With several young kids we catch every b

Tonight, keep the two things already working — handwashing and sleep — and put the supplement money and effort into one appointment instead: a check that every child's routine vaccines are on schedule for where you live. That is the single biggest thing a family can do to change how often kids get sick this season; supplements have not been shown to prevent colds, and a third cold in one month is a reason to ask a clinician, not to buy something else.

1) What you tried vs. what to do instead

Two things with the best evidence that are not in the shopping basket: vaccines on schedule (including the annual flu programme where it is offered, and asking about it for the elder in the house too — older adults are at higher risk from flu, COVID, pneumococcal disease, RSV and shingles), and not smoking or vaping indoors or around the kids.

2) Tonight / today — under 25 minutes total

1. Bathroom audit (5 min). One towel per child, hand soap refilled, and a note on the door: wash on coming home, before eating, after the toilet. With several small children, one caregiver cannot hover — the towel rule and the door note do the work for you.
2. Sleeve-up school rule (5 min). Pick the one class the kids share and decide: sleeves down, coughs into the elbow, tissues within reach in the bag. One sentence to the teacher, tomorrow, at pickup.
3. Supplement cull (10 min). Put every supplement, herbal product and syrup in one bag or one photo, for the appointment. Do not start anything new in the meantime.
4. Call the clinic (5 min). Ask for the vaccine-record review and, if the colds are close together or one child is much worse than the others, a same-week appointment. Bring the record book if you have one.
5. Kitchen (10 min, only if it helps tonight). Whatever is already in the cupboard — rice and egg, soup with vegetables, fruit, yoghurt — served warm and regular. Nothing to cook specially; no "immune recipes".

3) Avoid list

• No new powders, syrups, "immune" gummies, herbal drops or anything bought from an online seller without a prescription.
• No prescription medicines bought online, and no leftover antibiotics from an earlier illness "just in case". A cold is usually viral, and fever is not by itself a reason for antibiotics.
• No sharing adult tablets with a child, ever — including a "half" of a painkiller.
• No over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children: no proven benefit, not recommended for under-4s.
• No honey for a baby under 12 months.
• No aspirin for a child with a fever or a viral illness.
• No doubling up on products with the same ingredient (many "immune" products repeat vitamin C, zinc or herbal ingredients with the everyday ones).
• Don't cancel the kids' vaccine appointments because of a runny nose — a mild cold is not a reason to postpone; a clinician decides that on the day.

4) Decision tree — screenshot this

Is anyone right now breathing hard, blue, or unable to speak in full sentences, or a baby pausing in breathing, or someone who will not wake, will not drink, or looks grey and floppy?
→ Emergency now. Call your local emergency number. Do not wait to see if the fever breaks.

Fever with a rash that does not fade when you press a glass on it, a stiff neck and bad headache, or a fit that does not stop?
→ Emergency now.

Any child under 3 months with a temperature, or an older adult who is newly confused or "not themselves" this week — even without a fever?
→ Same day, not tomorrow.

Otherwise well, but a cough every single day for more than 4 weeks, blood in the spit, weight loss, night sweats, or a child who is not growing?
→ Book a clinician visit this week — that is a different question from a cold.

Otherwise well, short cough/runny nose, no red flags?
→ Home care: fluids, rest, light clothing, honey only for children over 1 year if they want it. Expect improvement within 1–3 weeks. If it is not settling in that window, get it checked.

Practical triggers to book this week even without red flags: three-plus infections in a month like yours; one child always being the one who catches it; a wet cough that keeps coming back; a snore or breathing pause at night.

5) What "success" looks like in 24 hours

I'm not diagnosing your children and I'm not starting, stopping or resizing any medicine or supplement — that call belongs to your clinician, and nothing here replaces seeing one. What a good day looks like: the kids sleep their normal amount, they drink and eat their usual meals, nobody is on the sofa all day "recovering" when they are actually fine, the supplement money is spent on an appointment instead, and you have written down which child got what and when. That record is what makes the next visit useful.

If in 24 hours the household is calmer and you have one booked call instead of five new bottles, that is the win — even if the runny nose continues.

Words you can screenshot and send

To the teacher/class group:
> "Just so you know, we've had three colds in our house this month. We'll keep [child] off only if they're feverish or too unwell to take part, per our clinic's advice. Could you remind the class about elbow coughs and tissues at the desk? Happy to answer anything."

To the clinic, in one message:
> "Three upper-respiratory infections this month across [number] children aged [ages]. No red flags, everyone eating and drinking. Two questions: are all routine vaccines up to date for us here, and is it worth a look given how close together these are?"

To a relative or neighbour who offers a supplement:
> "Thanks — we're sorting out the vaccine review with our clinic first. We'll ask them about anything worth adding, so we'll hold off for now."