School hasn’t been in session very long, and you and your kids are already sick. Or you are about to be sick. I know it doesn’t seem very optimistic, but the facts are that now we are all together, and so are our germs. 

Preventative Care

The best we can do for ourselves and our kids is to stay as well as possible and to live a healthy lifestyle. Here are some things that we can do as a family.

·      Families get outside, go for walks, and exercise their bodies. Exercise is good for your mind and body.

·      Hydrate! Getting enough water is so essential for our bodies to work right. So down the water. 

·      Eat nutrient-rich foods. Local farms are brimming with food. Get some and make meals that feed your family and your soul. 

·      Get some sleep. Sleep cures so many of our ailments. This is a perfect season to cozy up with a book and get some sleep.

The healthier we can get ourselves, the better we will be to fight the good fight.

One other thing we can do is to keep our distance from sick people. Yes, we are so excited to be together again, but we want to be diligent about our health. Keep on washing your hands and using sanitizer. And make sure you are up to date with your immunizations. 

The flu virtually went away during the height of the pandemic. But the chat is that it is possible that the flu could come back with a vengeance, and the best way to combat it is by getting a flu shot. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), September and October are good times to be vaccinated. Ideally, everyone six months and older should be vaccinated by the end of October.

These are some simple things you can do to try to keep healthy. 

Once Your Sick

Okay, you did what you could, and now you are all sick. Stomach bugs, colds, flu, Covid … it is all going around. 

If you have reached out to your pediatrician, they may not recommend any over-the-counter cold or cough medication. One nurse shared that they don’t recommend cold or cough medicine because they are not approved by the FDA, and so they do not have a set of standards and or guarantee that they work.

One thing that is recommended is honey. They suggest one teaspoon of honey as needed for cough. If your child doesn’t like the taste/texture straight from the spoon, you can mix it with a little warm water and have them drink it. Some of the best local honey is Eternal Honey. They have some great honey products, including local honey (from all over Oregon), honeycomb, bee pollen, and propolis. They will even deliver it for you. 

We talked about hydrating before we get sick; well, it is extra essential when we do get sick. A couple of choices that the pediatrician recommends are hot tea, apple juice, and lemonade. The hot tea helps soothe the throat. There are lots of local tea choices, including Stash and Smith Tea. The lemonade and apple juice can help thin secretions for coughs. If a stomach bug has hit your home, ginger ale can help settle a stomach. Portland Syrups has an excellent ginger syrup that you can mix with sparkling water. Whatever you can get to hydrate … do it!

Another homegrown fix for kids and adults alike is a hot shower (or hot bath). Exposure to a steamy shower is quite effective. Turn the shower on hot, close the door, and make it steamy. Sit in there for 20 minutes and inhale all that nice warm steam. 

But if you need a prescription or perhaps a humidifier, how about checking out a local pharmacy. Some of them even do their own compounding. In the field of pharmacy, compounding is the preparation of a custom formulation of a medication to fit a unique need of a patient that cannot be met with commercially available products. 

Part of having kids is everyone getting sick all the time. It is just the cold hard truth. But as hard as it is to see your kids sick, come on … a sick kid snuggle is the absolute best. Please take care, stay healthy, and let us know what you do to keep healthy. What are your sick remedies?