I was provided with Vicks Humidifier and Vicks Smart Temp for promotional purposes. All opinions are my own.
Let’s face it, nobody likes getting sick, especially as a family. It seems the more people you have in your home the more often you get sick and for longer periods of time. If you’re caring for younger children a cold and flu can really throw a wrench in your daily routine. Once your children lay down for sleep all of a sudden they are stuffed up, coughing and restless, which in turn leads to you being up all night doing your best to comfort them. I am no stranger to sitting upright with a baby on my chest so that their sinus cavities never really fill up and they actually get some rest. Either way cold and flu season really wears on your body, whether through actual sickness or exhaustion. For a lot of people the solution to a cold or flu is to take over the counter symptom suppressors. My family believes strongly in the body as a self healing entity, now that isn’t to say that the body doesn’t need support while healing, but we believe with correct support your body is the smartest cold fighter there is. Here are my five tips to supporting your body through this Cold and Flu season!
Tip 1. Eat healthy whole foods. Although when you have a cold or flu the easiest thing to do to feed yourself is often grabbing a packet of some pre-prepared food, it wont pay off in the long run. If you are going to support your body through this cold you need to feed it the most healthy nutritious foods available. Think foods with dense vitamins and nutrients. Bone broth can be a really nourishing food and even easier than that packaged food if you always have some on hand! Another easy nutrient dense food is a smoothie, pack in as many dark greens as you can, ice, coconut milk, and some high immune boosting fruits to really top it off. I would recommend however to avoid putting dairy of any sort into the smoothie as it can cause more phlegm and mucous which wont help at all during a cold.
Tip 2. Elderberry Syrup is something that is always made fresh in my house at the first sign of a cold or flu. Elderberry is a fruit with very very high amounts of vitamin C. My children beg for it and there’s no worry of horrible ingredients or overdose! The best part about Elderberry Syrup is that everyone in the house can take it, not only for healing a cold or flu you already have but for preventing your body from catching one in the first place!
Tip 3. I mentioned sleep before, actually I mentioned a lack of sleep. A humidifier can really help keep your nose from clogging up or drying out from the heat in your household, for kids this can be a sleep saver. The Vicks Sweet Dreams Cool Mist Humidifier features a control knob to control the amount of humidity it disperses to match your needs as you get through your sickness. One of the best features of this humidifier is the light show it provides. Often times my children can get so restless and uncomfortable that they can’t sleep because they are only focusing on how yucky they feel. When the light show is projecting onto the ceiling my kids can watch until they drift to sleep. I also add a couple drops of essential oils into the water basin of the humidifier for clearing out sinuses, sleep or immune boosting, which can really change the atmosphere of the room.
Tip 4. Fevers are often thought of as something you need to prevent and be afraid of, but the reality is fevers are amazing things! Your body is so very smart, fevers are your bodies way of “cooking out” the cold or flu. Your body knows just the right temperature for each cold and flu. Now this isn’t to say that fevers don’t need to be monitored. Checking and monitoring temperatures is the safest bet for a fever in any circumstance. The Vicks Smart Temp not only accurately takes temperature but does so in a quick 8 seconds. When dealing with little ones sleeping or restless you can really value the quickness of a thermometer. Smart Temp is a wireless smartphone thermometer that keeps track of individual profiles to be certain that if your a larger family all of the fevers can be monitored without confusion. Reminders, symptom tracker and last reading recall are all useful features of the Smart Temp when dealing with cold and flu season as well.
Tip 5. Last but not least the most important tip for this Cold and Flu season, Vitamin D. Your body needs vitamin D to have the strongest immune system possible. Whether you get your vitamin D through actual sunlight or through supplements, it is one of the most important things you can do to support your body through a cold or flu!
So there you have it, my 5 tips to surviving the cold and flu season! Love your body and support it through an illness!
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I am a stay at home mother of two, who loves to create in every form, from cooking, to henna, to painting or sculpting, creating with my hands is my passion! I love to dance and let loose when the music flows right. Being outside is a special kind of therapy I think humans need more of as well as mindfulness! I love all things new and adventurous and am always looking to experience more of life 🙂
This post currently has 16 responses.
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Sarah L
Getting plenty of sleep is helpful to me for fighting sickness. And drinking lots of fluids.
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Julie
I’ve never heard of Elderberry Syrup before, but it sounds great. I’ll have to give it a try.
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Deborah D
I need to get my humidifier out.
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gala
Thanks for the tips. For me now the remedy number one is a freshly made lemonade , a lot of vit C , chicken broth homemade preferably and also sleep as much as possible
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Teresa Bean
I have never heard of or used Elderberry Syrup. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the information.
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Sarah Hayes
Wonderful tips! Im going to make my own elderberry syrup as soon as Im done with the store bought kind. I hope its easy lol. My daughter is used to taking it in some diluted juice but Id love to start giving it to her straight.
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Joanne Gregory
Keep your hands washed!
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Chelsey Bennett
I’ve never heard of elderberry syrup; I’m excited to give that a try. Sounds good! My 10 year old is starting to cough this week and I’m trying to prevent my 7 month old from getting his cold. We’ll have to try these out.
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Amber Ludwig
So excited to see elderberry syrup on this list!! We swear by it!! Its such amazing stuff!! I also recommend ACV for keeping up with good body bacteria!!
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Denise S.
Even though it is uncomfortable for my son, I am also a big believer in monitoring a fever instead of giving the medicine right away. I have never heard of the Elderberry syrup. I’ll have to look into it. Thanks for the tips!
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Deb E
Yes as a nurse I shout out to everyone to wash their hands frequently. I’m careful not to touch public things like door knobs, buttons, etc. I’ve not had elderberry syrup and don’t do well with sugar in general but suppose they make some sugar free. Sleep is also a biggie for me and the fastest way to get run down. I never required a ton so probably don’t ever sleep enough. Gotta work on that.
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Betsy Rubendall Barnes
These are great tips! I have never heard of Elderberry Syrup, definitely going to give it a try, especially to prevent colds and flu 🙂
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ellen beck
Hand washing is a HUGE thing. I carry hand saniitizer when I cant wash and have bbeen known to keep gloves on when pushing a shopping cart. They say money is one of the worst things to get a bug from . I know one of the very worst colds we ever got was when my husband was in the state pool league shoot. He got a cold from the pool balls- so many people handling them and some sick and not knowing it.
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Great tips, it’s always helpful to find tips like this. I save them to my computer so I won’t forget them.
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kathy downey
I have never heard of or used Elderberry Syrup before this post,interesting item.I always say if you Eat Healthy,exercise and get proper rest it keeps colds and flu away
I was just reading today at my local health food store’s Facebook, that it is best to take Elderberry Syrup every single day. I know that the owner of the store is in contact with a lot of people on a daily basis, and she says she has not gotten on cold or flu this entire season yet.