When our little bundle of joy comes into the world, we usually tend to go in overdrive, trying frantically to protect that precious gift from everything. Even the thought of a fleck of dust settling on the perfect cherub is too difficult to bear. But before we all go about morphing into germaphobes, there are some things we should keep in mind about our children’s immunity.
The Basics to Building a Child’s Immunity: Food and Rest
Make sure your child is eating plenty of fruits and vegetables for their obvious goodness. These are ripe with phytonutrients, nutrients that play an essential role in building up your toddler’s immune system. However, keep it natural and do not overload you child’s fragile system with antibiotics, for they interfere with the body’s natural way of healing. For infants, the importance of being breast-fed, at least for the first year, cannot be stressed enough. A mother’s milk is loaded with the kind of nutrition that is palatable by the infant’s young digestive system, providing all the strength and immunity it needs to grow up healthy.
The child’s budding immune system needs to be complemented with enough rest and sleep, to ensure that the nutrition is being assimilated and that growth and repair is taking place at its optimum pace.
How Physical Exercise is the Key to Strengthen a Child’s Immunity
Another way to sustain the upward trend of immunity building is to ensure that the child gets enough physical activity in the day. A fun way to do this would be to exercise as a family, play games or sports or plan excursions that are enjoyable and motivating for the child. Besides, being out in the sun is the best way to ensure a healthy dose of Vitamin D! An important thing to remember about the outdoors is that children are bound to get dirty – it’s part of their job description!
Instead of worrying ourselves sick over the germs that the child may be coming in contact with, we could just go armed with a cartload of anti-bacterial wipes. We can’t put them in a disinfecting bubble, but we can rest in peace knowing that after they have explored the world and had their fun, we have our ways of ensuring they are protected. Keep the house clean, their belongings sanitized, and replace their toothbrushes if you anticipate the spread of an infection from a previous illness.
Don’t worry about the little colds and coughs!
Most importantly, we need to accept that getting sick is our child’s way of challenging and developing their inexperienced immune system. Don’t fret over a cold or an infection – simply look at it as training for the child to live the rest of their lives resistant to these little things. Stay calm, be happy, and allow your child to grow up in peace, free from the stresses of life that may induce a susceptibility to illnesses.
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