There is clearly some October crud going around. Everybody's falling like dominoes around us, and even multiple states away, we're all dealing with the same garbage, just slightly different variations per person. I have the sore throat, the kiddos have the congested noses and the cough, and my husband has… everything.
We're probably a bit behind with this "immunity defense" issue (and it's maybe not the best endorsement of what's in here, seeing as we all still got sick lol). BUT if you look at our small family as a sample size, the kids and I are the ones taking all the supplements and we're arguably getting over things much faster than my husband, who, for whatever reasons of his own, refuses to take anything beyond DayQuil or NyQuil.
For what it's worth, the American Academy of Pediatrics pretty much poopoos supplements: "there's no evidence that supplements boost immunity or prevent serious illnesses." Cool. ANYWAY most of what's below is the research-backed stuff (links included, so you can check our homework), plus a couple of things our family just likes (call it a placebo effect if you want). Every family's got to do what works for them.
(Standard reminder: we're not doctors, just parents who read too many studies. Check with your pediatrician before starting anything new, especially with babies or kids with health stuff going on.)
In this issue:
✅ The every-day habit my brother got us doing (and the kid study behind it)
✅ The number on the back of the gummy bottle worth checking twice
✅ An $11 gadget that tells you if your house is too dry for its own good
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🧘♀️ Make saline part of the routine, not the rescue
👉 This one's from my brother: use saline every day during cold season, not just once someone's nose is already running. There's more research behind the everyday version than I expected.
The prevention study: 401 kids ages 6 to 10 who rinsed with salt water three times a day through cold season had fewer repeat colds (summary here). (To be fair, the saline maker funded it, and those kids were older than ours.)
The first-sniffle study: in Edinburgh, kids under 7 who got salt-water nose drops at the first sign of a cold got better about two days faster (six days instead of eight), and fewer people in the house caught it (ScienceDaily).
Our take: a quick spray every day, then more frequently the minute the sniffles start.
What to use, by age:
Babies and young toddlers: drops or a gentle mist, like Little Remedies Saline Spray + Drops (labeled safe for newborns) or Boogie Mist (gentle enough to use every day, per the label).
Preschoolers: a kid-size mist like Simply Saline Kids, which says it's safe to use as often as needed.
Big kids and grownups: a rinse bottle like NeilMed Sinus Rinse Pediatric (ages 2 and up), but only with distilled, sterile, or boiled water, never straight from the tap, per the FDA.
Keep it next to the toothbrushes so it happens at the same time.
Psst: once someone's already dripping, the Frida snot sucker we called "a bit foul AND better than anything else we've found" (plus the one spray we use on basically everything) is in April's Kids Are Gross issue.
💸 Check the zinc before you add another gummy
👉 If there's an "immune support" gummy in your cabinet, here's what the front of the bottle won't tell you: zinc has a daily upper limit, and for a 1 to 3 year old it's just 7 mg, counting food, multivitamins, and gummies combined (NIH). So if zinc is anywhere in your routine, make sure to add it up.
Elderberry and zinc are two of the most popular immune support supplements, and kids' "elderberry" gummies often have both, in very different amounts. In our house, we use Nature's Way Sambucus Kids gummies (lots of elderberry, only 1.1 mg of zinc per gummy) plus zinc drops as needed, so I know roughly how much each kid is getting. (Fair warning on elderberry: NIH calls the research "preliminary," and a 2021 review found it may not keep you from catching a cold, though it might shorten one.)
Here's how fast it adds up:
One Sambucol Kids elderberry gummy has 3.8 mg of zinc. One Zarbee's Kids elderberry gummy has 0.75 mg. Same aisle, about five times the zinc.
BUT too much zinc over time can lower copper and actually lower immunity, which is the opposite of what we're going for here.
Never put zinc in a kid's nose. The FDA warned about zinc nasal cold products after people lost their sense of smell, possibly for good.
Adult zinc drops are a different animal. The ones I took while pregnant and breastfeeding, MaryRuth's Organic Ionic Zinc, have about 11 mg in one adult serving, which is already more than a toddler's whole daily limit. MaryRuth's makes a toddler version (3 mg per serving, ages 1 to 3), so if drops are your thing, use that one and count it alongside any gummy.
Skip zinc lozenges for little ones. They're hard candy, which is a choking hazard under 4.
Final note: whatever combo you land on, add up the zinc before you add another product.
💸 Get an $11 humidity gauge before you buy another humidifier
👉 If your house gets that dry winter air (static shocks, cracked lips), the number to know is 40 to 50% humidity.
In a CDC lab study, when humidity was around 43%, only 14% of flu particles were still infectious after an hour. At 23% or lower, it was 70 to 77% (MedicalXpress). 🤯 (Note: that was a lab setup with flu only, not a study of actual kids.)
More isn't better, though. The EPA says not to go above 50%.
Measure first: a ThermoPro TP50 hygrometer is about $11 and shows dry, comfortable, or wet at a glance. If the nursery already reads 45%, you're done.
If you do need a humidifier: cool mist is safer around little kids than warm mist or steam, per the AAP. A top-fill one like the Levoit Classic 160 (about $30) is easier to refill and clean.
The part everyone skips: distilled water, empty and refill it daily, and clean it every third day (EPA again). Germs grow in standing humidifier water, which is not what you want misting over the crib.
The thing that's made it bearable for us: I live in a very dry state (hello, Utah), and I hate cleaning humidifiers. Humidifier cleaning fish (about $6) float in the tank and fight slime and odor for 30 days, and they've done a really good job keeping our water from getting mangy between real cleanings.
Heads up: if flu shots are on your list this year, the AAP recommends them for everyone 6 months and older, and kids under 9 who haven't had at least two before need two doses, four weeks apart, so it's worth starting soon.
Which one surprised you most?
K that's all. You're the best and we love you.
-CK "Gummy Auditor" Fuller (Editor) & the JB Crew 🫡
P.S. Next week: three services that turn this year's camera roll and preschool art pile into something you'll actually look at, done by someone who isn't you.
Quick note: Some links in here may be affiliate links. You know the drill- if you buy something, we might earn a small commission that helps offset the time we spend making JuiceBox. Thank you for supporting this project of ours.