For some children, these are the first days in an organized educational setting. For others, it’s another year in kindergarten, or first years in elementary school. Be that as it may, the opening of the new school year and the return to the frameworks brings with it another line, much less exciting: an increase in the incidence of children’s diseases of all kinds. What causes the common diseases and how can we prevent our little ones from getting sick again and again, or at least reduce infection?.
Where does it start?
Children’s diseases, which are sometimes also called “winter diseases”, are caused by several reasons and can be divided into three main factors:
Virality: Most of the children’s diseases we know are viral diseases, that is, those caused by a virus. The virus is often transmitted through the respiratory tract and contact, and the overcrowding in kindergartens, as well as the close activity among kindergarten children, contributes greatly to this.
The lack of ventilation: not many know, but those viral diseases do not exist only in winter, but throughout the year. If so, why do the children often fall ill? Because in the cold season the kindergarten rooms and classrooms are less ventilated, and the lack of ventilation increases the chance of infection.
The lack of hygiene: cleanliness and hygiene are very important to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria. When we wash our hands, for example, we actually reduce our chances of infection (just as we were instructed to do at the height of the Corona virus. By the way, it is not always a matter of irresponsibility on the part of the kindergarten staff, since it is very difficult in the intense daily routine to observe perfect hygiene with a large number of children .
All these factors significantly increase the chance of contracting children’s diseases, certainly in their first years, when their immune system is younger and less mature and at the same time their chance of exposure in the educational setting is greater.
How can you prevent infection, or at least minimize the chance of it?
Let’s start with the fact that completely preventing infection is almost impossible. All those disease agents that we mentioned at the beginning ‘guarantee’ that your child will be infected, unfortunately for us and for you, at some point during his years in kindergarten. In fact, according to the Ministry of Health, most toddlers will suffer from a cold, for example, up to 12 times a year.
Still, there are ways to reduce the infection to a minimum. It starts first and foremost with the simple rule: a sick child does not enter kindergarten. This is an important rule that the kindergarten staff and the parents together must observe. We will add and say that for each illness there are also explicit instructions from the Ministry of Health in terms of the time of stay at home and the date when the child can be returned to kindergarten.
What else can be done? Maintain hygiene as much as possible – also of the child, when he arrives at kindergarten, but much more than that, during his stay in kindergarten. Therefore, the kindergarten staff must take care to ventilate the space, even in the winter (in a smart way and while keeping the children warm, of course), wash their hands before any contact with food products and after each diaper change or stay in the bathroom. Relatively older children should be taught to do this on their own.
It is also recommended to make sure to separate the utensils and pacifiers that the children use (although this is not an easy task at all).
One last thing: the association of pediatricians constantly publishes a list of vaccines for children, recommended routine vaccines that are given to them from a young age. Even for these vaccines, there is a lot of thinking in preventing diseases, spreading and infecting our little ones.
How are the symptoms treated?
As mentioned, viral diseases cannot be treated with antibiotics (they attack bacteria and not viruses), so in most cases you just have to be patient and let the disease pass, try to make it easier for the toddler and make sure to rest at home.
If the baby or toddler suffers from cold symptoms such as a runny nose and cough, which are not dangerous but may harm the quality of his sleep and appetite, you can try and relieve him with natural preparations that are also suitable for use in babies.
One option is to drip aromatic eucalyptus oil on the pillow or in a diffuser. Another option is to apply “Coldy” ointment on the chest and neck, which contains eucalyptus oil and other natural oils to relieve the symptoms.
If the child suffers from vomiting and/or diarrhea, it is very important to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration.
In any case of unusual behavior such as apathy, high fever that does not go away within three days, convulsions or any situation that worries you parents, it is recommended to contact the pediatrician without delay.