Vicks Winter Warm Up or Tips for Cold and Flu Season

Last week was crazy hectic for me, good and bad. On the plus side time flies when you have a million things to do, on the negative side time has flown past before you get to do everything on your list. One of the awesome things I got to take part in was the Winter Warm Up event sponsored by Kaz, the maker of many Vicks products. I jumped at the chance to attend, it's no secret that my daughter is obsessed with Vicks VapoRub and our Vicks Humidifier. True story, Coraline woke up one morning and as I walked into the room she said "Mommy medicine, I did it". I know that I don't leave medicine out, so my eyes quickly scanned the area to put 2 and 2 together. I spotted the Vicks VapoRub on the bedside table and smelled my daughter, she had put it on herself as soon as she woke up. She even screwed the top back on the jar.

Something I am always keen to do is have the chance to listen to some awesome speakers at events. Winter Warm Up was no different, with Dr. Meg Meeker author of the book "10 Habits of Healthy Mothers". Not only is Dr. Meeker an author and pediatrician, she is a mother. Don't you always feel more comfortable getting advice about your children when it comes from another mother? I do. She offered insight into cold and flu season not just as a pediatrician but as a mother who has been there.

I'm not going to lie, a lot of these tips are probably things you already know or things you would think to do if you just trust your instincts, which leads us to tip #1.

#1 Always trust your intuition. I have said this countless times here at The Girl Is A Mom. I can not put enough emphasis on the amazing thing that is a mothers gut instinct. You know your children better then any other person (probably even their fathers) and you know when something is not right. If you think your child is sick or something is off, have them checked out!

#2 Don't let anyone push you aside with some lame answer. I can't tell you how many times I have felt rushed in the doctors office or felt like someone wasn't listening to me. Sometimes I think we hold doctors on some pedestal because they have a hard job or know so much about medicine. I might not know every virus out there or be able to prescribe medication for my child, but I can tell you that I know when something is wrong. I also know when something is more severe then a doctor might be telling me, so you sit in the office and demand answers!

#3 Don't listen to your grandmother! I've definitely said this before also, parenting is different now then it was when we were children and way way more different then when our parents were children. If you get advice that doesn't seem kosher, smile and politely decline....no I don't think I will put my child in an ice bath to bring a fever down, or rub alcohol all over them, or ...insert crazy things that were done to children back in the day.

Definitely some very easy things you can do to help prevent the spread of cold and flu this season (and here in Boston that hits hard). 

Flu Vaccine

Wash wash wash those hands

Wash your thermometer (I admit I always forget to do this)

Have your supplies ready before anyone is sick!

Vicks has a great line of products that can help you fight the good fight this year. The new Behind The Ear Thermometer is simply awesome. It is an acurate, noninvasive reading (perfect for the small babies and squirmy toddlers) and it gives a reading in 1 second. I tried this out immediately, of course, and fell in love.  Coraline loves anything doctor related so taking her temp. has never been hard, Arya is just little so she doesn't much care. The thing I love most about it aside from the quick read out, it stores the last 8 temp. readings! That is awesome if you have a child with a fever but can't quite remember what the temp. was 30 minutes ago or the first time you took it this morning. Anything over 100 is considered a fever and some children are just fine with a fever.  Coraline has never really acted much different between normal and 103.  It would take someone who knew Cora really well to ever see that something was wrong with her. 

We run a Vicks humidifier every night in our room, we have a large stand up unit that is about 2 feet tall which I can't find a link to, but we love it. It really acts as a dual use machine providing not just humidity into the air but also the much needed white noise. White noise will do a super job to help your kids sleep better, or yourself.  Vicks newest humidifier is the Starry Night Cool Mist. Perfect for the kids rooms, this humidifier provides cool mist and it projects a starry night sky onto the ceiling. I mean let's face it, the poor children are laying sick in their bed, the least we could do is give them something to look at.

I learned a few things about humidity in the house that I didn't know before...

Humidity should be between 40-60%. Don't know what your house is measuring? Get a Humidity Gauge

A study was done recently that shows the flu virus can not thrive when the humidity is between 40% and 60%, which is awesome.

Cool mist or warm mist? It is entirely up to you. I always thought there was a big difference but no, it's really personal preference.

Humidity can really help clear up congestion which I know we all get here in New England during the winter. I feel that especially in older houses (I don't know anyone that has a newer house in New England) it's important to run humidifiers. If your baby or child is congested, like Arya was the other night, take them into the bathroom, run a super hot shower and just sit in the steam. It really clears them up. For older kids, it can help alot to let them run around outside where the air is naturally full of moisture.

Last but not least, saline spray is great for breaking up the gross stuff that gets in kids noses. They hate it. They will not want you to spray saline up their nose, but it really helps. You spray and then suck it out. Dr. Meeker suggested an ear aspirator to really get up there, we use the Nose Frida and love that. Whatever you feel comfortable with works. You are going to feel like a terrible person as your baby screams bloody murder while you spray crap in their nose, but it will help so much!

Thank you so much to Boston Parent Bloggers for the opportunity and to our hosts Kaz (the makers of many Vicks Products) and Finale Bakery in Boston. The dessert and lunch we were given was to die for, you can order online :)

*I was given lunch and a gift back with the aforementioned products for free. I wasn't compensated for this post, the opinions are entirely my own.

Comments

[Meg Meeker]

Thanks for attending! Hope everyone in your family stays well this cold and flu season!

All the best,
Meg

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