In winter, people get sick more often as the immune system weakens. Factors such as poor nutrition and dressing inappropriately are among the leading causes of a weakened immune system. Therefore, because children cannot be adequately protected, they experience infectious illnesses that can occur frequently, at least 2-3 times a year. When these illnesses are not treated promptly and correctly, they can cause very serious health problems depending on the area they affect, such as middle ear infections, pneumonia, and rheumatic fever.
However, experts say that you can protect your child from upper respiratory tract infections to a great extent, even if not completely. The most important details in protecting your child from illnesses are preventing close contact with sick people and protecting them from cold climate conditions so that their resistance does not decrease.
How can I protect my child from illnesses in winter? What should I do to keep my child from getting sick? My children get sick very often; what is the solution? We have compiled the answers to all these questions for you using information gathered from experts' articles and scientific papers. Experts warning parents about protecting children from winter illnesses offer advice to prevent or minimize the frequent illnesses children experience during the winter months, as well as fever, coughing, and sore throat complaints that have become a nightmare for families.
Handwashing Is Important
As with many illnesses, the most important way to protect against winter illnesses is to wash your hands frequently. Although this method is quite easy, hands, where germs spread most easily and quickly when handwashing is not carried out properly, pose a major risk for illnesses. Just as you take care when washing your own hands, you should ensure that your children do the same and, if necessary, supervise them. When they come in from outside, they may forget to wash their hands after becoming absorbed in playing or other activities. In addition, mothers must always wash their own hands after changing their children's clothes or wiping their noses. Care should also be taken to ensure that children's hands are washed before and after meals, after coming in from outside or school, and after playing. Developing the habit of handwashing is very important in this regard. Since you cannot always be with or supervise your child, they need to make it a way of life. Washing their hands even when you are not there is possible only when this habit has been established.
Avoid Contact with Your Child When You Are Sick
Avoid close contact with your child when you are sick. If your child is still being breastfed, do not begin breastfeeding without washing your hands, gargling, and cleaning your nose. In fact, wearing a mask while breastfeeding will reduce the risk of transmitting the illness. When you cough or sneeze, make sure to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue so that viruses do not spread around. If you cannot find a tissue at that moment, cover your mouth with the inside of your elbow rather than your hand when coughing or sneezing. This will help prevent transmission through contact.
Take Precautions to Prevent Contact with Sick Children
When your child becomes sick, do not send them to school if necessary in order to protect other children. If one of the siblings becomes ill, do not allow them to have contact with, hug, or kiss the other sibling, and have them sleep in separate rooms if possible.
Remove Clothes After Coming in from Outside
As soon as your child returns from school or outside, especially from the park where germs spread most frequently, you should remove their clothes and wash both your own hands and your child's hands. Occasionally, have your child gargle and rinse their nose thoroughly with water. If they have difficulty rinsing their nose with water, you can use nasal sprays.
The Room Should Be Ventilated Frequently
Make sure that the room temperature and humidity are at suitable levels. Therefore, you should ventilate your child's room frequently. The room temperature should be between 22-24 degrees. Especially in winter, when the air is drier and the room becomes even drier because of various heaters, humidifying the room is very important. Containers filled with water can be placed on radiators, or various devices that humidify the room air can be used. Regularly ventilating and humidifying rooms will minimize the risk of illnesses spreading at home.
Pay Attention to Toy Hygiene
Children's toys, especially when they are sick, should be cleaned regularly, and washable toys should be washed carefully. When visiting children come over, extra care should be taken to clean the toys after shared use. Otherwise, you should be prepared for illnesses that may be transmitted to your child.
Increase the Body's Resistance
To increase the body's resistance, make sure your child eats sufficient amounts of all types of food rather than following a one-sided diet. It is also necessary to increase the consumption of foods rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, mandarins, carrots, spinach, kiwis, and cauliflower. Consuming these foods not only when you are sick but also when you are healthy will greatly benefit your health. Try to avoid packaged foods as much as possible and choose fresh foods instead. Fish should be consumed especially 1-2 times a week. In addition to providing vitamins, eating fish also contributes greatly to the body's resistance. Necessary precautions should also be taken against conditions that weaken the immune system, such as allergic rhinitis caused by humidity and changes in climate, and passive smoking.
Pay Attention to Clothing
Dressing appropriately is especially important in winter. You need to take care with your clothing both to avoid becoming ill from exposure to extreme cold and to prevent various skin problems. This is particularly important for children with weakened immune systems. When dressing in winter, wearing several medium-weight layers is more beneficial than wearing one thick layer. When children enter warm environments, they should remove their outermost layer to prevent them from sweating and becoming chilled. In cold and snowy weather, make sure they wear a scarf and beanie. If possible, scarves and gloves should be washed every day.
When choosing shoes in particular, make sure they are made from natural materials. The shoes should be comfortable and keep your child's feet warm all day. Pegia, which specially designs all its products for children's health, contains no chemicals harmful to children's health in its products. It produces all its products by hand using genuine leather and genuine fur, with the highest-quality materials. Thanks to its structure, genuine fur keeps body temperature balanced, adapts to all climate conditions, does not make the feet sweat, and prevents the formation of various bacteria caused by moisture. Pegia children's fur-lined Boot and Pegia fur-lined baby slippers, designed for children, are made from genuine leather and genuine fur in accordance with European REACH standards.
Regular Sleep
One of the most important factors that strengthens the immune system is getting enough rest and sleeping regularly. Therefore, sleep schedules should be established, and children should get as much sleep as their bodies need. It is especially important for children to sleep at least 9-10 hours. Children should not be allowed to play computer games or watch TV until late hours. In addition, you can benefit from Medical sheep fur products that help regulate sleep and whose countless benefits have been proven by scientific research.
Medical sheep fur provides significant benefits in solving various problems such as insomnia, irregular sleep, sleep apnea, and depression. Medical sheep fur, which has a positive effect on babies' development, helps babies sleep peacefully. Since Medical sheep fur has an organic structure, it contains no chemicals. Thanks to the body-temperature-regulating structure of the Medical sheepskin, it adapts to the room temperature and the baby's body, prevents sweating, and helps prevent illness.
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