Social distancing for kids

How can you help?

This is a time where it’s very easy to pick up unwanted germs, so it’s important to keep your children protected and make sure they are up to date on their wellness checkups. 

Other things you can do to make sure they are in tip top shape at home are:

• Regularly wash their hands
• Maintain normal eating and sleep habits
• Keep them active and occupied
• Look for abnormal signs of illness

Are play dates safe?

Social distancing can be challenging for anyone to adjust to, even children. As a parent, it’s exciting looking forward to your child’s next play date knowing they have someone else in their age group they can relate to and bond with over common interests.  But if we truly want to slow down the spread of COVID-19 amongst our community and beyond, then it starts with limiting our in person contact whenever possible. 

It’s in your child’s best interest to avoid public gathering spaces, large crowds and nonessential social events. Therefore, it is not deemed safe enough for them to visit with friends, cousins, grandparents or other relatives that do not live in the home. It is also not recommended to take your child to play areas or playgrounds, as they contain many surfaces that are usually not cleaned or sanitized on a regular basis. If you your child needs a change of scenery from being at home, try taking them out for some fresh air in your backyard or a walk around the neighborhood!

Safe space

Per CDC guidelines,  one of the top recommendations for keeping everyone in your household healthy is to routinely clean and disinfect all high-touch surfaces on a daily basis.

Some of the practices we have been following at Village Pediatrics to keep you healthy and protected is conducting a thorough cleaning after each patient visit and spending extra time disinfecting all areas of the practice two hours before we open and two hours after we close.

Some examples of high-touch surfaces include:

• Toys
• High chairs
• Counters
• Tabletops
• Remote controls
• Doorknobs
• Light switches
• Cell phones, computers or tablets
• Bathrooms, kitchen spaces, etc.

Is daycare safe?

At this point in time many parents have taken their children out of daycare and a numerous amount of daycare centers have temporarily closed to help prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19. Even though the coronavirus case count for children has reportedly been significantly lower in children, it is still highly recommended that you limit your child’s exposure to people outside your household as it’s simply not worth the risk.

The overall goal is to limit new exposures with other people outside your immediate household, so if you have the option to stay home with your child please do so.

Alternatives for being “social”

Although we enjoy spending time with friends and visiting family, it’s best to check in with loved ones electronically. Remember that this is only temporary so help them make the most of it and have fun!

Try these options to help your child see their loved ones:

• Facetime (Apple users)
• Skype
• Facebook video
• Snapchat

To learn about more activities the whole family can enjoy at home check out our blog here.