This post about how to prevent siblings from spreading germs has been brought to you today because of my partnership with Stonyfield and their partnership with Toms of Maine. All opinions are my own.  A Cookie Before Dinner does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

I don’t know about you, but my kids have spent the first part of the school year excessively sick! We’re closing out October and moving into November and in the last six weeks we’ve gone through just about it all!

Fall colds and illnesses for Team Rongner. We like to share, apparently. Here’s what has plagued us so far.

  • Tummy Bug x 4
  • Head Cold x 6
  • Sinus Infection x 1
  • Weird High Fever Virus x 5

I wish I would have done things a bit differently while the kids were sick, but hindsight is always 20/20, right?

Here’s what I’ll be doing different next time one of my kids gets sick.

How To Prevent Siblings From Spreading Germs

How to prevent siblings from spreading germs. Dealing with family illness is so hard. Here are some great tips to help keep your family healthy during flu season!

Excessive hand washing. We’re pretty great at washing our hands before meals and when we come in from outside. But going forward, we’re upping our hand washing game. It is a proven method at effectively fighting germs.

No sharing food. My kids often share popcorn or pretzels, but now when they’re sick!

Sick bay quarantine. When I was a kid and sick, I had to stay in my room. We’ve been much more relaxed about this in our home, which is why I think we passed germs around so much this last time. Going forward, instead of quarantining the sick kid, I’m sending the healthy one to play in their room as much as possible.

Change out the toothbrushes. Think about it, mouth + germs + toothbrush. Rinse, lather, repeat. This isn’t so much about keeping the sibling healthy as it is about keeping the sick kid from getting sick again.

This toothbrush from Toms of Maine is now mine. I seem to be giving myself the same head cold over and over and over again. I don’t know if that is true or not but better safe than sorry.

toothbrush

Sanitize #allthethings. My washer has a sanitary cycle and it has been in OVERDRIVE. Sheets, pillows, stuff animals, you name it. It’s been through the cycle.

Good food practice. When someone is sick, the rest of us up our yogurt and citrus game (vitamin C). Yogurt has so many amazing health benefits. You can read more about them in this article from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

yogurt

Nothing is forever mindset. At least 90% of the time, my kids are really into playing and hanging out with them. So it’s hard to understand why we need to let the sick kid have some space. I’ve found reminding them that soon everyone will be healthy again helps.

Do you have a tip on how to prevent siblings from spreading germs when they’re sick? Share it below!