5 Sick Day Tips For School Aged Kids

This post about sick day tips for school aged kids has been brought to you today  by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

My school aged son Malone has gone through the gamut this year when it comes to being sick. It seems like he just can’t catch a break! As soon as he kicks a cold, he gives it to his sister who then reinvents it and gives a newer cold back to him. It’s an never ending cycle of illness here this year!  He’s had more sick days home from school than I can count on two hands…. seriously, it’s been rough!

According to Pediatric doctor Dr. Nina Shapiro and microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba, we’re not the only ones saying goodbye to perfect attendance.

•   More than 38 million school days are missed by U.S. children each year due to the flu.
• Parents miss about 126 million workdays annually caring for a sick child, which equates to 40 billion lost dollars.
• Missing work to stay home with their sick kids and worrying about sickness outbreaks going around the classroom were the top concerns parents have when their child is sick at school.

And as it turns out, school is where kids pick up a bunch of those yucky germs that cause sickness.

• Half of students don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom ¬ – and of those who do many don’t even use soap.
• Less than one-third of teachers said they regularly disinfect germ-laden objects in the classroom.
•  Desks often have more bacteria than a toilet seat and if eating happens in class, the number of germs multiplies.
•   Up to 2.7 million bacterial cells per square inch live on common school surfaces such as water fountains, desks, computer keyboards, bus seats and cafeteria trays.
• Shared technology in classrooms introduces new high-touch surfaces for spreading germs – the computer mouse, keyboard and tablet surfaces have some of the highest germ counts.
•   Each keyboard key contains up to 1.3 million germs—that’s more than 135 million germs on the entire keyboard, and a standard iPad screen has up to 192 million bacteria!

It’s no wonder that Malone has been so sick!

5 Sick Day Tips For School Aged Kids

Keep them hydrated. 

Water is basically magical. Make sure to give your school kiddo lots of fluids, including water. We typically alternate between hot water with lemon and and ice cold water for sick days.

Fight the good fight. 

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to my kids being sick, I hate it. When sick gets real at my house, we use  Children’s Dimetapp® Multi-Symptom Cold Relief Dye-Free. It helps with stuffy and runny noses, sneezing, itchy eyes and coughs. I love that it’s dye free and Malone likes the grape flavor. This is for kids ages 6 and up.  Check out the Sick Just Got Real website here for more great sick day tips.

Take it easy.

Most days, my school aged kid gets to have a 1980’s kind of sick day. We watch movies on the couch and play board games. We use the “fun” screens as little as possible. Sick days are meant to be sick days, not tablet days.

Steamy showers for all. 

Need I say more about this? It opens up the airways and relaxes the muscles.

Lots of extra sleep. 

Rest is best is the motto at our house. Even if our kids can’t nap, we always send them to bed in the afternoons on sick days. Most of the time, Malone listens to a book on CD during this time. Don’t tell him I told you, but he’s fallen asleep more times than not.

Bonus for mom and dad…. Savor those moments with your little ones at home. My house is currently a wreck with toys and drinks everywhere. But there will be time for spotless living rooms soon again. 

Are you looking for even more great ways to help your school aged kid at home sick from school, visit the Sick Just Got Real Facebook Page.