One of your children has…
-a cold,
-the flu,
-chicken pox,
-any other ailment that is able to be passed on to another sibling.
How do you keep your other children from getting the same sickness?
Some would even ask, “Should you keep others from getting it?” If the other kid is going to eventually get it anyway, some parents think it’s best to just go ahead and get it over with. To this, I say do your best. Go down swinging. The other child may never catch the virus. If not, that’s a win. You stopped some pain and some suffering. Isn’t that our job as parents after all? If they do get it, especially after following the tips below, at least you tried.
The long and sort of it is: our children are going to get sick.
It’s the way it is.
Their immune systems are still developing. Additionally, we keep putting them in environments rife with germs (like preschool or kindergarten). They’re going to pick up everything! So, keeping that 2nd or 3rd kid from getting what the 1st one has can be difficult. It may even be impossible. When you consider sicknesses are often contagious before ever showing symptoms, you may have lost the battle before you even began fighting. BUT, there are safeguards that you can put in place to at least help keep (even if you can’t guarantee) the siblings from getting sick too. Doctors agree that prevention, with the steps listed below, is possible.
“I THINK WHEN ONE CHILD IS SICK, SOME EXTRA SANITIZING AROUND THE HOUSE CAN DEFINITELY HELP PREVENT OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS FROM GETTING IT.” DR. TANYA REMER ALTMANN
Educate Yourself
Different sicknesses spread in different ways. Coughing. Sneezing. Touch. So, once one of your little ones get sick, hit Google and do a search for how the sickness is transmitted if you don’t already know.
Quarantine
You’ll want to keep the other kids away, at least on the other side of the room. No need for them to be in their own room, you don’t want it to feel like a punishment. Dr. Laura Jana says having sick kids together in the same room watching a movie with other kids is fine as long as they aren’t getting in each other’s faces and you’re keeping everything cleaned.
However, if you have more than one bathroom and bedroom, consider splitting them up for those needs. Doctor’s office, as an example, often have the well vs sick entrances.
Also, be vigilant on teaching them to cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough.
A little distance will help keep the germs from getting all the way to your other children. It’ll also lessen the chances they touch each other or the same things in the house.
Don’t let them share drinks or food. They shouldn’t drink or eat after one another. If you have communal snacks, separate some out for the sick one (if they’re feeling up to eating it) in their own bowl.
Clean
Clean up the germs.
Disinfectant will become your new best friend. Disinfect everything the sick one comes into contact with throughout your house and cars. You don’t really think about all surfaces someone touches till sickness comes involved. They’ll be touching doorknobs, refrigerator handles, toilets, sinks, banisters, couches. If your kids are still babies and toddlers, you’ll need to clean the changing table and potty chairs between uses. Maybe they feel good enough to play with toys or handheld game systems? Yep, clean those too.
Wash the blankets, the cups, the stuffed animals. Clean your own hands as well, so you’re not spreading the germs.
Wash those hands often! Yours and all the children. My wife works at the local hospital. Each patient’s room has antibacterial soap at the door so everyone going in and out of the room can “foam in, foam out”, meaning wash their hands, so that they keep the germs from going out of the room with them.
When washing the blankets, towels, and clothes, wash them in hot water to kill any germs hanging out in them.
These steps will not only help prevent your other kids from getting sick, they will also help your sick one from relapsing. So, also replace their toothbrush! No need for them reinfecting themselves.
Remember the end of Velveteen Rabbit? They burned everything the child of that book used while sick (thankfully, the titular character escaped that fate). With modern medical advancements, we hope disinfectant will be sufficient. No need for burning!
Don’t overthink it though. Your kids, and you, have a high chance of getting sick if someone in the house already is. You do what you can. You aren’t to blame if your precautions prove fruitless. However, if you do prevent others from getting sick, consider it a big parenting win.
Also, be on the lookout for when the little ones need to go to the doctor.