out Eva’s video at the top of the page.
Vivio has been supporting children’s wellbeing for over 35 years – read more about Vivio here.