Protect Your Baby This RSV Season

ByTamara October 16, 2016April 27, 2025

October is National RSV Awareness Month. However, it’s always timely to discuss how to protect your baby against this potentially dangerous virus.

Protect Your Baby From RSV:

Scarlet was seven-months-old and we went to a winter party at a friend’s house. After we got there, a guest told us her kids had colds but this was already after they had been hovering over the foods and my daughter. Scarlet developed a cold, unlike all others I had experienced, and the same thing happened to me. The diagnosis was RSV, and I had never heard of it before. I think that was the very day I learned to not take kid colds lightly, and I learned about preventative measures for the future.

This awareness month takes place every October. And this is a time to educate parents about the signs and symptoms of RSV disease, as well as ways to prevent it. RSV is common and seasonal, and usually occurs between November and March in the United States. Scarlet was diagnosed in February. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for babies in their first year of life. Aside from the infographic, you can also learn more about RSV through the RSVProtection.com website.

Now that I have nephews, I’m reminded of the importance of education.

Babies have fragile lungs, but many parents might not know how to protect those precious lungs from this season’s biggest threats. While you keep your babies safe, warm, and fed, also know the facts about RSV and how to protect your babies. Nearly all babies in the US will contract it by the age of two, however, severity varies. Scarlet was not hospitalized when she had it, and we were lucky. Des has never had it. I was more aware than ever about it with him because he had been in the NICU at birth, and because Scarlet had RSV. Now when I visit my nephews, I always wash my hands, especially with the peak of the season on its way. I make sure my kids wash their hands too.

We also visit the pediatrician regularly, and sanitize our children’s belongings.

Tamara

Tamara is a professional photographer, a mama of four, a Lifestyle Blogger/Social Media Influencer/Brand Ambassador, and a nearly professional cookie taster. She has been known to be all four of those things at all hours of the day and night. She is a very proud contributor to the book, The Mother Of All Meltdowns, the Stigma Fighters Anthology (volume 1), and The HerStories Project: So Glad They Told Me. She is also a proud Community Lead and a regular contributor to the SoFab Food blog, and the Target Made Me Do It blog. After two cross country moves, due to her intense Bi-Coastal Disorder, she lives with her husband, four kids, five dogs, cat, and 30 chickens in glorious western Massachusetts.