In order to keep us all healthy during the cold and flu season please review proper hand washing, couch and cover procedures and use of tissues with your children. We did this as a group but it is helpful if you remind them once in a while. Please also remind them to wash their hands after using the bathroom facilities.

Keep your child home if:

  1. They have a temp of 100.4 or higher in the last 24 hours
  2.  You have to give them medication to keep their temp under this threshold.
  3. They need antibiotics – they must be on them for a FULL  24 hours.
  4. They have vomiting or diarrhea- 24 hour rule applies here as well.
  5. Coughing that they can’t control.

If you are unsure ask your doctor.

Tips to Minimize Allergic Symptoms: Nine Natural Steps to Avoid Pollen

1.     Consider wearing natural fabrics. When you pick natural fabrics such as cotton, you may attract less pollen, some experts say. Silks and synthetic fabrics tend to build up static electricity, which attracts pollen.

2.     Dry your clothes in a clothes dryer if available, not on an outdoor line. Pollen can collect easily on clothing or bed linens left outside.

3.     Close windows in the house and the car. Open windows can be refreshing, but they let in pollen. Close windows and outside doors, especially on high-pollen days, and turn on the air-conditioning, if available. Use the “recirculate” option in the car instead of the vent, which may let in pollen.

4.     Wipe your pet’s fur. If you have a pet that goes outside, wipe his fur off before he comes back in. Pets can bring pollen indoors on their fur.

5.     Remove your shoes at the door at home. Take off your shoes before you come in to the house, so you don’t track in pollen.

6.     Wash your hair before bed. Shampoo and shower before bed. That way, pollen that collected on your hair during the day won’t rub off on your pillow.

7.     Change your clothes before bed. Pollen that collected on your clothes during the day won’t rub off on your sheets.

8.     Consider wearing a light jacket to school; then, put that jacket in your locker.The pollen that collected on the jacket during the walk to school will then stay in your locker and not affect you in the classroom.

9.     Wash your face (and eye glasses if you wear them) when you get into school.Wash away the pollen that may have collected on your face, eyebrows, and eyelashes on the way to school.

Consider Allergy Medication

Sometimes avoiding pollen isn’t enough, and often it is just not possible. Your child may need allergy medicine. Although there are many over-the-counter antihistamines, decongestants, and nasal sprays, it is important that you work with your pediatrician to make sure that your child’s allergy is correctly diagnosed and the symptoms are properly treated.