Advice from fellow parents: how to avoid getting sick all the time

My 1-year old daughter is the cutest incubator you have ever seen. This is the third time in three months that I have a cold, ugh, and it is really disruptive to my training schedule. My friends who had kids before me have already warned me. Is there something I can do? What have you done to mitigate that?

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Aside from making sure you yourself get plenty of sleep, make sure you keep your hands away from your face unless you just washed them. Anytime you or anyone comes home, wash the hands. Lastly, periodically wipe surfaces down w/clorox wipes (bathroom, light switches, etc…) or alcohol wipes (kids stuff).

Interesting tidbit… Here in Asia, it’s quite common to see people wearing surgical masks in public, even little kids. It has nothing to do w/air quality (unless it’s China, but that’s another conversation). It also isn’t because they are afraid of catching something. So why? As a common courtesy, because they are sick and do not want to make others sick by spreading their germs.

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Thanks for the advice. We have plenty of baby wipes here, so I will try that.

Funnily enough, I live “here in Asia” (in Japan, actually), and people wearing surgical masks is one thing that I haven’t gotten used to after 6+ years. :smiley:

I’m in Taiwan.

The washing hands thing in general is HUGE, even before kids, especially before touching your face for any reason. If you really have to and can’t wash your hands, use your arm or shoulder to rub your nose, eye, etc… With kids, I think it’s that much more important.

And of course, sleep is often overlooked and underestimated.

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Our CEO Nate gets fairly often as well. He hasn’t quite found the silver bullet, but they talk a lot about supplements and other remedies in this thread:

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Being a parent of a kindergartner, preschooler and 8 month old this is something I have started being VERY cognizant of. Getting sick is unavoidable at times, but really trying to not put hands near face and washing or sanitizing them often is your best bet.

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Wash wash wash, drink water water water.

Honestly there isn’t anything you can do - its going to happen but know by year 3 it will fade. Best advice I could give is when you feel it coming - try Zycam and modify training. Sneaking in EN can help keep hours and TSS up vs. just trashing the whole day and missing out.

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Do whatever to keep these optimal:

Sleep
Gut health
Hydration

It’ll make sure you’re ready to fight incoming attacks from viruses
Obviously you won’t be able to avoid everything.

And i know that with a kid that age, sleep can be quiiiiite difficult to get right.

Also as tempting as it might be, if they’re sick, cuddles do help them feel better but just remember, you’re increasing your risk of catching whatever they had :slight_smile:

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Make sure you have adequate levels of Vit D. Its shown to help with fighting viral infections.

You’re a clairvoyant: tonight was the third time my daughter decided at 5 am that she had had enough sleep. :smiley:

Are you reducing your TSS load to account for the general increase in life stress that comes with having a baby in the house?

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And this is probably why you are not affected by having little kids in the house :wink: A constant stream of second-hand vaccination via your job! The teachers and nurses in my life seem to never get sick.

I feel you man. I have two young kids and they might be the cutest virus/bacteria incubator ever :rofl:

What I tend to do nowadays is to be more aware of how my body feels during this period. Am I feeling more tired then usual, workouts are feeling more brutal than they should be? Or am I just feeling way to tired to hope on the bike? Once my body starts to say that it is close to the tip over point, I back off on my training and try to get more recovery in.

Apart from the risk of catching the virus from your kid, you’ll quickly realized that taking care of a sick cranky baby/toddler is serious stress on your body. If I don’t back off from my training (which is the easiest thing that I can control), I tend to tack on more stress than my body can take it and I have a high chance of falling sick too.

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Ever since hearing Coach Chad discuss supplements and after suffering with cold after cold, I started to take Ginger. That was back in September 2018 and (touch wood) I haven’t had a cold since.