As cold, flu and RSV season approaches, parents often look for ways to protect their children and keep their families healthy. Supporting a child’s health during this time is built upon foundational, daily healthy habits.
According to Dr. Gina Robinson, pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, general wellness strategies do not change drastically when illness season arrives.
Abbey Crouse, chiropractor at Cleveland Chiropractic and Integrative Health Center, encourages families to focus on the basics first, noting that a child’s immune system relies on a solid foundation to function well.
“A child’s immune system needs adequate sleep, good nutrition, hydration, movement, time outdoors and opportunities for rest in order to function well,” she says.
Taking Care of Your Body
Crouse encourages families to aim for a variety of whole, nutrient-dense foods, including quality proteins, healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and foods rich in vitamins and minerals.
Hydration is equally critical, especially when children are active or feeling under the weather.
“Hydration doesn’t have to come only from water — it can also come from fruits and vegetables, soups and broths, coconut water, and even homemade gelatin, which can be especially helpful when children aren’t feeling well,” Crouse says.
Sometimes parents wonder what role supplements can play in supporting their child’s health.
“Supplements can be helpful and are something I often recommend, but they are just that — supplements,” Crouse says. “They are meant to complement a healthy diet and lifestyle, not replace them.”
She adds that during the school year, when children may have more exposure to illness, there are things families can incorporate to help support the body’s nutritional needs and overall wellness.
With her own children, during the school year, she adds “elderberry syrup, bee propolis spray, probiotics and fermented foods, bone broth, and whole-food-based, bioavailable supplements.”
She cautions that when parents are adding or making supplement changes, or making significant nutrition changes, they should work with qualified and knowledgeable practitioners so these recommendations are personalized based on a child’s individual needs and can be administered safely. Knowledgeable providers may include functional medicine providers, pediatricians, naturopaths or chiropractors.
Foundational habits of adequate sleep, proper nutrition and movement are going to be much more important than any single supplement, Crouse notes.
Proper Handwashing and Respiratory Illness Etiquette
Simple hygiene routines remain one of the most effective tools for stopping the spread of viruses during cold, flu and RSV season.
“Toddlers and young children frequently touch surfaces and then touch their faces or mouths, bringing germs directly to their mucous membranes where viruses can easily transfer,” Robinson says.
She highlights handwashing as an essential boundary against illness by encouraging children to wash their hands when they come home, after playing outside, and before eating.
When dining out at restaurants, handwashing may not always be convenient or intuitive. “It’s okay to go ahead and wash your hands before you sit down at the table in a restaurant,” Robinson says. “However, if a sink is unavailable, using antibacterial hand wipes or hand sanitizer is better than nothing to eliminate germs before eating.”
Crouse adds children should also avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth, and not sharing food or drinks.
Robinson advises parents to teach their children how to blow their noses properly and to wash hands immediately after coughing or blowing their nose, as these are additional best practices to help prevent spreading germs to peers.
The proper way to cough is to “cough into the crook of their elbow instead of coughing into their hands,” which prevents transferred germs from reaching shared surfaces or other people,” she says. Children should also understand that a tissue should be disposed of after blowing their noses.
Home and Environmental Measures
There are also simple things families can do to support a healthy environment at home, particularly during respiratory illness season.
Crouse suggests simple measures such as “keeping indoor air clean with an air purifier, maintaining appropriate humidity, and using supportive measures such as a nebulizer (when appropriate and with guidance from a healthcare provider).”
Caring for Children With Special Health Needs
A child’s individual health history — including age, allergies, asthma, chronic conditions and developmental needs — shapes how parents should approach wellness during cold, flu and RSV season.
For children with chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes, Robinson emphasizes the necessity of maintaining prescribed treatment routines.
“I would definitely encourage parents to follow their treatment plans as closely as possible, because the best thing they can do is follow their maintenance regimens,” she says. “That’s going to put them in a better space when they encounter all these illnesses that we’re inevitably going to encounter when these seasons come around.”
If financial hardships make maintaining maintenance medications difficult, Robinson urges families to contact their healthcare providers, as offices often have access to programs to assist families in obtaining needed medications.
Crouse agrees that individualized care is important, noting that infants, premature babies, children with a history of significant respiratory issues, or children with underlying health conditions may require closer monitoring during respiratory virus season compared to an otherwise healthy child.
“This is where individualized care becomes important,” she says. “Parents should have an established relationship with their child’s pediatrician and other healthcare providers and know what symptoms are normal for their child and what signs should prompt a call or medical evaluation.”
Manage Fear and Avoid Over-Suppressing Mild Symptoms
While it’s important to teach the importance of healthy hygiene habits to children to stay safe, it’s also essential to “help them understand that they don’t need to be afraid of every germ.”
When children do fall ill, Crouse encourages parents not to panic or become overly stressed at the first sign of a cough, runny nose or mild fever, noting that these symptoms can be normal signs that the immune system is actively working.
As unsettling as it can be, common colds and mild childhood illnesses provide opportunities for a developing immune system to learn and adapt.
“I don’t want parents to feel like every cough, runny nose or fever needs to be immediately suppressed,” Crouse says. “That doesn’t mean we should ignore symptoms — it means we want to look at the whole child, monitor how they are doing, and recognize when symptoms warrant medical evaluation.”
She adds that often, the best thing the body needs is simply rest, hydration, nourishment and time to recover.
Do not Send Sick Children to School
One of the most essential rules for maintaining school health is keeping children home when they are sick.
“Keep your children home when they’re sick, especially if they have a fever,” Robinson says. “This is probably one of the best ways to reduce the spread of illnesses in school and in other spaces. When you have a fever, it’s usually at the beginning of the illness, and that’s going to be the time when you’re most contagious. People can take fever-reducing medicine to suppress the fever and make the child feel better, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the child is still contagious. So keeping them home until they’re fever-free for at least 24 hours is usually a good practice.”
Ultimately, consistency is key to helping children thrive through cold, flu and RSV season.
“I also think it’s important to remember that supporting health isn’t about finding one magic intervention,” Crouse says. “A child who is consistently getting enough sleep, eating real, nutrient-dense food, staying hydrated, moving their body, getting outside, and having time to rest is already doing a lot to support their overall health and resilience.”
She adds, “I also encourage parents to help children understand that taking care of their health isn’t just something we do when we’re sick. It’s something we practice every day.”
Protecting Newborns During Flu & RSV Season
Dr. Gina Robinson, pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, says vaccination remains a vital tool for community-wide protection. She encourages parents to get their flu vaccines when recommended for their children’s health and the protection of those in the broader community.
She points out that mothers can receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy, and eligible babies can receive RSV protection during specific times of the year to help build immunity early on.
For families with newborn babies, extra precautions are necessary during cold and flu season. Newborns have a window of time when they are too young to receive certain immunizations, such as those for pertussis or influenza.
For families with small babies, Robinson recommends avoiding gatherings with large groups of people and going out into really large, enclosed spaces. She also encourages parents to ask visitors to wash their hands and not hesitate to ask family and friends to wear masks, if needed, to reduce exposure.
