Tips for Avoiding the Infamous “Back-to-School Illness”

Sleep

We’ve all heard it over and over again that getting enough sleep each night helps keep our bodies in tip top shape.  From my personal experience, if I don’t get enough sleep a few days in a row, I immediately start to feel run down and seem to pick up any illness that I come into contact with.  This usually happens to me right before a big vacation.  By the time the trip is over, I’ve started showing symptoms of a cold or flu.

Choosing high-quality vitamins that our kids actually want to take is tricky.  Gummy vitamins seem to be the only things my oldest will take right now and I can’t say that I blame her.  I hate swallowing pills and would rather take a gummy vitamin any day.  Knowing that Nature Made® has a whole line of kids’ vitamins available at Target, I found myself looking like a crazy mom shoveling every bottle of kids’ gummy vitamins into my cart.  Obviously they aren’t all meant to be taken in one day, but since Target had them on sale, I didn’t want to miss out.

My daughter actually asks to take her Nature Made® KIDS FIRST® Multivitamins every day, which is great because I often forget to give them to her.  Between getting her lunch ready, preparing breakfast, getting everyone dressed and out of the door on time in the mornings, things get a little chaotic.  What I do is set our bottle of vitamins out on the counter so she sees it and knows to remind me.

Nature Made® KIDS FIRST® Multivitamins contain 12 essential nutrients for age-specific nutritional support, including vitamins A, C, D and E, B vitamins, and minerals like iodine and zinc.  They are flavored with all-natural fruit flavors, have no synthetic dyes, preservatives or yeast and are gluten-free.  Not only do they taste great, they help fill many of the key nutrient gaps from your kids’ diet and support overall health. †

Exercise

Most kids get enough exercise on the playground at school, but it’s always good to get them moving on the weekends while they’re at home.  Having them join a sport that they love or playing a game of tag at the park with the family is enough to get their heart rate up.

Eat Healthy

Parents, I get it.  Most kids hate the word “healthy” and cringe at the sight of anything leafy or green.  My daughter is going through an anti-green phase right now, but she will eat broccoli.  So, needless to say we serve a TON of broccoli with dinner.  I also try to include a fruit in her school lunches, limit the PB&J sandwiches and send water bottles instead of juice boxes.

You can check out my Pinterest board titled FOOD FOR LITTLES for tips on sneaking healthy ingredients into foods our kids love.

Hand Washing

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.