Get your kids to wash up
Kids aren't always as conscious of hygiene as we would like them to be. As a physician and mother of three youngsters herself, Dr. Greenwald offers up practical tips on helping your kids.
1. Make it fun
Turn hand-washing into a game by singing "Happy Birthday" (or some other favourite tune) as you wash your hands. Singing "Happy Birthday" twice is a reasonable amount of time to spend on proper hand-washing.
2. Use fun soap
There are plenty of colourful, great-smelling and interesting options on the soap market. Encourage your kids to pick their own favourite shapes, colours and smells. Many children love foaming soaps, but make sure they're scrubbing up as well when they use foam as when they use soap cakes.
3. Use hand sanitizer
No soap? No problem! Hand sanitizer comes in many sizes now, and there's no reason a small purse-sized sanitizer can't travel to school in a backpack. "I had to send a bottle to school with each child this year," says Dr. Greenwald. "If you use sanitizer, make sure to use one with at least 60 per cent alcohol concentration."
Soap or sanitizer should be used before snack time and lunchtime especially, as these are times when you know their hands are going to come into contact with their mouths.
4. Lead by example.
If your kids see you practicing good hand hygiene, it's more likely they'll do the same.
It's impossible to keep yourself completely safe from the flu, but these common-sense tips will go a long way toward keeping you healthy and flu-free!
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