If your family is experiencing the colds, flus and viruses of the season? How do you keep it from spreading to others in your house and get rid of it as quickly as possible? Here’s what I’ve discovered:
Quarantine everyone to a different location
I was the only person that was allowed to move freely in the house. Everyone else needed to stay in their respective bedroom areas until they were no longer contagious. It cuts down on the spreading of germs throughout the house.
If it’s not nailed down, it goes in the laundry
Fuzzy blankets, stuffed animals, fabric curtains, bedding, mattress covers, towels and tablecloths. It’s overwhelming to have this much laundry, especially if you aren’t feeling great, but knowing that everything is clean and germ free is huge.
Open the windows
If it’s a little chilly out, turn up the heat an extra couple of degrees if you need to, but get some fresh air circulating through the house while you are disinfecting everything.
Disinfect every surface – even the tricky ones
Don’t forget community things like cabinet pulls, door handles, light switches, toilet handles, towel bars, kitchen chairs, lamps and remote controls. You’ll be surprised at how many things everyone in your house touches on a daily basis. I hate the smell of Lysol. Hate it. But it’s fantastic at killing germs in things that are incredibly difficult to wash – like the couch, chairs, decorative throw pillows and bed mattress. During my disinfecting spree, I make sure the room that I’m using it in is very well ventilated.
Use paper products
Ditch towels in all of the bathrooms and kitchen, and switch to paper towels until everyone is healthy again. Assign everyone their own box of tissues, and remove community tissues because they are the worst collectors of everyone’s germs. Use paper plates and napkins to make your life easier. Because, at this point, you are exhausted and trying not to get sick yourself.
Use a different dose cup every time
Those little plastic cups, droppers or dispensers that come from the pharmacy or from the tops of over-the-counter medicine bottles? I’ve hoarded them for just this occasion. Instead of just having one of two, I have a ton so that every time I use one, I can just throw it in the dishwasher and use a fresh, disinfected one the next time around. It’s one less thing you’ll have to wash on the spot.
Purge
As soon as temperatures break, throw out toothbrushes (potentially the toothpaste, depending on how your little ones use it) and mouthwash. These things should be changed every time your kids, and you, are sick.
Explore all types of remedies to get your family healthy, and know that what is working for one person might not work for another
My sweetie was able to go the traditional flu medications route, but my 6-year-old was not. I used a combination of homeopathic and essential oil products to keep her comfortable, and they were both well again in the same number of days. My 9-year-old with the respiratory infection needed to receive breathing treatments, but I supplemented with homeopathic and essential oils to keep her protected from the flu.
I managed to dodge ALL of it with a combination of homeopathic and essential oil products that shielded me from everything that they were carrying around and kept myself healthy enough to care for everyone.
Definitely a huge accomplishment in my book!
