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Pfizer Consumer Healthcare has sponsored this post. All thoughts and reviews are my own.
It may still be winter but it has sure felt like spring the past few weeks, with close to 80° weather here in Cincinnati! But, as any Cincinnatian will know, nice weather doesn’t last long. The past few days have been wet and cold; I’m talking mid 30’s. With such a big swing, it’s only natural that kids feel yucky and come down with some type of sickness.
I have three boys, and while they haven’t been “have to go to the doctor sick”, they each have had some type of runny, stuffy, achy “ew” feeling over the past few weeks. I personally think it’s because of the big swing in the weather and seasonal allergies. The Children’s Advil and Children’s Dimetapp have really come in handy for my kids! I have partnered with Pfizer to bring you some germy facts and help with what medicine will come in handy for your little one when they come down with that “ew” feeling.
Recognizing the “Ew”… getting the germy facts
Pediatric doctor Dr. Nina Shapiro and microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba share their expertise on how germs exist beyond what meets the eye and how to get kids back to being kids again when germs cause those Sick just got real. moments
Germs at play
- The sun’s ultraviolet light rays kill bacteria, so playground equipment in the shade will have more bacteria.
- Sandboxes are a germ culprit, particularly if they remain uncovered overnight, which allows bacteria to enter.
- Any microorganisms on kids’ hands will spread to monkey bars, slides, teeter-totters, swings, and other touched surfaces where other children can then pick them up when playing.
Germ class is in session
- Half of students don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom – and of those who do, many don’t even use soap.
- Less than one-third of teachers said they regularly disinfect germ-laden objects in the classroom.
- Desks often have more bacteria than a toilet seat; if eating happens in class, the number of germs multiplies.
- Up to 2.7 million bacterial cells per square inch live on common school surfaces such as water fountains, desks, computer keyboards, bus seats, and cafeteria trays.
- Shared technology in classrooms introduces new high-touch surfaces for spreading germs – the computer mouse, keyboard, and tablet surfaces have some of the highest germ counts.
- Each keyboard key contains up to 1.3 million germs—that’s more than 135 million germs on the entire keyboard, and a standard iPad screen has up to 192 million bacteria!
“Ew” is in the air
- In addition to school and the playground, the supermarket is a festival of “ew”, with shopping carts, credit card machines, and reusable grocery bags acting as the leading germ carriers.
- Some germs can live on dry surfaces, such as toys, for several hours.
- Colds and other respiratory infections are spread by the hands and touching the nose or eyes, while 81 percent of people with the flu virus spread it through the air when they cough.
- Most kids touch up to 20 objects per minute and touch their face 50 times per hour – leading to wide germ spreading.
Say goodbye to perfect attendance
- More than 38 million school days are missed by U.S. children each year due to the flu.
- Parents miss about 126 million workdays annually caring for a sick child, which equates to 40 billion lost dollars.
- Missing work to stay home with their sick kids and worrying about sickness outbreaks going around the classroom were parents’ top concerns when their child is sick at school.
Kids get sick no matter how much you do to prevent it. The pediatric brands of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare are there with three solutions – Children’s Advil®, Children’s Robitussin®, and Children’s Dimetapp® – to tackle the “ew”iest of symptoms.
For Aches and Pains:
Ease those aches and pains while reducing a child’s fever fast with Children’s Advil®, a great solution for kids as young as 2 and up to 11. Children’s Advil® comes in several great-tasting flavors, including Sugar-free, Dye-free Berry, Bubble Gum, Grape, Blue Raspberry, Fruit, and Dye-Free White Grape flavors. Infants’ Advil® White Grape provides unsurpassed fever relief (among OTC pain relievers) with a syringe for easy dosing for children 6-23 months.
For a Cough:
For your child’s cough, trust Children’s Robitussin® Extended-Release 12-Hour Cough Relief to control and relieve symptoms all-day or all-night. Available in grape or orange flavor for children ages 4 and up. Please note that while most Children’s Robitussin® products can be used starting at age 4, some are only for children aged 6 and up.
