Tips for When Your Kids Have The Flu
The flu can be a dangerous illness, especially for children. Because of smaller body size, and developing systems, children are at an increased risk with regards to all the symptoms of the flu. Adults usually don’t get the stomach-related symptoms that deprive a child of nutrients when they need them most. Treating the Flu Conventionally If your children contract the flu, it is vital for them to get plenty of rest. Don’t allow them to engage in strenuous exercise or play. Even if they do not feel fatigued for the first few days, be firm. The body must be in a state of rest if it is to cope with the sickness brought by the virus. Don’t forget to give your children plenty of fluids. Water is especially helpful, as are isotonic sport drinks. Because children with the flu can also get diarrhea, replacing lost salts and water soluble vitamins is crucial to their recovery. If your children use alcohol or tobacco, you will need to see to it that they stop. Both these substances cause damage to the immune system, thereby making the entire flu experience worse. Children and teenagers should also avoid taking aspirin [...]
Tips for Parents to Know How to Help the Kids With the Cold or Flu
It’s that time again…either the kids or the parents start to feel under the weather. It isn’t hard to know that an illness is coming on. You know it’s either the cold or the flu and know full well that the next week is going to be a living nightmare. But, how can you tell the difference between the cold and flu? And, what do you do when you figure it out? Both the cold and the flu are respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. The cold lasts a little bit longer, usually one week. The flu is much more intense, but only lasts about 4 – 5 days. Yet, the flu is more serious. The cold always begins with the inhalation through the nostrils of a tiny strand of the cold virus floating around somewhere, or an object. The virus starts in the nostrils. Your body then tries fighting it off by sending out mucous and making you sneeze and cough a lot. The symptoms get worse in the next 48 hours, then finally start to mellow out. However, it is contagious about 2 days before you get the common [...]
Cold & Flu Treatment and Prevention Tips, Packard Children’s Hospital
In this 2009 video, pediatrician Elizabeth Shepard, MD, offers parents these tips for treating and helping prevent colds and flu in young children. Shepard is a clinical associate professor in the division of general pediatrics at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital at Stanford University.