My Kid Is Sick Again: Tips for Keeping Kids Healthy

This time of year, when winter weather still lingers and spring hasn’t quite come around, I start to hear a version of the same question from many parents:
Teachers with classrooms of coughing kids must also wonder the same thing about their students. At times, I’ve wondered the same about my own kids!
The answer, in most cases, is the same re-assuring one: No, nothing is wrong with them.
It’s normal for young kids to catch a cold bug or a virus 8 to 12 times per year. That is a lot! There are hundreds of different cold viruses. Since kids’ immune systems have not encountered these viruses before, they are more susceptible to getting each new virus they are exposed to. One cold starts to get a bit better just as another one comes on its heels. With that kind of cycle, it can feel like kids are always sick.
You may worry that your child has a weak immune system. Parents should talk with their childrens’ doctor about this when children show these patterns:

• They seem to catch a cold or virus infection more often than 8 to 12 times per year.
• Their infections do not go away or are especially severe.
• Their bodies are not physically growing at a normal rate.
• You have a family history of immune disorders.

Kids with truly weak immune systems include:

• Those born with abnormalities of the immune system.
• Those infected with HIV.
• Those living without a spleen.
• Those who have cancer.
• Those who have had organ transplants.

While most kids have a healthy immune system and are getting the expected rate of infections each year, it is natural that parents want to know what they can do to keep their children as healthy as possible.
Here are some ideas that work to keep parents healthy, too:
Handwashing

Many illnesses are spread through germs shared by touch. When one child wipes his runny nose and then touches a doorknob, pencil, or toy he leaves a trail of germs that can be picked up by the next child coming along. The importance of frequent and thorough handwashing cannot be emphasized enough. As the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention explains on its website: “Handwashing is like a ‘do-it-yourself’ vaccine.”
Vaccination
I protect my children every year against influenza by giving them the flu shot and I recommend you do the same for your family. This vaccination and other recommended childhood vaccines prevent many serious life-threatening illnesses. But don’t be surprised if your child still gets colds and stomach viruses as flu shots don’t protect against every sickness and it takes about two weeks for the flu shot to work.
More Here:
https://thrivingschools.kaiserpermanente.org/my-kid-is-sick-again-tips-for-keeping-kids-healthy/