For a Stuffy, Runny Nose & Cough:
Children’s Dimetapp® Multi-Symptom Cold Relief Dye-Free eases your child’s stuffy and runny nose while quieting a bothersome cough. All in a great-tasting, dye-free grape flavor for children 6 and up.
*It is important to remember always to read and keep the cartons for complete warnings and dosing information on Pfizer Pediatric products and to use them as directed
When someone in the house gets sick we get out the chicken noodle soup, ice packs, hot pads, liquids, medicines, and especially Kleneex. We then let them binge watch Netflix to help them feel better.
I take care of a couple of my grandchildren while parents are work, and I know a few times already as I am sure it will
happen again, When your child or in my case my grandchildren are sick with fever, runny nose, I try to do my best with giving
them warm baths and keeping them covered, but as we all know children are not meant to stay still , so its hard, I do rock them in the chair and hum to them, and read lots of books..
@tisonlyme143
I let them lay on the couch & watch TV and baby them.
My son who has autism and I were just sick. He doesn’t understand how to tell me when something hurts or he doesn’t feel well so I have to watch for signs. I am so grateful for these products to help ease the sickness.
We always have Advil, Dimetapp and soft Kleenex in the medicine cabinet to nurse us back to health when sick gets real!
I try to make sick days more relaxed and comfortable i give them chicken noodle soup a comfy blanket on the couch and a great movie
When I get sick I spend as much time in bed or on the couch with a blanket, hot tea, cold water, I might try and read but usually can’t concentrate. Kids, I let them watch as much tv as they want as they rest on the couch.
These are great products to have on hand. I like to have movies and a comfy blanket to help make them feel better.
I try to make sick days less “ew” by letting my children lay in our bed and watch TV. It’s a treat and usually they fall asleep. I also make sure they have a lot of fluids, medicine and comfy blankets.
When I get sick with the sniffles I make a mixture of Tea w/honey & lemon. But if it gets out of hand then I take some OTC medicines.
When the kids are sick I like to use children’s Advil. I also like to make chicken noodle soup for them.
I try to make sick days less “ew” by blending up smoothies with lots of orange juice and strawberries (lot of vit c) and then getting whichever kiddo is sick all set up on the couch with warm blankets and fuzzy socks and hours of their favorite movies.
And, by the way, when I get sick, I get the same remedy.
But my movies aren’t cartoons. 🙂
thanks!
When my little ones get sick, I make sure they’re comfortable in bed and have some of their favorite toys to hold. I also like to put on soft relaxing music for them
To make the sick days more bearable I always have lots of soup, fuzzy socks, and movies on hand. Also, lots of love can work wonders 🙂
When my niece gets sick I wrap her up in blankets and give her plenty of fluids. We have found that Children’s Advil works the best out of all of the medications on the market.
When sick gets real around our house, we try to get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. We will all use a fever reducer is that’s one of our symptoms. For my grandsons, I make them a “bed” on the sofa so they can relax and watch TV while they rest.8
We drink plenty of fluids and use over the counter medicine
I have a humidifier that really helps make us feel better. After everyone is over being sick I disinfect everything.
It truly has been a wild ride in our house this winter. As soon as I get one of our children better it goes to the next, then Mommy and Daddy and round and round we go… I think it’s because we have had such a mild winter and it hasn’t been cold enough long enough to kill off germs. Ahhhhhh Thank goodness spring is right around the corner.
These are great products to use when the kids are sick. I like to give them a cuddly blanket and put in movies to help make them feel better.
We’ve already gone through 2 bottles of Childrens Advil between my 2 kids this cold/flu season!
Sick got real for me 2 days before I had to leave for a huge work trip… luckily with some of these products I kicked the flu in no time!
When all of our family is sick at the same time is the worst. I could definitely refer to that as “sick just got real”.
I am sympathetic to all families with sick children. It’s no fun for anyone. On a cute/ funny note, the first time our son ever threw up, he was two years old. He told me: “I did the big sneeze”.
Ugh, definitely the first time my son had the flu. Of course my hubby was out of town on work and I was cleaning up puke… so yucky!! We hate the sickies in this house!!
These are great products to use when kids are sick. I like to give the kids a comfy blanket to snuggle with and watch a movie to help feel better.