MNHQ needs your avoiding/surviving winter sniffles advice and tips.

And of course, the main thing to remember that being cold doesn't give you a cold.

The reason why most people get colds in the winter is because they huddle together with little ventilation, so germs pass more easily.

If you went out, tit naked, in minus 20, it wouldn't give you a cold.

I walked into nursery to pick up DD this morning and she had a receiving line of kids she was kissing goodbye too

This afternoon she said 'mummy, my throat hurts'

Yes, 'don't lick toddlers' -- good one.

When I took shiny brand new DS2 to toddler group lots of little children clustered round to look. 'Oh, dear,' I said, 'Ds2 has a snotty nose.' [green trail]

'Oh, that's alright,' said little girl. 'It's not his snot, its my snot.'

Yeah Threadworm - avoiding toddlers in particular is a good one. Here you go Mumsnet 'during cold and flu season avoid licking the petri dishes that are toddlers'

Especially those ones with streaming green snot on their faces urgh.

Also accept that your kids, your bloke and probably the cat will also get the blinking thing, just when you are feeling better and their version will be manflu 2 - the viral revenge, whereas history will reflect yours as 'a bit of a snuffle'

oh and regular exercise! v effective in boosting immune system

Why has nobody said 'don't have children'?

Oh and stop bloody whinging. You are sick! It's very unlikely you are actually going to die so just accept the illness and it'll go a lot quicker.

Open your windows every morning to blow fresh air in. This won't help your cold but will at least encourage you to breathe deeply and feel slightly better.

Face the fact that it will all be over in five days and retire to bed with paracetamol/ibuprofen/tissues/fluids.

If you get the vomiting part of the virus or are prone to vomiting when sick, know this: a potty is not necessarily big enough to contain your vomit if you are sitting on the loo with the trots at the same time as bringing up your lunch at the other.

Buy soft tissues and loo roll, do not skimp on these things - there is nothing worse when you have a sore nose than blowing your nose of chipboard type paper .

Vaseline works wonders for sore noses but you can get something called 'no sore' in a green tube from pharmacists which works even better and smells quite mediciney!

oh i didn't take your comment as snotty

it's a wonder I'm not more snotty atm though if uninterrupted nights are required to keep colds at bay...

Gosh, I'm snotty (not literally) today, aren't I?

that'll teach me to read the whole thread before posting Habb

yes i was...

hollow laughter does seem like the only possible response though doesn't it

heard a thing on the radio earlier saying amount of sleep is a big factor

here

an uninterrupted night's sleep is best...

That was from 2004 - here's the 2007 conclusion:

hirty comparisons involving 9676 respiratory episodes contributed to a meta-analysis on common cold duration during prophylaxis. A consistent benefit was observed, representing a reduction in cold duration of 8% (95% CI 3% to 13%) for adults and 13.6% (95% CI 5% to 22%) for children.Seven trial comparisons involving 3294 respiratory episodes contributed to the meta-analysis of cold duration during therapy with vitamin C initiated after the onset of symptoms. No significant differences from placebo were seen. Four trial comparisons involving 2753 respiratory episodes contributed to the meta-analysis of cold severity during therapy and no significant differences from placebo were seen.

Not sure 8% is worth the money, tbh.

OK: REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the normal population indicates that routine mega-dose prophylaxis is not rationally justified for community use. But evidence shows that it could be justified in persons exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise and/or cold environments. Also, the consistent and statistically significant small benefits on duration and severity for those using regular vitamin C prophylaxis indicates that vitamin C plays some role in respiratory defence mechanisms. The trials in which vitamin C was introduced at the onset of colds as therapy did not show any benefit in doses up to 4 grams daily, but one large trial reported equivocal benefit from an 8 gram therapeutic dose at onset of symptoms.

Interesting, but not cut-and-dried. I guess they'll do more research

Yes, saw that - need to read the Cochrane review - hold on ....

here

Vit C def helps fend off infections & the UK min daily requirement is only 60g, FGS. When you're ill you need loads more than that & probably don't feel like stuffing yourself with fruit all day either.

Taking it doesn't prevent infections but when you've got one it helps a lot.