Easy ways to keep illnesses out of the home that every family member can do

Jody Coffey

Once an illness makes its way into your home, it’s safe to assume the entire family will be impacted.

Sometimes all the prevention in the world can’t stop a pesky flu from infiltrating a house.

However, one nanny and parenting coach has parted with some simple tips that each member of the family can do to keep each other safe and healthy this holiday season.

Removing shoes at home

No one would blame you if you got home after a long day of work or school only to head straight to the couch, fridge, or bed.

However, according to The Enchanted Nanny (@enchantednanny), on your way there, all family members should remember to kick off their shoes, as well as change into loungewear or pyjamas.

This is crucial if you want to prevent trekking bacteria across the house, she says.

“The first one is a huge one – take your shoes off when you come into your house and put them away,” the parenting coach began.

To back up her point, she shared an example of how bacteria can travel, even if a surface has been sanitised.

“My son last night was at a teacher-parent conference. He’s two and a half and they have this lovely atrium and it has an astroturf. He vomited all over it.

The nanny explained that while the staff were quick to clean the vomit with anti-bacterial spray, they did miss a few ‘little bits’ and that ‘five minutes after he projectile vomited over the floor people were walking past’.

“All I can think about is that those people now have traces of some kind of horrible bug on their shoes and if they’re not taking their shoes off when they get home, that’s then being transmitted,” she added.

Changing clothes

Another step that should be added to the family’s routine is changing out of clothes upon returning home.

This is for the exact same reason that they recommended removing shoes, as well as having an added bonus.

“The next one – when you get in., remove the clothes that you’ve had on all day and put on some loungewear.

“You’re going to feel great, but you’ll also be wearing clothes that don’t have the day’s bacteria on them.

“Put those clothes straight in the wash, or if you’re trying to be more environmentally friendly, just give them a spray down with some antibacterial spray that is clothing friendly.”

These rainy evenings were made for comfy pyjamas.

Happy Birthday hand wash

We’ll all remember this one from the Covid-19 pandemic.

While we may not look back on that time fondly, hand-washing is always super important for keeping illnesses at bay.

“When you get home, give them a really good scrub and make sure that you’ve got rid of all the day’s germs,” the nanny urges.

She then referred to the ‘happy birthday’ hand-wash technique, whereby we wash our hands for the length of the tune.

“Get everyone in your family to do it too,” she added.

Not only is this effective, but the song adds a little fun for kids.

Sanistising surfaces

While the younger kids may not be able to help with this one without supervision, parents, older children, and teenagers can.

This is something we are all in the run of doing everyday while cooking and cleaning that should be extended to light switches and door handles, according to the nanny.

“Please make sure to use an antibacterial spray on all of those surfaces.

“You can get sprays where you spray it and leave it – you don’t have to do any cleaning or anything.

“But after each day, spray the light switches, and the door handles.”