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Immune Support for Kids
Coughs, colds, upset tummies, and noses that are runny… there’s no way to escape the constant barrage of common childhood illnesses. Your child’s immune system is constantly developing from the day they are born. While their immune system develops, it can feel like they’re coming down with every illness they encounter!
While you can’t eliminate common childhood illnesses from hitting your household (nor would you want to), there are ways to offer immune support for kids to help shore up their developing systems and reduce the frequency and severity when a cold or fever strikes.
Why Do Kids Get Sick So Often?
That tiny little baby came into the world with a brand-new immune system. While your baby was in the womb, mom’s antibodies were passed to your baby to help keep illness at bay. But once your baby is born, it’s time for their own immune system to get to work.
Each time your baby comes into contact with a virus, bacteria, or germ, they develop antibodies to protect them now and in the future.
This is why you wouldn’t want to keep every germ away from your baby — as much as it pains you as a parent to see your child get sick, fighting these colds is helping their immune systems develop!
From birth until about seven years old, your child’s immune system is working hard to develop. This makes them more susceptible to catching common childhood illnesses. Many kids also start attending daycare or school during this time, exposing them to even more germs! At this age, they’re constantly putting their hands in their noses, mouths, and on their faces, spreading germs back and forth among their friends and schoolmates.
Immune Support for Kids
While you want your child’s immune system to develop, watching them go from one illness to the next is exhausting—for kids and parents alike. Finding effective immune support for kids can help your little ones shore up their immune defense and reduce the frequency and severity of common childhood illnesses.
Best Immune Support for Kids
What are the best ways to offer additional support for your child’s developing immune system? Here are some of the best, most basic, easy-to-implement ways to offer immune support.
Hygiene
“Let’s wash our hands!” While it sounds simple, frequent hand washing is one of the easiest ways to help reduce the number of germs your child comes into contact with. It’s also a health-boosting habit you’ll want to start young. Work with your little ones to ensure they’re washing their hands with soap and water frequently, especially before they eat, when they return home from school or the playground, or when their little fingers start exploring their mouths and noses.
Regular soap and water are all you need to provide immune support. Avoid antibacterial soap, which can contain concerning ingredients that may promote bacterial resistance and even alter hormones.
Nutrition
Did you know you can feed your child’s immune system? The food your child eats gets broken down into nutrients that affect the health and function of all of their cells, including their immune cells. Every bite of food they take becomes a part of their body! Certain nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, selenium, iron, and protein are superheroes for the immune system.
These nutrients can be found in abundance in plant and animal foods! When your child eats a healthy, nutritious diet full of fruits, vegetables, and animal foods, they will naturally get a “dose” of nature’s nutrition to support their immune systems.
Avoid feeding your child ultra-processed foods. As much as they may ask for fish-shaped crackers or the cookies they see other kids eating, a diet of ultra-processed foods can negatively impact their immune system.
Sleep
Sleep plays a protective role in your child’s immune system. This is why it seems like you catch a cold whenever you’re run down, overscheduled, or exhausted. Getting enough restful, restorative sleep is crucial for your child’s developing immune system. Prioritize sleep for your child. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, and make sure they have a dark, quiet, comfortable room to sleep in. Create a bedtime ritual that includes a warm bath before bed and some quiet reading or storytime together.
Avoid any screen time within two hours of bedtime, including TV. While screen time has no benefits at any age, the blue light from phones, tablets, and TVs can be extremely disruptive to your child’s sleep schedule.
Stress
While our kids don’t stress about the same things we do, they can experience their own versions of stress and anxiety over the things they can’t control. Stress can negatively impact your child’s immune function, whether it’s a fear of the dark or monsters under the bed, anxiety about school, or a family issue. Stress can also negatively impact your child’s brain development as well, so it’s important to find ways to help your child deal with their stress in a positive way.
Try to address stress by reducing screen time, getting more exercise and exposure to sunlight, sticking to a routine, playing with your child, or practicing breathing techniques together. Talk to a trusted medical professional if you need more help coming up with a plan to address childhood stress.
Immune Support Supplements
Nature provided us with plant medicines that have been used for thousands of years to support immune health. Homeopathic remedies, herbal remedies, and food-based supplements can also offer children an additional layer of immune support. Elderberry syrup, echinacea, vitamins, probiotics, veggie powders, and other immune-supporting supplements can offer another layer of protection for your child.
Want to learn more about using natural remedies to help support your child’s immune system? Join the Doctor Mom membership community at Med School for Moms and learn how to use natural remedies to give kids fast relief when illness strikes and to support growing immune systems.
When Do Kids Stop Getting Sick All The Time?
When your child is young and seems to be on a constant carousel of common childhood illnesses, it can feel like there will never be a break in the fevers, coughs, and runny noses. But there will come a time when the constant barrage of germs becomes a distant memory.
It’s common for toddlers and young children to get as many as 8 to 12 illnesses a year, but that frequency drops for school-aged children, who average 5 or 6 illnesses a year. Teens and adults may only get sick 2 to 3 times per year.
It’s also common for parents to panic and feel overwhelmed when their kids get sick, no matter their age.
If you want to worry less when common childhood illnesses strike, understand how to ease symptoms rapidly at home with natural remedies, and know when to call the doctor and when to treat your child at home, consider joining the Doctor Mom membership community! Join our village of empowered parents who are learning how to become calm, competent, and confident in the face of childhood illnesses. Learn more about our Doctor Mom membership.
How to Plan Your Alternative Vaccine Schedule
If you have determined that an alternative schedule is the best choice for your kids, planning out your vaccine schedule is the next step.
There are multiple factors to determine when creating your schedule. Here are four places to start:
- Determine which vaccines are medically necessary based on your child’s individual risk factors. Assessing the risk of adverse reactions from a particular vaccine and potential disease exposure is an important first step. For example, a baby may be more susceptible to certain disease exposures if they are in daycare or if you will be traveling out of the country with them.
- Determine the best age to administer vaccines. While the CDC recommends administering the Hepatitis B vaccine on the day of birth, some parents may decide to delay this vaccine until their children are school-age. Decide on the optimal age to offer your child protection while minimizing the risk of adverse effects.
- Understand your personal vaccine timeline and optimal combinations. You may have a timeline for vaccinating your child to meet school entry guidelines. Knowing what your timeline is can allow you to get educated about the optimal vaccine combinations to reduce the risk of adverse effects.
- Some states allow vaccine exemptions based on personal or religious beliefs. However, some states do not allow parents to make these decisions and mandate vaccines. Understanding how your state laws determine your ability to plan an alternate schedule is important.
Get Empowered to Make Decisions for Your Family
Planning an alternative vaccine schedule takes a bit more consideration than pulling up a schedule on the internet. You deserve to feel informed and empowered as you understand your child’s risk and exposure factors and learn about each vaccine on the schedule. The Vaccine Empowerment Program by Dr. Elana Roumell, ND, can help you get informed and empowered so you can feel confident in the decisions you make for your child.
Learn more about the Vaccine Empowerment Program and become an informed advocate for the health of your family.
