Rains/ Winters mean sick children at home and frequent visits to doctor, especially if you have young children at home. To keep kids healthy, it is important to boost their immunity so that they will fall sick less. Most parents want to improve immunity of their children naturally rather than giving them medication. You can take some simple steps to keep your baby healthy and happy.
Research has shown that breastfed babies have stronger immune system. Breast milk has immunity-enhancing antibodies which are passed from mother to her baby. Colostrum or thick yellow pre-milk which flows from mother’s breasts during the first few days after delivery is full of life-saving antibodies and help in building immunity of baby. So breast-feed your baby as soon as possible and as long as you want or is possible for you.
“You are what you Eat!”
There can be nothing truer than this adage. And it starts applying as soon as a baby is born and that is the reason why most parents are concerned about their infants and toddler’s nutrition needs. Well started is half the battle won, hence inculcating healthy habits early on is very important.
Serve lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to your kids. Introduce fruits and vegetables as a baby and continue. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals and antibodies which help in fighting diseases. Even Western countries who have a diet predominantly rich in meat and meal products are waking up to the fact that they must include more fruits and vegetables in their children’s diet. According to studies, children must have 3-5 portions of vegetables per day. Include vegetables in cooked and uncooked form.
Other than regular curries, you may give salads like cucumber, tomatoes, steamed vegetables like carrots, corn, peas etc.
Immunization is a must for every child to keep them safe from a number of serious and life-threatening diseases. Vaccinations start as soon as a baby is born and continue till 2 years, after which there are some booster doses which must be given at prescribed time.
Keep your kid’s vaccination schedule up to date. Do not miss and vaccination or boosters as it leaves your child prone to diseases.
Use a free application like TRACKMEMOM which let you keep track of your baby’s vaccination and sends you alerts in advance so that you never miss any vaccination date. It also send you alerts for doctor’s appointments, let you keep track of baby’s feeding, growth and even lets you make an online Baby Book, all for free.
Meals on time
Certain level of discipline is important for proper growth and nutrition of children. Maintain regular mealtimes for kids. Having food at regular times and intervals is good for digestion and helps in keeping body stronger. Having meals at regular times also allows your child’s body to send hunger cues at meal times, which will allow him/her to eat well, which again leads to better immunity. Try not to give very heavy snacks as it will interfere with their appetite during lunch or dinner times.
Maintaining Food Hygiene
1) Teach healthy hygiene habits to your kids.
2) Make sure they wash their hands before and after having meals and after using toilet. These habits should be inculcated as soon as baby starts having solids.
3) Teach toddlers about healthy and junk food. They are less likely to be tempted by fast, junk food if they are aware that those things are bad for them.
4) Teach them about how they can contract germs from open roadside food, which can make them sick.
Keep Good Sleep Schedule
1) Adequate sleep is a must to rejuvenate body and keep it strong enough to fight infections.
2) Ensure that your child goes to bed at same time every evening and has atleast 10-12 hours of sleep.
3) Maintain nap times if your kid still has them.
4) Have a predictable bedtime routine to relax and put baby to sleep.
Time outdoors to play and exercise
1) Exercise and outdoor time is important to make body stronger and it also boosts immunity.
2) Ensure your child gets at least 1-2 hours of physical activity every day. Take them to park and let them play at whatever they.
3) Do not try to account for every free hour of your child’s day. You do not have to send them to every activity class that’s available.
Limit time in front of TV or other screens
Too much time in front of TV makes your child lethargic and less active which has adverse effect on child’s health.
Try to not introduce children to TV or other electronic gadgets like tablets etc. for as long as possible. It will make your life easier.
Educate them about the harm too much TV can do their eyes, so that they themselves take the responsibility.
Even when they grow up and have TV time, you must control the quality of program that they are watching.
No Smoking/ Alcohol
Smoking is injurious for all but even passive smoking is worse for kids than adults as their body systems are still developing. So if you or your spouse smokes, you should quit for your child and yourself.
Alcohol too is not good for you and if you want your child to not drink when he/she is older, you mightwant to stop or at least have rarely.
Home-remedies for Immunity boost
There are numerous tried and tested home remedies that we can include in our daily life give our and our children’s immunity a boost.
1) Give ginger juice and honey twice a day.
2) Add garlic to everyday cooking.
3) Tulsi leaves improve body’s infection-fighting capabilities. They can be crushed and juice can be given with a teaspoon of honey.
4) Foods rich in vitamin C are known to boost immunity, so add fruits and vegetables rich in vit. C to your child’s diet. Fruits like oranges, lemons and other citrus fruits are all good sources of vit C. Amla or Indian gooseberry is full of this vitamin and so is tomato. The acid in these food items also improves absorption of Iron.
5) Add curd and fermented foods to your child’s diet. These contain pro-biotics which keeps your gut healthy and also protect you against infections.
Also, remember that every time your child catches a cold, the body is also building immunity against those viruses, so they are not all bad.