Keeping a Healthy Family

Right now I have three sick children, my husband is unwell and I'd be sick too if I wasn't so busy looking after them all. It occurred to me that before our baby was born, we always managed to NOT spread germs through the whole family.

A survey of friends on Facebook has triggered my memory banks and added to the ideas for keeping well and avoiding the spread of infection. Here are my favourites:

Prevention
Use a hand sanitiser or nappy wipe to clean hands every time children get into the car from school or other outings. Wash hands before food and after the toilet. NB This is also a shameless plug for Epoch Hand Sanitiser, because you can purchase them through me. Or so it is rumoured, I'm still a complete novice as a distributor!

Keep a healthy family that drinks plenty of water (I need to be checking water bottles every afternoon as neither of my schoolchildren drink enough water at school), with plenty of garlic and vitamin C in their diets and plenty of sleep for everyone. As much as humanly possible. At least keep an eye out for major catastrophes in the healthy water / food / rest department and make an attempt to pick up the health boosting to counteract any unhealthy habits.

Last Minute Prevention
I like to think of this group of tips as 'last minute prevention' as they work best if you begin them at the first sign of sniffles, or fatigue or any kind of unwell-ness in the family. What I've learnt this past year is that timing of response is everything. Leaving it until there is one completely ill child before beginning these strategies is unlikely to stop other's catching their illness.  This is where I've been slipping up since having a third baby.

Quarrantine the child who is feeling off-colour into a room by themselves doing a quiet activity, keep that room aired well and keep their fluids up as well as whatever health boosting food you can get them to eat!  Keeping them away from other children will minimise the spread of illness. This is a strategy we used for years with a great deal of success and it is only since we stopped quarantining that we've had illness go throughout the family.

Clean all the things! As soon as someone seems ill, make sure all the washing up is cleared away (I still tend to struggle through the last few things that pop up), get out the antiseptic (we use a very mild bleach with no additives) and mop the floors, wipe surfaces (we use Vanilla Fresh), spray the air and anywhere you like with Eucalyptus Spray. Change pillowcases and sheets and wash in warm water with a few drops of Eucalyptus oil.

Make Chicken Soup - its proven to work, so soup up!

So thats my plan. Be prepared with a prevention strategy, especially considering the stress our family are under at the moment. And follow up more quickly with last-minute prevention is one of us starts to look a bit peaky.  And remember that for people prone to allergies, these transition seasons of Autumn and Spring are the worst for pollens and allergens in the air. So its a good idea to be on the lookout for early signs of illness as the weather changes.

None of these tips replace seeking medical assistance for illness. These are ideas for health promotion, based on personal experiences.