How to Keep Your Family Healthy This Fall

Summer is a break from snotty noses and random viruses. As we head towards a new germ season, find out how we stay healthy with probiotics for children.

Thank you, Family Flora, for providing us with your special formulation of probiotics and prebiotics for adults and children in return for our honest review.

Summer break is drawing to a close and families across the nation are frantically stocking up on Crayola Crayons, wide-ruled composition books and the exact right brand of pencils. Our family’s back-to-school preparation starts well over two weeks before the kids return to their new classrooms.

Yes, we buy the requested supplies, and then some. Our kids get haircuts, new shoes and uniforms. I diligently check all the standard things off my to-do list. But our family takes back-to-school preparation a step further. We prepare our bodies for the upcoming onslaught of random and contagious germs.

Summer break is a vacation from snotty noses, sudden fevers and stomach bugs. Once school is back in session, the kids no longer spend enough time out in the fresh air. They are stuck inside a small classroom with 19 random kids who are exposed to their own unique set of germs. It is only “natural” for illnesses to blossom mere weeks after school starts.

One of our boys is immune compromised. It is because of his health that we are extra diligent in our fight against even the common cold. But parents everywhere know how any illness spreads like wildfire once it enters the home. (Don’t miss these 5 brilliant mom hacks for sick kids – great tips!)

We have four boys, so the duration of any viral infection is at least a month – from the time the first kid bites the dust until it has passed through all four kids and finally strikes my husband… and need we talk about the dreaded “man cold?”

Without further delay, check out how you can keep your family healthy this cold and flu season.

• Probiotics!
  • We use Family Flora probiotics for adults and children.
  • The body’s first line of defense against germs is having a strong and healthy gut.
  • (Read more about our love for Family Flora below – and enter for your chance to win a year’s supply of their proprietary probiotic and prebiotic formula. That’s right – I said “a YEAR’S SUPPLY”!)
• A balanced diet!
  • No more ice-cream for dinner or smores before bed.
  • If your child is a picky eater, you may consider giving him a multi-vitamin.
• A good night’s sleep!
  • Two weeks before school starts we ease back into our daily “school routine.” The kids’ bedtime is moved back a little bit every day, so they can load up on sleep.
  • This gives us a chance to get back into a good morning routine, which will help my sanity on the first day of school.
• Keep the kids’ nails short!
  • This is especially important if your child has a habit of sucking his thumb or biting his nails. The colony of germs that reside under long nails is enough to over-populate 54 Petri-dishes.
  • Short nails are also a great preventative measure against spreading pinworms. Trust me, you do NOT want those pesky bugs in your home.
• Lice-proof their hair!
  • Spray your child’s hair with essential-oil-infused water, style it with gel, or tie back long hair!
  • There is always an influx of lice once the kids return to school. Remind your children not to share headphones, hats or hair ties.
• Flu vaccines!
  • Our entire family gets their annual flu shot as soon as they are available in late August/ early September.
  • Flu season starts in early fall and can run well into late spring. A full-blown flu epidemic is the last thing we need in our house during the busy fall and winter months – or ever.

• No shoes inside!
  • I can only imagine the germs and interesting science projects the soles of our kids’ shoes are exposed to on a daily basis.
  • We have a strict rule of “no shoes inside the house,” and it is one rule I am not shy about enforcing. (Consider yourself warned.)
• After school shower!
  • Our kids have been showering and changing clothes after school ever since our immune compromised child came home from the hospital.
  • Our pediatrician recommended the extra step, in an effort to stop spreading the germs kids are bombarded with during school hours.
  • Taking a shower and putting on comfortable clothes is a lot like us moms tossing the bra as soon as we get home after a long day. It’s a “reset” button and it has helped the kids focus better on homework after they get a snack.
• Frequent hand washing!
  • We are rather religious about washing our hands as soon as we return from running errands or being outside.
  • Our hands are also sanitized when we get in the car and of course before we eat at a restaurant.
  • I have over the years developed this incredible psychic ability to “see germs” in public places, or maybe it is more a neurosis, I am not sure – but either way – it helps me remind the kids to wash their hands – constantly.

Now that you know how we keep our family healthy during back-to-germ season, you have a chance to win a year’s supply of Family Flora probiotic and prebiotic formula.

Family Flora is the probiotic for our children

Family Flora is packaged in a month’s supply of powdered probiotic and probiotics. The convenient daily pouches make it possible to bring them on-the-go, especially if you travel.

The powder dissolves almost instantly in any cold liquid and it’s completely tasteless. Trust me on this, Jordan who is hyper-sensitive to any changes in his food has been eating cereal with milk (and added Family Flora probiotics mixed in) and drinking juice (with Family Flora probiotics) – and he’s none the wiser. Please don’t tell him!

Currently, our two youngest kids are fighting off a cold. (I haven’t started them on probiotics yet). Normally any germ or virus seeks out Jordan and strikes him pretty hard. But not this time – knock on wood. Jordan has been taking his Family Flora probiotics (unknowingly) and so far he’s avoided getting sick from his brothers.

Our experience and continued satisfaction with Family Flora is the greatest testament I can give any product. Keeping my children healthy and germ-free is a feat worth recognizing.