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Staying healthy over the winter months can seem impossible. If you have young children, chances are they bring colds, coughs, and other bugs back from school seemingly every other week, spreading them indiscriminately through your family. It can feel as though you get rid of a cold, only to be struck down with another almost immediately, and this time of year can be a challenge for our immune systems. The good news is there’s plenty that you can do to keep healthy this winter.
Spend Time Outdoors
In the winter you might be tempted to wrap up and stay indoors, avoiding cold weather. This is understandable, but getting outside boosts your circulation, gives you better access to fresh air and vitamin D, and a chance to get some exercise. All of these things can boost your immune system, and your mood and make it easier to get a good night’s sleep, which makes avoiding illness easier.
Exercise
In very poor weather, you might be forced to stay indoors, and you certainly shouldn’t go out for runs or another outdoor exercise if the weather makes it unsafe. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t exercise. Try indoor workouts like Yoga and HIIT to keep warm and fit.
Encourage Good Hygiene
Good hygiene is one of the best ways to avoid colds and other winter bugs. Make sure your children know about hand washing, using tissues, and covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze. Remind them often, and make sure you are setting a good example with your habits. If you foster with Orange Grove Foster Care in Liverpool, make sure any new children know how to practice good hygiene at home.
Keep Warm
It’s a myth that we catch colds when we are cold. But being warm can reduce the virus’s ability to spread as quickly and help you to feel better. Make sure your house is warm, and that your family have good outdoor coats, shoes, and accessories to help them to keep warm.
Reduce Stress
Modern life can be stressful, and families cope with different kinds of stress every day. Your children might have homework worries. You might be thinking about money or issues at work.
Stress can make it hard to sleep and reduce your immune function. Spending time outdoors, eating as a family, and talking to each other, perhaps using things like family walks, baking, and board games to make a conversation easy, will help to reduce stress and give you all a better chance of staying healthy.
Don’t Ignore Symptoms
If you do start to feel unwell, don’t try to carry on as usual. Take some time off, get plenty of rest and let your body recover.
Avoiding colds during the winter can be almost impossible. Winter colds are normal and aren’t usually anything to worry about. But, by boosting your immune system, you give yourself, and your family, the best chance of avoiding serious colds and other illnesses and returning to full health quickly if you do become unwell.
