How to keep germs from getting to mom

BALTIMORE - Moms, you do everything to keep your kids from getting sick. But a lot of times, you forget to take care of yourself.

You have kids to take care of, work that needs to get done around the house, and not a lot of time to sleep. The heavy load can make moms vulnerable, especially when school starts and kids are bringing home a backpack full of germs.

5 tips to keep yourself healthy

Here are 5 easy tips to keep you healthy from all those germs your family brings home.

• Dr. Scott Burger with Doctors Express, an urgent care center, says the first things moms can do is get their flu shot.

"There's so much misinformation out there about if you get the flu shot you get sick from it... People saying they got the flu shot and they got sick that year, you can't get sick from the flu shot so get your flu shot at the beginning of the season."

• If you're out and about on the road and notice someone in your car is sick, roll down the window to avoid your exposure to viruses.

Dr. Burger says, "If you're driving around a group of children to a sporting event or an activity and somebody is sneezing or coughing you want to get fresh air in your car."

• Third, avoid sharing things. Dr. Burger says, "We're not just talking about drinking glasses and spoons and silverware. We're talking about things like cell phones, pens. All these other type of items where viruses and bacteria, if someone coughs or sneezes... Exposed yourself to that."
• Fourth, replace your hand towels with paper towels in the bathroom.

"When you think about it, if you walk into a bathroom and there's a hand towel and someone just wiped their hands on it... You don't know what the order of activities were when they used that hand towel. And it's going to be wet and warm and moist and that's a great environment for bacterial viruses to flourish," says Dr. Burger.

• The last tip, which is usually the hardest is to try to get enough sleep and exercise. Doing both can really boost your immune system.

And if you use a hand sanitizer, make sure it contains at least 60-percent alcohol.
Be sure to rub it under your finger nails where germs can hide.