Working Mums Stress Over Sick Children

Caring for sick children is contributing to stress in the workplace according to a new study by the Hygiene Council.

Half of parents find juggling work and a sick child difficult to manage, yet few realise that simple hygiene measures such as hand washing and surface disinfection can help to reduce the risk of picking up an infection and so make things easier for them.
The survey of 1,000 parents of children under six, found that despite 48% of children being ill with coughs, colds and stomach bugs at least three times a year, an astonishing 62% of parents have no back up childcare plan when their child is ill. Consequently almost half of parents have to take a day off work, while 12% admit to sending their child to childcare or school regardless of their illness.
Although just over 50% of bosses are understanding when it comes to taking time off to look after sick children, a further third make the inconvenience known and a just under one in ten bosses are judged to be very unsympathetic and challenging. Over a quarter of those surveyed said that their child being ill causes additional stress and pressure to catch up out of work hours.
With the added strain of sickness, parents are changing their behaviour both in and out of the home. 80% say they would change their hygiene habits in the home if it meant their children getting ill less frequently. While 36% claim to go out of their way to avoid people or places to reduce the chance of their child becoming ill.
Despite the fact that increasing hygiene habits in the home such as washing hands and disinfecting surfaces has been scientifically shown to reduce the number of infections there seems to be some confusion amongst parents about what constitutes ‘too clean’.
Dr Lisa Ackerley, from the Hygiene Council comments: “As a parent I know all too well that taking unplanned time off work to look after your sick child can be a nightmare, however there is something you can do. Teach your child good hygiene habits from an early age and follow good hygiene practices at home to help limit the spread of infection and illness.”
Nearly three quarters of parents agreed with the concept that a home that is too clean can be bad for their family’s immune system and general health.
Dr Lisa Ackerley concludes “Parents often worry that too much cleaning is bad for their child’s immune system. Allowing your child to become exposed to some microbes is an important step in building natural immunisation; however we need to ensure we are keeping our homes clean enough through ‘targeted disinfection’ ensuring that the harmful pathogens that cause serious infection are kept at bay.”
Here are some top tips from the Hygiene Council for a healthy home and family:
Encourage children to start washing their hands from an early age
Ensure your child knows when to wash their hands: before eating and before any cookery activities, after using the toilet, playing outside in the playground and after coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose
Ensure children are washing all of their hands, including the hard to reach spots like in between their fingers
Timing counts, so make sure they are washing their hands for long enough, try singing ‘Happy Birthday twice, so they know how long they need to clean their hands for
Make hand washing into a game for your child to ensure they are encouraged to keep doing it
Good home hygiene habits are essential and regular cleaning and ‘targeted disinfection’ of all surfaces that are regularly touched such as door handles, taps, switches and bin lids can help to reduce the spread of germs around the home
Ensuring your child’s high chair and place where they eat at the table are kept clean and disinfected is very important
Did You Know?
Children who attend nurseries and daycare centres are up to 3.5 times more likely to get diarrhoea than children who stay at home!
•Use of hand sanitiser has been shown to reduce illness-related absenteeism in school children by up to 49 percent!
Nearly three quarters of the world’s population learn the majority of their good hygiene habits from their family when growing up.!

Medical Precautions To Take When Travelling With A Baby

Everyone hopes that their holiday will pass without incident, but as we all know it’s always possible for your baby to become ill for a variety of reasons when abroad.

Prepare well in advance and make sure you are ready in the event that baby does become unwell. Firstly it's important to make sure that your child is fully covered on your travel insurance policy for medical treatment abroad and ensure you keep important phone numbers such as a local medical centre and the insurance company’s claim hot-line ready to hand. If you do need help, most insurance companies will have lists of approved medical practitioners in each country, so should be able to advise you.
If your child is already taking medication before going on holiday, make sure you have enough to last the whole holiday and several extra days worth too in case of unforeseen delays.
The vast majority of minor ailments can be attended to using a Basic First-Aid Kit which you can put together yourself at home and take with you. This should contain the following items as a rough guide:
Thermometer.
Calpol Sachets and Dioralyte (rehydration) sachets.
Anti-histamine cream
Insect repellent
Calamine lotion
Sun Cream
Calendula Cream
Plasters and small bandages
Always remember that prevention is better than cure so stick to some simple and fairly basic rules. Keep baby cool and out of the sun and make sure he drinks lots of fluids. Sterilise feeding utensils, use bottled water and make sure that baby plays in a safe spot.
Remember if you are thinking of travelling to particularly high-risk areas such as those in tropical Malarial zones, you will need to speak to your doctor for advice.
The above is for guidance only and should not be taken as medical advice. If you are ever in doubt about your baby’s health, you should not hesitate to seek medical advice. If you are travelling with a large holiday company or tour operator they will be able to arrange this for you using one of their local representatives. Otherwise, take advice from your insurance company.