Cold and Flu Season: The Preschool Parent's Game Plan

Flu season runs from October through May. If you have a preschooler, you know the drill. The sniffles show up, and they hang around. Young
kids catch a lot of colds. Their immune systems are still learning. You cannot prevent all of it, but you can make the season a lot more manageable.

Here is what helps:

1. Know when to keep them home

The most helpful thing you can do is keep your child home when they are really sick. Our rule of thumb: no fever for a full 24 hours, and no fever medicine during that time, before they come back. Same for vomiting and diarrhea. If they seem fine in the morning only because the medicine is working, they will probably crash by lunch, and by then they have shared it with the whole class.

2. Make handwashing a game

Handwashing does more than any vitamin. The trick is getting a four year old to actually scrub for 20 seconds. Pick a song. The ABCs work.
So does Happy Birthday twice. Make it the house rule that hands get washed with the song, every time. Palms, backs of hands, between the fingers. Do it with them. Kids copy what they see far more than what they are told.

3. Get the flu shot

The flu shot is recommended every year for everyone 6 months and older. Fall is the best time to get it, before flu really gets going.
If your child is scared of shots, keep it simple. Mention it the day before, not weeks ahead. A long lead time just gives little kids more time to worry.

4. Teach the vampire cough

Coughing into your elbow is hard to explain to a preschooler. Coughing like Dracula pulling up his cape is a game they remember. Practice it when they are healthy so it is automatic when they are not. Same idea with tissues: blow, toss it, wash hands. One tissue does not get reused.

5. Know when to call the doctor

Most colds just need time. Call your pediatrician if your child is having trouble breathing, is not drinking or not making wet diapers, or has a fever that will not come down. Any fever in a baby under 3 months old is a call right away. And trust your gut. You know your child better than anyone.

A few habits that help:

Get the routines going now, while everyone is healthy. Handwashing songs and vampire coughs stick because they are practiced on normal days, not introduced in the middle of an illness.

Stock the basics early. Thermometer, children's fever medicine, tissues. Figure out who stays home with a sick kid before you are making that decision at 2 in the morning.

And model it yourself. Wash your hands when you walk in the door. Stay home when you are sick. Your kids are watching, and what you do teaches more than what you say.

The bottom line:

You cannot keep your preschooler in a bubble all winter, and you would not want to. But clear rules about staying home, a handwashing song, and a flu shot on the calendar will get most families through the season just fine.

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At Fontainebleau Children's Academy, healthy habits are part of every day, from handwashing routines to clear sick day policies that protect every classroom. Come see it in action. Schedule a tour at any of our three locations:



Mandeville (985-276-4022),

Baton Rouge (225-275-6272),

or Mid City (225-346-8921),

or visit fontainebleauchildrensacademy.com.