It’s That Time of Year!
It is that time of year again, back-to-school! While this time of year is full of the fun and excitement of entering a new grade and seeing friends again, this time can also be full of germs. As parents, you may be concerned about just how soon your child will come home with a sore throat or a stomach bug. While we seem to be on the downslope of the pandemic, it is normal to still be worried about COVID-19. To make sure your child stays as healthy as they can this year, check out the tips below!
Back-to-School Health Tips
- Teach Proper Hand Washing: Cold and flu germs remain infectious for several hours on surfaces and many people touch surfaces after sneezing, coughing, or rubbing their nose. To prevent these surface germs from spreading, teach your children to always wash their hands with soap after using the bathroom, before touching their face, before they eat, and after they sneeze or cough. The Benefits Guide suggests adding hand sanitizer to your child’s backpack and lunch box to make sure their hands are clean throughout the day and before eating. These practices can also help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Prep Your Home: There are many steps you can take within your home to keep everyone in the household illness-free.
- Routinely sanitize your home with wipes or cleaners. Focus on door handles, kitchen surfaces, remotes, and other common touched surfaces.
- Place sanitizing solutions near main doors to encourage sanitizing hands before using the handle on their way out and before touching anything else in the home one their way in.
- Consider a home air cleaner to remove dust and debris from the air, which can spread mold, mildew and germs.
- Keep entryways organized so items brought into the home are placed in the same spot everyday, such as backpacks, shoes, gloves,and hats.
- Avoid Spreading Germs Whenever Possible: Teach children to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and make sure sick children stay home. It’s also important to encourage friends and family to not visit if anyone is sick, and avoid close contact with those that are sick.
Children will be entering new grades and schools, so it is normal for them to be exposed to germs they haven’t built up immunity to yet. While completely preventing an illness isn’t always possible, these tips will definitely help. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2022-2023 school year!
