Sneezing and Coughing
According to an experiment by the NIH, a sneeze can travel up to 25 feet in 22 seconds. In similar studies, it was determined that coughs can travel up to 10 feet. This means that in a classroom situation, an uncovered sneeze or cough can potentially infect many classmates. In my classroom, at the beginning of the school year, I frequently experience children sneezing into the air, snot running down their face, and then crying because they don’t know what to do.
PLEASE, PLEASE teach your child the importance of using a tissue to cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, throwing that tissue into the garbage, and then immediately washing their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. If they do not have a tissue handy, teach them how to cough or sneeze into their elbow.
Here is a cute video, featuring Elmo from Sesame Street, demonstrating the proper way to sneeze and cough:
Blowing Their Nose
When a child has a cold, and their nose is stuffed and running, that is not the best time to teach them to blow their nose. Instead, once they learn to blow through their mouth (like blowing out candles), they are ready to learn to blow through their nose, and then to move on to blowing their nose.
Here are few tips to teach your child to blow through their nose (be ready for unexpected snot!):
- Cover their mouth – then show them how, with their mouth closed, they can blow through their nose.
- Blow bubbles in the bathtub – with their head slightly under water, show them to blow bubbles out their noses.
- Cotton ball or feather races – race them blowing a cotton ball or feather across a table with just their nose.
Once your child learns that they can blow through their nose, it is a very small jump to blowing into a handkerchief or tissue. The one thing to remember is that small children can only generate enough wind to clear one nostril at a time. So teach them to cover their nose with a tissue, hold a finger over one nostril, and blow through the other, wiping the snot with the tissue. Repeat this for the other nostril.
Lastly, teach them to throw the tissue away and then immediately to wash their hands after blowing their nose.
