When your children stay up late, diseases and illnesses rejoice. For them, it is the perfect time to make their move and attack your child’s immune system. The days of sleepless nights, staying awake to watch their favorite cartoons, movies, or browse the internet takes a toll on their health. Even though your children will not realize the effects their naughty habits of breaking sleeping curfews will have on their health, as a parent or a guardian, you should.

The Importance of Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

Have you ever tried staying up all night or only slept for a mere few hours, until you had to get up for work? It ransacks your entire internal sleeping clock, as you wake up with a headache and heavy eyelids.

Now, imagine your children doing the same most of the nights. If you find yourself in such a bad condition, just think how they might be feeling, especially during weekdays when they have to get up for school. Regardless of one’s age, everyone needs to sleep at night.

Sleep recharges us, lets our brain process all the information of the day, and prepares us to wake up bright and early. Without it, you feel like a zombie all day who is trying to get over with the day so he/she can crash in bed and sleep it off. Even though you might be able to get through the day, as you have the patience and resilience to do so, your children on the other hand, may not.

You need to enforce strict rules in your household, telling your children that at 8 or 9 PM, it is lights out for them! By acting as an enforcer of sleep, you will allow your children to lead a more productive and healthier life. 

The Benefits of a Good Night’s Sleep

Pediatric Healthcare in Houston has outlined the following major benefits a healthy sleeping pattern has on people:

1. Decreases Your Immunity to Diseases

A lack of sleep increases your risk to develop kidney problems, heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalance, and weight gain.

2. Assists in Your Development and Growth

Most of the mental and physical development of a child is dependent on the amount of sleep they get each night.

3. Develops Cognitive Functions

When you get insufficient amounts of sleep, your brain is unable to function properly the next day. For growing children going to school, this creates a problem, as they need to be able to think in order to perform well in school.

4. Promotes Emotional and Mental Health

After a tiresome day, all you can think of is getting some sleep. You need sleep because your body is sending a signal to your brain, telling that it needs to repair itself. At night, your body busies itself repairing the tissue and relaxing your mind and body.

If your child has fallen sick or needs to be looked after by a skilled and quality pediatrician, contact Pediatric Healthcare of Northwest Houston.

Pediatric Healthcare of Northwest Houston sees and treats several cases of cold in the summers. Parents bring their coughing, sneezing, and sick children to our clinic, and although we treat them and prescribe them with medicine, we do not let them leave without giving them valuable advice on the preventative health care measures they can take to prevent their children from coming down with the cold.

Learn about the Symptoms of Colds

Did you know there are over 200 viruses that can cause a cold? However, studies have shown that the enterovirus infection is the main cause of the cold. The virus affects the tissues of your nose, throat, eyes, and digestive system. During the summers, the virus lets loose, infecting child after child. Hence, it is up to you to recognize the following symptoms of colds:

•  Mild to high fever

•  Joint or muscle pain

•  Vomiting and nausea

•  Symptoms similar to the flu

•  Headache

•  Sore throat

•  Skin rash or pink eye (rare symptom)

Protect Your Children from the Cold

Once you gotten all the symptoms of the cold down, you need to learn how you can prevent your child from getting a cold in the summer. You have to teach them to do the following things:

1. Washing Hands Often

Tell your child to wash their hands as soon as they come from outside. If they do not, the whole house might fall ill with the cold, as the cold spreads through touch. You can also provide them with a hand sanitizer to carry with them at all times. In the event they need to eat and no washroom is in sight, they can use the hand sanitizer to kill some of the germs.

2. Do Not Sit in a Cold Room

Sitting in a cold room for prolong periods of time benefits the virus, enabling it reproduce fast.

3. Clean all the Objects and Surfaces

Cold is contagious, and if your child has a cold, you need to make sure all the objects and surfaces your child comes into contact with are thoroughly cleaned. For instance, phones, doorknobs, and windowsills are just some of the things you need to clean regularly.

4. Tell Your Child Not to Stress

Convey to your child about not taking a lot of unnecessary stress, as stress weakens the immune system, making it more vulnerable to the cold virus.

5. Be Alert in Crowded Spaces

There is a higher probability your child or you will catch a cold in a crowded area such as a waiting room. You need to take additional care of your child if you find yourself in a room with several people.

If your child comes down with a cold, even after you have taken all the precautions to prevent it, you can visit Pediatric Healthcare of Northwest Houston. We promise to offer you with the best quality medical care in all of Houston.