As a mom of eight, Kate Gosselin is a pro at dealing with childhood illnesses, but she takes lots of preventive measures to promote good health at home.
According to a report from Babble, Kate uses some tried and true methods to keep her eight kids healthy, but that doesn't mean her kids don't get sick. Still her efforts likely curb the amount of time her children are sick.
"When schoo
l starts, there's only so much a mom can do to avoid germ exposure and the resulting illness," she writes in her blog at Coupon Cabin. "Unfortunately, in my large family, it's always a marathon of illness, lasting a minimum of two weeks from start to finish."
So what does the former Kate Plus Eight and Jon and Kate Plus 8 star do to prevent the spread of germs and help maintain her children's good health? She starts by not allowing germs from outside their home--specifically from school--to infiltrate their entire house.
"We remove shoes immediately inside the front door, change out of school uniforms and wash thoroughly with antibacterial soap and water within the first five minutes of entering," she says.
Kate also insists upon a special spot to dump backpacks and lunch boxes when the kids get home from school. In addition to serving healthy meals, she also gives the kids multivitamins and extra vitamin C during cold and flu season.
Does Kate Gosselin feel validated by all the germ prevention steps she takes to keep her family healthy?
"Preventing illness keeps my family healthy – but also translates into savings," she says.
By not paying the cost of "doctors' visits, prescription and OTC meds, tissues, juice and sick-day treats like books and crayons," Kate is no doubt saving big bucks.
Do you implement any of the good health habits Kate uses in her home? Do you think her ideas are sensible or overkill?
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Comments: 11
Zicam is an unapproved homeopathic product from a company who has a shady past.
All of this can be researched on the web.
As for shoes bringing cold and flu germs in the house, that is unproven. It does lessen dirt, and may have some benefit for keeping out pesticides and the miniscule amounts of lead that can be found in some dust in some areas.
Multivitamins and extra C do not prevent a virus. If you child is eating a well-rounded diet (Kate reminds us continually that hers do), they shouldn't even need a multivitamin (ironic, since Kate wrote this for a "savings" blog. Think of the money she could save on vitamins that are most likely being eliminated from her 8 children's systems every time they go to the bathroom).
What prevents colds and flu is proper hand washing for at least 20 seconds (regular soap will do), and keeping hands away from the nose and face. Vitamin C will not do it.
My father was a doctor. There were 5 kids in our family, at 3 different schools plus multiple after school activities. My Dad didn't change his clothes within 5 minutes of coming home from the office or hospital. He often said that building a strong immune system means exposing yourself to the germs that can make you sick. Therefore, home didn't have to be a sterile environment.
Trust me when I say that we also did not wash our hands within 5 minutes of coming home (we hugged our mom and then had a snack - most likely with unwashed hands - the horrors!). Our shoes went into a pile in the back hall and often we went outside to play barefoot and came inside and ate a well-balanced dinner barefoot. A multivitamin never passed our lips.
None of us was ever sick. In fact, I didn't miss a day of school in the 12 years I lived in my home.
"Even the American Medical Association (AMA) is uneasy about antibacterial products, saying "it may be prudent to avoid the use of antimicrobial agents in consumer products" (Tan 2002)."
Google Triclosan, the most common antibacterial/antimicrobial agent. It's toxic.
@Holly W., my grandfather was a doctor and he also said that a little germ exposure helped build the immune system. The more we fight germs, the quicker they mutate.
And Kimberly, please don't take my comment as harsh. I know someone has to fill the cheerleader position and Effie took a lot of criticism on here, some of which definitely was extreme. I hope we can all agree to disagree. You do give us a place to 'gather' and air our thoughts. :)