2.      Cover them up!

Children shouldn’t leave the house without wearing nice thick layers of clothing. However, they should not be overdressed. These layers, which are more effective than one big winter coat or snowsuit, should include thermal underwear, wool socks, turtlenecks, sweaters, sweatpants and a water-resistant jacket. Windy days can feel much colder than the actual temperature. When deciding how long kids (and adults!) can play outdoors safely, the windchill factor is most important.

3.      Winter proof their Skin

Children have soft, tender skin, and that soft skin’s mortal enemy is winter weather. There are arrays of painful problems that can result without proper care. First up: dryness. Not only will cold air dry out skin, so too will the heat blasting indoors. To fight against dry skin conditions, slather a heavy moisturizer or petroleum jelly on your child. You may want to consider putting a humidifier in a child’s room, particularly if he or she is susceptible to winter nosebleeds. But the usage of a heater / humidifier for a child should be moderate.  And there is one thing that you should practice in winters religiously – give a bath to your child every day irrespective of the temperature. Try to keep the room warm and give them a hot bath as they will enjoy being fresh throughout the day; remind them that they have to wash their hands religiously; it’s cold and flu season, after all.

Even though it’s winter, you still need to put sunscreen on your kids before they go out to play as winter sun is harsh on their skin.

4.      Chapping

Prevent it by applying a barrier of petroleum jelly (after sunscreen) on any exposed areas of the face before your child goes outside. Apply moisturizer often when indoors and consider getting your child a face mask for outdoor play if it’s a frequent problem.

5.      Snuggle up

Make time to simply snuggle up with your baby. This will provide comfort and warmth to your little one, not to mention the joy of bonding and spending some quality time with you!

6.      Food to keep your baby warm

Dates, Nuts. If you need to tide kids over with a snack, give them nuts. The protein and fat content make them an ideal winter snack food. Cook with nuts and seeds as well.Crush it for toddlers.

Spices. Whether you tend toward cinnamon, ginge, garlic and spices are particularly good for you during the winter. Ginger helps you digest the fatty foods your body craves in the winter, and antibacterial and antiviral effects of foods like garlic help you fight off infections.

Curry. My favorite winter food is curry. I have a long list of my favorite Indian and Thai curries with little chillies and ginger. These make an ideal winter lunch. They will feel warm and full all afternoon with no temptation to snack before dinner. Most children favor peanut-based curries that aren’t quite as spicy.

Soups. Give your children warm vegetable/chicken soup. Spice them up with their favourite sauces and they will slurp it all up.

Honey. This natural sweetener has many benefits and gives a glowing complexion too.

Fruits and vegetables. Winter is the time when warming foods are in abundance. Fruit chaats and fruit pie of oranges, plums, peaches, pears, guavas, berries, apples, dates are most welcomed by all.  Also, one can make a salad of carrots, oranges, beetroot or have a simple vegetable punch!

Author Bio

JYOTI KUMAR

Founder, Twinkling Star

Jyoti Kumar – A passionate child care professional who loves children and constantly strives to create a positive difference in their lives. She is dedicated and focused and has a long term vision to change the growing industry of child care and development in India.

With a degree in nursery teaching in 2002, she has taught kindergarten and junior classes in schools in Noida till 2008.

Jyoti has spent more than 5 years in Australia, and has an Australian Government Approved certificate for 3 courses in Children Services. Post certification she has worked for more than 3 years in child care centers at Sydney and gained valuable experience in high quality child care services.

She has the vision and dream of developing high quality child care services in India by creating role model centers and played a mentor role in spreading the culture of quality services in child care services. Jyoti aims to build strong foundation for the development of human resources in India.

She has developed tremendous understanding about children education and growth through multiple programs she was part of and now she is utilizing this in the day care. Recently she launched her own venture –“Twinkling Star”- a child care center that is much more than an occasional crèche or a baby care.

It essentially caters to the needs of young parents, who not only are looking for a trusted place to send their kids but also are looking at an overall development of children in their early years –a critical stage when the foundation is built for their lifelong learning, health, well-being & success.