The Ultimate Toddler Cold & Flu Season Survival Kit for Parents

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Cool, crisp weather, pumpkin spice lattes, a nice oversized hoodie. I thought nothing could taint my love of fall, until I had a toddler in daycare. This unlocked a whole new world for me and not one that I particularly enjoy. We had a really rough go last season with back to back to back ear infections, antibiotics that didn’t work, antibiotics that caused allergic reactions, stomach bugs, fevers, constant runny noses, lost voices, and coughs for days. Fun fact, I got a sinus infection that caused me to have very bad coughing fits, that I popped a rib out of place – so fun! Its safe to say, we learned a lot last year. Now we know, there are very specific ways to be as careful as possible to minimize your chances of being miserable the entire fall and winter season. Additionally, we learned how to strategically manage those unavoidable times where we did get sick from the daycare crud. I can’t wait to share my kids sick season survival tips and most hearted products that have been time tested from my family to yours. 

Daycare Hygiene

In order to mentally survive, it is important to get it through your head right now that your kid:

• will put toys in their mouth at school, 
• will get ahold of another child’s water bottle or pacifier,
• will be exposed to many other households whose lifestyles and actions you cannot control 

Let it go. 

Now that this is behind us, let’s get to some practical tips to minimize the spread of germs – and it starts the moment you pick your child up. The very first thing I do after I secure my son in his car seat is to wipe his hands, any other exposed skin, and bottom of his shoes (in that order) with these organic alcohol free hand sanitizer wipes. Once we arrive home, his shoes, socks, pants, and shirt all come off and into a pile that goes straight to the laundry room. This one is a game changer to reducing the spread of germs. It is annoying, and adds another step, but trust me, it works. Next, we spray his hands and school water bottle with this antimicrobial hand cleanser. Finally, if you have the capacity to do this, I would highly recommend giving your child a bath straight away. We did this when my oldest was in an all-day daycare. Instead of his normal bath time at 6:30 pm, we would bathe him around 5 pm when he got home. Now he is in a different school, which is half day, so we do not have the time to do this step as both my husband and I have full time jobs. We accept this and…let it go. Speaking of bath, we chose shampoo, conditioner, and soap that all have “excellent” ingredient quality ratings on the Yuka app.

Everyday Hygiene

This one seems obvious but I did not think about it until social media blew my mind – long fingernails trap germs. Keeping your kids’ fingernails constantly trimmed will help immensely in leaving germs behind at daycare or other social settings. We rotate between these electric nail trimmers and these traditional trimmers. We also strategically place several of these alcohol free foam sanitizer pumps around the house for both kids and adults. Lastly, we are obsessed with this toy cleaner. It turns into a saline solution so I feel comfortable that my kids chew on toys sprayed with this. Plus, you don’t need to do a second step of wiping down the toys after you spray, like you do with most others on the market. In theory, we try to spray all toys and commonly touched surfaces once a day, but realistically it doesn’t always happen. Just try your best.

Sick Hygiene

This section could go on for pages. To cut right to the chase, here are the products we know and love:

Boogie wipes – saline wet wipes to address runny noses

Saline spray – nose spray to help break up nose congestion

Portable nebulizer and saline refills packs – this was an absolute life saver for us. It is a saline mist treatment to help with the worst congestion

Humidifier – we run these overnight in the kids’ rooms when either of them are suffering from a cold or congestion

Nose sucker – incredibly gross, yet incredibly effective because little ones can’t blow their noses yet

Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin, and extra syringes – for fevers, aches, and pains

Pedialyte powder – add this to water to help with hydration if your kid has a stomach bug resulting in loss of fluids (front, back, or both – god bless)

Silicone bibs – you may be wondering if this is supposed to be in the baby feeding blog post. Yes, but it is also incredibly effective as a puke catcher, especially if your baby is too young to understand and use a traditional puke bag…learned this the hard way, but I am very proud of this innovation ☺ it allowed us to get him outside on a stroller walk for fresh air without worrying about him puking all over the place

Puke bags – self explanatory

Thermometer – to get a quick temperature reading

Organizing it all

There are so many products and so many scenarios in which you might need them, so it is important to always be prepared. 

For on the go, I never leave home without my oversized fanny pack diaper bag. Mine is Canvelle, but linked here is another brand that I love. I always have extra bamboo diapers, hand sanitizer wipes, wet wipes, puke bag, sunscreen, burp cloth, and an extra set of clothes in my bag.

At home, we centralize our everyday use products in this clear bin. This lives on our kitchen counter and helps us have access to what we need quickly. You can customize this to your liking, but in ours, we have: saline nose spray, wet wipes, sunscreen, toy cleaner, antimicrobial hand spray, boogie wipes, and nail trimmers (see below).

We store the remainder of our sick season essentials in this cloth drawer divider, which lives in our pantry. I love that it has several divided sections to easily store medicines, thermometers, syringes, etc. 

I hope these tips help! Let me know your thoughts and if you have any tips that work for your family!

Kari