By Lara Endreszl (HealthNews.com)It’s that time again, school days are here and that means the cold and flu season will be following soon after. We already know how to take care of our school-aged children with oscillococcinum, the natural remedy against the flu as well as precautions against the H1N1 virus, but as a prevention tactics maybe we should be looking in the local patent office. Many people all across the country have been inventing products to make lives easier and even though not all of them actually get made or never make it out of our heads, there are a lot of inventions that serve to help the community. A few of these have made it into the childhood flu arena and could be just the thing to keep your child safe from the invisible monsters that lurk everywhere—germs.
Since hand-washing is the number one rule in keeping germs from attacking your immune system, you may notice that more and more grocery stores, shopping centers, hospitals, and schools have adopted anti-bacterial wipes and/or hand sanitizer dispensers around for patients, customers, and visitors to use for their protection and the protection of the workers in each environment.
However, for children—especially infants—a lot of people do not realize that other people’s hands are carriers and can be very dangerous to a baby’s health. As it may not be customary to ask friends, relatives, or acquaintances to wash their hands before holding your newborn, maybe it should be. The minds behind My Tiny Hands came up with a sign for your stroller, car seat, high chair, crib, or baby carrier asking people to wash their hands. Their website shows an adorable little baby sitting in a stroller with a neon pink stop-sign-esque laminate hanging from the top that says, “Please wash your hands before touching mine.”
Also available in Spanish language, the signs are a great way to ask without having the awkwardness of confronting a coughing co-worker or sniffling neighbor during a visit. My Tiny Hands shows testimonials on their website from professionals like Dr. David Geller at Children’s Hospital of Boston, who says that this request should be necessary instead of being seen as offensive, “Since people who don't know they're sick can also spread germs, it's completely appropriate—and not rude—to make everyone wash their hands before touching [your] baby.”
Another new product cropping up for children is called a “Sniffle Buddy.” As a young snot-nosed kid myself, I often remember wiping my nose across my sleeve or on the inside of my jacket or sweatshirt and I can never remember ever having tissues handy. A Sniffle Buddy is an elasticized band that goes around a child’s wrist made of washable organic cotton and recycled materials. The purpose is to keep little noses soft and sleeves free of gunk, as well as germs. Each band wraps comfortably around the wrist with Velcro that parents can easily slip on and off and throw right into the washing machine. If you are an active parent always on the go, work outside without a pocketful of tissues, or just love the idea Sniffle Buddies are also made for adults.
With airplane travel being a haven for airborne illness and the spread of germs through fabrics, if you happen to be traveling (with or without kids) over the flu/holiday season you may also want to look into purchasing an anti-bacterial cover for your airplane seat. Called a “Sure Fit Transit Cover,” this soft stretchy suede fabric slips easily over your seat making it a healthier way to fly.
Next time your family comes down with a case of the sniffles think about ways you can prevent those nasty viruses by stocking up on anti-bacterial items, remembering to always wash up, or simply by strapping on a little buddy to keep your children out of germs’ way.
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