5 Tips to Get Kids Through Cough and Cold Season

Last updated on May 14th, 2024 at 04:27 pm

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5 Tips to Get Kids Through Cough and Cold Season

For most twin parents, winter with multiples is full of snowball fights, indoor play places, and cozy snuggles by the fire with two cups of hot cocoa. But it will also be full of matching congestion and not-so-cute colds. With cold and cough season upon us, it’s important to safeguard your adorable duo and the rest of your family from catching and sharing viruses.

Prevention is key. If you follow these five simple tips with your kids, you can increase the chances of preventing those unfriendly winter season bugs:

1. Maintain Good Hand Hygiene

This one is a no-brainer. It’s impossible to overstate, though. Make sure you and your little ones are washing hands before and after meals, after bathroom breaks, etc. When you’re on the go, you should also keep a bottle of instant hand sanitizer with you when a sink is nowhere to be found.

2. Avoid Crowds

Given it’s most likely freezing outside where you are, it will be hard to avoid indoor crowds while you’re trying to keep your kids busy at museums, libraries, and indoor play places. Most of the parents in your town will be in the same boat, also trying to get out of the house while avoiding the cold outdoors. Try to limit your crowd exposure by arriving at off-peak times, like right at opening or 1 hour prior to closing. And keep the hand sanitizer coming!

3. Screen Your Holiday Guests for Recent Colds or Illnesses

Speaking of hosting loved ones and family at your home, be sure to ask any guests beforehand if they’ve had any runny nose, cough, or fever (or worse) in the past 2 weeks. If they have, it’s probably best to kindly ask them to come back another time when they’re feeling better. Surround sound is nice, but not when it’s the sound of coughing coming from your multiples. This is an absolute must for little babies, especially if they are preemies; at this age they are extra susceptible to infection due to their low immune systems. If you must host guests that are sick, lay down clear rules for no contact with the babies.

4. Get Your Flu Shots!

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the influenza vaccine for everyone over 6 months of age, especially as kids under 5 years are at highest risk for complications related to the flu. If your twins are under 6 months, then you and the rest of the household should get your own flu vaccinations to protect the babies. And no, getting the flu shot does NOT give you the flu.

5. Don’t Let the Kids Share Utensils, Cups, Bottles, or Pacifiers

Just when you’ve finished teaching your children that “sharing is caring,” you then have to rewind and explain why sharing is actually NOT always caring (such as when it’s cold and cough season!) Keep their cups, bottles, utensils, and pacifiers separate to prevent spreading a lurking virus among the family. If your twins are infants, then it’s a good idea to keep several back-up pacifiers in your diaper bag when one falls on the germ-covered ground.

If Your Multiples Unfortunately Catch a Cold, Here Are 5 Key Actions to Help Get Them Through It:

1. Keep These Items Handy:

Instant hand sanitizer
Tissues (or bulb suction for babies)
Vicks VapoRub
Humidifier
Thermometer
Nasal saline drops
Any asthma medications they take (be sure to avoid asthma triggers!)
Fever reducers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen

2. Let Them Rest

Your little ones’ bodies will heal best if they have down time. Let them nap and don’t push them too hard during the day.

3. Keep Them Hydrated

Your kids’ appetites will likely dwindle when they’re feeling under the weather. Decreased fluid intake and an upset stomach coupled with a fever can quickly lead to dehydration. It’s important to give plenty of fluids to keep your twins hydrated and to monitor them for adequate urine output.

4. Still Encourage Good Nutrition

When children get sick, their bodies and immune systems can become even more stressed without the proper nutrients. It’s essential to make sure that what they do eat is considered healthy.

5. Call Your Child’s Pediatrician for Any Concerning Symptoms

Symptoms to notify the pediatrician about this cough and cold season can include (but are not limited to) fevers of 100.3 or higher, cough, congestion, difficulty breathing, muscle aches, decreased appetite, vomiting or diarrhea, etc. as these can lead to something more serious.

Cough and cold season is difficult and stressful, but remember… it’s a season! Which means that this too shall pass. Soon enough it will be spring and colds and coughs will be a distant memory. Keep your eye on the prize!

Michelle Joyner is a Dallas native that recently gave birth in October 2017 to her 2-month-old boy/girl twins, Ames Sterling and Joules Violet. While working in pediatrics for almost a decade, she has earned a few degrees in nursing including a Masters of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Duke University. She currently works as a pediatric nurse practitioner in an inpatient pulmonology unit and enjoys writing medical research articles for publication. When she is not busy caring for her twins or working with other children, she and her husband spend time sharing their admiration for photography and art. Follow Michelle’s blog about twinhood on Instagram @twinsidescoop for more!