How to Keep Kids from Contracting the Usual Cold - ParentDish

Teach your kids to sneeze or cough into a tissue or their elbow to help keep a cold from spreading. Credit: Getty Images

With Halloween knocking at the doorway and Thanksgiving just about the corner, you love those dreaded sniffles and sneezes can't be far behind. But, while there's no vaccine or proven medicine that can protect your kids from unpleasantness of the usual cold, there are some simple steps that help keep one.

Kids can get 8 or more colds a year, making the cold the most common infectious disease in the United States and the numeral one reason kids call the repair and stay home from school, according to KidsHealth, a nonprofit organization devoted to children's health. More than 200 viruses can do the usual cold, with the rhinovirus being the most usual type, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These rhinoviruses can spread through the air we rest and the things we meet and then infiltrate the protective lining of the wind and throat. The cold symptoms we have are caused by our immune system's reaction to the virus in the body, and include sneezing, a close or runny nose, sore throat, coughing, watery eyes, mild headache and mild body aches, according to the CDC. Colds usually last one to two weeks and are more usual in later winter and other spring, reports AOL Health. One cause for this is that air that's dry - indoors or out - can lower immunity to infection by the viruses that cause colds, according to KidsHealth. Another has to do with the surroundings we see ourselves in during the winter months. "In the winter time, we're indoors, so you're in a more enclosed environment," CDC spokesperson Jeff Dimond tells ParentDish. "Also, you'll see colds more frequently when school is in session, because you've got all the kids mixed together, transferring things backwards and forth." And, while not wearing warm enough clothes when it's cold or going away with wet hair does not actually get a cold, Dimond tells ParentDish those things do lower your resistance, making you more susceptible to the virus. So, you can even use the terror of a cold as an apology to get your kids to pack up when they head outside. Colds are most contagious during the 1st two to 4 years after symptoms appear, and may be catching for up to 3 weeks, KidsHealth reports, so you never know when somebody you do in link with may be brewing cold germs. The usual cold is spreading through contact with invisible droplets of the virus in the air from people coughing or sneezing, or on skin or other surfaces. It's always advisable to stay away from anyone who has a cold, KidsHealth reports, though we all recognize this is totally impractical for kids in school or day care situations. "You can clean up the cold virus on a stair handrail, a computer keyboard, elevator buttons - all of the places the world goes," Dimond says. "It'll transfer off the button onto your hand, then you have your reach and start your mouth, rub your nose or eyes, and you've transferred it to your body." For this reason, the count one way for kids to prevent colds is to launder their hands, Dimond advises. "Always wash your hands as often as you can, and if you can't wash with warm water and soap, use a hand sanitizer," says Dimond, who also offers some other suggestions for cold prevention:

• Kids should be taught to handle their mouths and noses when they cough or sneeze, either into a tissue or via the "elbow technique," where they cough into the crook of their elbow. They definitely should not cough or sneeze into their hands.
• Another no-no for kids is sharing eating and drinking utensils or towels with anyone else, since you don't live who may be harboring a cold virus.
• Keep your kids away from anyone who's smoking, as secondhand smoke is a respiratory irritant, and can make kids more probable to get sick

Claims have been made that taking extra zinc or Vitamin C, or herbal remedies such as echinacea, can prevent or remedy the usual cold. But Dimond says these, like over-the-counter cold medicines and pain relievers, are actually just designed to provide symptom relief. "Actually, your father was a lot smarter than you think," Dimond tells ParentDish. "Chicken soup is great for symptom relief because of the protein from the chicken, vitamins from carrots, potatoes and dozens of vegetables and much of garlic. Garlic is an expectorant and will help make things out." But never take antibiotics for a common cold, Dimond cautions. "Not simply do antibiotics not remedy the cold, but they realize you more antibiotic resistant for when you do get an infection," he says. Most importantly, make certain to get your baby to see a physician if you remember he or she may get developed a respiratory or other infection.