Winter is that time of year when your child might come down with something – a cough or cold – and before they’ve recovered, they’re sick again with something new.
For a parent, winter can be a really trying time. It can be hard to keep kids healthy in winter!
In winter, shorter days mean less Vitamin D, and more time closed up indoors around circulating germs. Plus, a cold body uses more energy keeping itself warm and has less resources for fighting off bugs.
So during the cold months, your kids need a bit of extra help to stay healthy.
I do these things at home to keep my kids healthy in winter.
1. Feed them extra veggies.
I make sure they eat vegetables at least once a day but I try to get them in twice, if not three times. Three times rarely happens but when it does it’s a super bonus!
I eat them myself at breakfast most days so sometimes they come along and take a snow pea from me or some string beans – and that always makes my heart sing. They always get vegetables for dinner – as I’m sure most children do – but then I also put them in their lunch box too.
Different colours of veg are important as they help to nourish different organs (green vegetables nourish the Liver, yellow the Spleen, red the Heart, white the Lungs and black the Kidneys). Plus you have the fibre which is good for their bowels.
2. Feed them slow-cooked food.
I cook soups and stews regularly. Bone broth is great for their digestive system, which we call the Spleen and Stomach in Chinese medicine. When that is warm and working well, their Wei Qi (defensive Qi, aka their immune system) is also working much better.
3. Add garlic to meals.
We use garlic often in our cooking. Garlic is a great anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal herb. Getting children used to the flavour is helpful as it’s wonderful for their health.
4. Treat illnesses with Chinese herbs.
When my kids do get sick, which they inevitably do at some point, I order herbs for them depending on what kind of cold and flu they contract, as it manifests differently for each child.
There is a good formula I often use at the start of an illness to help them cope with it better and move through it faster. It’s called Sang Ju Yin. Sometimes I use that, other times I use Yin Qiao San, which is more for yellow mucus and a sore throat and coughing. Then there are others that work well if the cough is persistent.
It’s important to get the right formula for your child and their constitution.
5. Take them for some acupuncture.
When they’re particularly bad and can’t breathe well, I give them acupuncture so they get a better sleep.
6. Cut out damp foods.
I’m careful to take them off foods that don’t help them at this time. These include sugar, dairy, deep fried food, bananas and avocado. I decrease the fruit intake and increase the vegetables, broths and easy-to-digest foods.
In Chinese medicine, fruit, dairy, sugar and fried foods are seen to cause more “damp” in the body so that’s why I avoid them. These foods are phlegmy and create mucus so I want to decrease “damp” food going into their body.
7. Keep them covered up.
I insist they cover their feet and legs from the ground up as doing that will help them to better regulate their temperature and keep warm. And I’m partial to a singlet under a long-sleeve top with a jumper on top. A warm bath at night before bed can also be very soothing for them physically and mentally.
8. Include a soothing bedtime routine.
We finish off the day with book reading and finally, a meditation to help them coast off to sleep. They look forward to this now and find it calming, soothing and relaxing.
How do you keep kids healthy in winter? We’d love to hear your tips! Add them to the comments below.