We are blessed with some sunny days here in Sydney, despite it being the middle of winter. Don’t be fooled though, the cold winds still hover and the bugs abound! A cold is usually not a serious illness in itself, and will generally self-resolve, however it is very infectious. The cold virus is thought to be the most infectious up to day four of your symptoms, which does include the few days before you get obvious symptoms.
During winter children are particularly vulnerable. Children generally have around six to eight colds each year, and they can have as many as twelve a year when they first go to childcare centers or school. Toddlers have very little immunity to cold viruses, they also don’t have a fully developed immune system. Some experts believe that a child’s immune system is not fully developed until they are around puberty and they reach the adult levels of antibody formation. Certainly by that age they would have been in contact with many of the cold viruses and could have a much better resistance.
The tiny toddler, with very little exposure to the 200 plus cold viruses that are in our environment can come down very quickly with cold symptoms of a runny nose and watering eyes, and without much time or warning it can develop into a bronchial cough, very sore throat or ear infection.
Here are some tips to help keep your toddler healthy through our cold winter months.
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