How to stay healthy/flu-free during the holidays.

Is there any way to protect your child over the holidays from the swine flu or H1N1?

Yes.

The good news is that you can.

The recent H1NI epidemic has already killed 4,000 people in the US alone. So it's normal for a parent to wonder if there is anything they can do to help protect their child's immunity against the swine flu (H1N1), especially if they are on vacation. Other than getting advice from your doctor and the vaccination, here are some extra strategies so a parent needn't feel helpless.

Know that there ARE still ways you can help protect your child from anything that is going around, whether that's swine flu,  H1N1 or general colds.

Most pediatricians consider six to eight colds in a year to be normal and a way for your child to build up his immune system. Germs are everywhere, whether you are at home on away on vacation, and being exposed to them is a natural part of life. But you can do a lot too, by boosting your child’s immunity. Here are several ways to do that:

Offer more fruit and vegetables.

Vitamin C and carotenoids are great ways to boost your child’s immune system. You can find them in carrots, green beans, oranges and strawberries. About 5x two-tablespoon servings every day is right for toddlers. Many of these fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals, which help the body produce infection-fighting white blood cells.

A good, wholesome diet is the best way to keep your child’s immune system healthy and strong. Make sure the snacks you provide are wholesome too. Don’t go for a lot of fruit juices, however, better to offer the whole fruit chopped up, it is more satisfying and comes complete with fiber.

Encourage more sleep

You probably know yourself that if you don’t get enough sleep, you feel lousy all day. And you are likely to get any kind of illness that’s going around. The same is true for your child. All the distraction and activity going on while on vacation is enough to keep your child from sleeping. Make sure then that the child gets ample rest time. Make sure too that you do the same (and aren't YOU on vacation too?).

Newborns can sleep up to 18 hours a day while toddlers need 12-13 hours and preschoolers should have about 10 hours. If napping doesn’t seem to work for your child, put her to bed early in the evening.

Go for Breastfeeding

There’s a lot in the saying ”breast is best”. Breast-feeding for the first six months of life, if you can do, is the way to go. Breast milk has infection-fighting antibodies that help your baby fight off such illnesses as ear infections, SIDS and the swine flu or H1N1 virus.

Breastfed babies experience fewer infections than bottle-fed babies and breast milk provide a complete nutritional balance, including essential fatty acids that are essential for your baby. Even better – it’s free and available at any time of the day or night

Check Into Allergies

If your child is constantly having ear infections, dealing with a runny nose or seems forever “under the weather”, then check into allergies. Many babies are allergic to cow’s milk formula because their systems are not yet developed enough, and many need to be put on baby soy-milk formula (not regular soya milk, this soy-formula is specifically made, and sold for, babies).

The author’s own children were constantly having ear infections until she changed the formula to baby soy formula. The ear infections never came back. Food allergies to things like casein, which is a milk protein, or even wheat products, are some of the most common culprits. Be sure to check with your pediatrician first. For older children, you could try eliminating milk and wheat from their diet for a week to see if the condition improves.

See Part 2 for more ways to help your child's immunity against any virus while on  vacation, including the H1N1 or Swine Flu pandemic.

For more articles by this author, click:http://www.examiner.com/x-29076-SF-World-Travel-Examiner