It is that time of year again, when kids get sick. During the end of September is when kids start to show signs of whatever bugs are going around at school, here in Minnesota. Of course a bad cold or flu can keep a student out of class and cause them to fall behind. Our director, Sonja, has a few tips to help get your child back up and running.
These tips, she has gained from her own experience and the experience of our parents who have had kids fall sick during the school year. A really bad flu or cold can last 2 weeks, and during that time, tests and important class projects can take place. A poor performance on an important test can mean spending the rest of the semester playing catch up. So here are a few tips for you:
Chicken noodle soup. Yes this does work! Add in a little bit of cayenne pepper, garlic and oregano to help speed up the healing process. Take your favorite chicken noodle soup or if you have the time, make it from scratch. Then add in crushed garlic and dried oregano with just a dash of cayenne pepper. It has a lot of flavor and helps kids get better faster.
Herbal tea with lemon, honey and a Halls cough drop. Sometimes kids don’t like green tea, but there are many berry flavored teas on the market today. Even some teas that are for flu and cold. Find a flavor your kids will like and add a little bit of lemon juice, honey and a Halls cough drop to the tea. The cough drop will dissolve after a while, stir it around to help it dissolve faster. This is great for helping kids who have a sore throat.
If teas are not your child’s thing, then try zinc cough drops. These are great at helping to improve a sore throat and can been found in GNC, many co-ops and even many supermarkets today. If you don’t have the time for tea, then these zinc drops are a great alternative, especially if your child is just starting a sore throat, this may help them keep going.
One important thing to do is to avoid sugar when a child is sick. Sugar can actually feed some bacteria, helping to prolong the illness. As much as kids may want to have juice when sick. limiting juice while sick can actually help shorten the illness. There are alternatives to juice to get the vitamin C needed.
These simple times can help your child get better faster.
