How to Keep Your Kids Healthy This Holiday Season
These tips can help you differentiate between a cold and the flu, too.
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Research has also shown that using a nasal spray that combines saline with xylitol can also help prevent and treat the transmission of viruses. Xlear is a popular name brand spray.
Know when to keep your child home.
Even if she is not running a fever, if your child has a runny nose and a cough, keep her home from school, Ferrer says–especially in the first 48 hours of the illness when it’s most transmissible. If by day two, she still has a runny nose but is happy and is eating, there’s no reason to keep her home any longer.
Also know when to get your child to the doctor.
Ferrer explains that the flu often produces a fever that is “sticky,” meaning the sick person stays warm for a long time. This is an easy way to get dehydrated, he says.
“Here are the red flags. If we see a child having a stuffy nose, coughing, a fever, and he’s not eating, and [he is] fussy or crying, and the fever is lasting more than 2 days, I would certainly take him to the doctor. Shortness of breath or phlegm that changes colors rapidly also means it’s time to take him to the doctor,” Ferrer says. “By day two or three, I would be considering taking the child to the hospital.”
For more information on how to keep your kids healthy this season, and to check out a sneak peek of Ferrer’s new book, visit his website.