With school underway one thing that is pressing on all momma’s brain is GERMS! We’ve already had some yucky ones come home and it’s only been a couple months of school so far!

I’m thankful that when I see a cold (or worse) coming on, I have simple steps for exactly how to fight it. But there are some serious bugs floating around right now that require us moms and dads to get more serious about building up our children and teenager’s immune systems. The most serious of which is the latest respiratory virus called Enterovirus D68.

You’ve probably seen headlines of this respiratory virus “sweeping the nation.” If you’re a normal parent you may feel a twinge of fear course through you as you read that it’s an “outbreak not seen in decades.”

The rare enterovirus starts out like the common cold but can quickly turn more serious — especially in children with asthma. Enteroviruses often appear in the summer and fall, but an outbreak like this hasn’t occurred since the 1960s. – Dr. Claudia Hoyen,

There are many signs to watch for if your children come down with a cold and you think it could be something else. My heart goes out to those families whose children have suffered from this already.

Not to minimize any parent’s struggle with this virus, but the harsh reality is that this year it’s EV-D68 and next year it will be something else. I’ve seen for 12 years of parenting how, as a nation, we go in cycles. As soon as spring and fall hit, there is a heightened awareness of the flu, a new virus, or allergies that send a lot of us into a frantic panic to get flu shots or load up on medicine…”just in case.”

But friend, it doesn’t have to be this way for you and your family, year after year. You can break the cycle. There are three things you can do TODAY to help create healthier children who can fight off viruses and infections. Does it mean they will never, ever get sick or catch it? No.

Nothing I write below is a claim to immunity or a cure for anything. However, I’ve seen in my own children and in my life as well (I struggled with chronic bronchitis for nearly 20 years due to a bout of pneumonia as a kid) how doing these 3 things can make a huge difference in their health, the peace of your home, and ultimately their future.

3 Ways to Healthier Kids TODAY!

1. Stand Against Fear

I want to encourage you friend, stand against fear. Maybe when it comes to your kids you have been gripped with fear. You’re afraid of them getting hurt, catching germs, being bullied, failing in life, not making the team, or the worst fear of all – losing them.

I know exactly what that’s like. After my 3rd child went to heaven from SIDS, nap times were brutal for me with my 4th son, Asher (who was born just 16 months after his brother Hosea). I would walk into his room holding my breath, just crying out to God to let him still be breathing. This went on for months. We even had Asher on a sleep apnea monitor that would go off with such a shrill, piercing alarm that I think we may have woken up the whole neighborhood a couple of times! This unit was purely precautionary since experts still do not know what causes SIDS.

You would think after loosing a child that I would be a very over-protective mother who lives in constant fear of losing another. I have moments, like I’m sure every mom does, where fear washes over me like a wave. Those destructive waves of fear and anxiety can take me to a very low place if I choose to dwell there for any length of time.

But I’ll never forget the day, 4 months after Asher was born, that I was standing over his crib with tears running down my face, so grateful to see his little chest rising and falling with each breath. I had a revelation in that moment that changed my parenting from that day forward.

2. Supplement

Supplementing is almost the only way these days, with the quality of our food (even if you each pure organic!) to make sure our kids are getting all the vitamins, minerals, protein, and essential fatty acids needed daily. It’s hard enough as an adult to make sure I get everything I need for the day in my food, let alone my kids!!!

HERE are some suggestions for your little ones!!

-Incredivites or Ocean Wonders Multivitamins or for babies Liqui-Lea
-Mighty Smart Chews- 100% Pure DHA-omega 3
-Chewable Vitamin C
-Performance Powdered Drink-Orange or Lime Drink-in place of Gatorade or Pedialyte when sick or in sports
-CitriBoost-powder drink- like tang but is 100% of A,C,D,E AND ALL 8 B VITAMINS!
-Alflalfa-for allergies, skin rashes, breathing problems
-Vitalizing Protein or Smoothee meal shakes