How to Protect Your Children During Flu Season at Home

Flu season can be scary even if you get vaccinated. The flu seems to spread with a mind of its own, and the best you can do is to prepare yourself. If you want to slow the spread of this illness, you’ll want to follow the tips below in order to protect your children during flu season. 

Sanitize the Surfaces

The first, and often best, line of defense against the flu is proper sanitization procedures. The flu virus doesn’t just spread from person to person – those germs can find their way to surfaces, where they can live for quite some time until the infect another person.

Make sure that you sanitize surfaces regularly so that flu germs don’t get the chance to spread. Using cleaning wipes can do a lot more to kill the germs than just a wet washcloth, and leaving washcloths in the sink can lead to bacterial buildup and should not be used to disinfect anything.

Check Your Home’s Temperature

Believe it or not, your home’s temperature can actually have an impact on the spread of the flu. Low humidity actually provides a perfect environment for the spread of the flu, so keeping your home at an even temperature that won’t dry out the air is ideal. It’s a good idea to contact an HVAC service in order to make sure that your heating system is working well enough to maintain a good indoor temperature.

Do the Laundry

Piles of laundry are a great place for flu viruses to incubate. They’re full of the kind of dark, humid spots that germs love and the piles stick around long enough to provide a fertile breeding ground. Make sure that you’re doing laundry on a regular basis so that germs don’t have time to spread throughout your home. Speak with your children about the importance of keeping their laundry put away instead of piled on the floor, and you’ll find it much easier to keep their rooms sanitary.

Clean Up Clutter

Finally, it may be a good idea to dedicate the flu season to clean up the clutter around your home. The best way to get rid of the flu is to give the virus fewer places to infest on its way to infecting more people. Items that are constantly touched and move are perfect breeding grounds for the flu, so make sure that you’re not leaving things around where they are constantly exposed. A little light winter cleaning can actually be quite useful in the battle against the flu. 

If you’re going to protect your home against the flu, you’ll need to be vigilant. Keep your home clean, do your laundry regularly, and make sure that you sanitize often. Make sure that your home’s temperature doesn’t make spreading the flu easily and do what you can to keep the environment flu-unfriendly. With a little work, you can reduce the likelihood of the flu spreading in your home.

By Meghan Belnap 

Meghan is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.