Tips for Parents: Keeping Your Child Healthy at Daycare

The end of summer and for many children, the start of a new school year means that cold and flu season will soon be upon us. Whether your child attends a Brookline childcare center or a family daycare in Brookline chances are he's going to get sick at least several times during the long winter months. And, as every parent knows, when kids are in the group settings typical of day care programs in Brookline, the germs get passed around with amazing speed. Parents also know that a sick child is an unhappy one, so with that in mind, here are a few tips parents can use to keep their child healthy when she attends day care in Brookline.

Wash Hands Frequently
Experts agree that frequent hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of germs—hands down! How frequent is frequent? Expect kids to wash hands at least 10 to 12 times throughout the course of the day when your child is at her Brookline childcare center or family daycare in Brookline--before and after meals, before and after toileting, after nose blowing, after playing, and upon arrival at the childcare center in Brookline. Parents and caregivers at family daycare in Brookline should also know that the length of hand washing is just as important. Try to have your child count to 20 or sing the alphabet song while scrubbing her hands to make sure all those germs are washed away.

Hand Sanitizers and Cleansers As an Alternative
Soap and water are not always available, for example when your child goes on field trips away from his childcare center in Brookline or visits the playground and is not physically at his Brookline childcare center. That's where hand sanitizers and cleansers come in. Pack one in your child's backpack, have her keep one in her cubby at her childcare center in Brookline, and keep a few in the car just in case she forgets to wash her hands before leaving her family daycare in Brookline.

Sneeze and Cough into the Crook of Your Arm
The new rule of thumb at every day care in Brookline these days is to avoid sneezing and coughing into hands and instead cough into the crook of your arm where the likelihood of being passed on to another person (via door knobs, light switches, and toys for example) is minimal, especially if the arm is covered by a long sleeve (germs perish quickly in fabric). Make sure the provider at your child's childcare center in Brookline is aware of this relatively new practice too.

Finally, make sure you child gets plenty of rest and eats a healthy diet. A healthy body is your child's first line of defense when it comes to preventing illness.