When one of the kids comes down with a cold or stomach bug, you don’t want the whole household to get sick. Good news: you can limit the rest of the family’s exposure to illnesses and there’s no need to lock Emma and her cooties up in the attic to keep everyone else healthy. Try these tips from doctors for containing the germs:

Scrub, scrub, scrub: Since most viruses and bacteria get spread when a person touches someone sick or something that sick person has been in contact with, the most important thing you can do to decrease the spread of germs and diseases is practice good hand washing, says Dr. Joseph Gigante, a pediatrician at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. Frequently wash your hands (and the kids’) with soap and warm water for 15 seconds and if you don’t have access to water, use wet wipes or liquid hand sanitizers to keep your hands clean.

One for one: Sharing is a part of family life but limit the sharing of viruses by avoiding food, cup and utensil sharing as a general rule of thumb, says Dr. Gigante. Each child should have his own towel and toothbrush. To avoid accidentally using the same tissue, which spreads viruses when a family member is sick, make a habit of using tissues once and then discarding them. While there is no need to quarantine your sick child, k eep healthy family members away from the sick child as much as possible, says Dr. Gigante.

Use your elbow: While covering your mouth when you cough may seem to be the polite thing to do, if you don’t wash your hands immediately, you’ll spread germs. “I like to teach kids to turn their heads and cough or sneeze into their elbow,” says Dr. Gigante. “That way they’re not coughing into their hand and they don’t usually make contact with other people with their elbow. It’s an easy way to prevent spreading viruses.”

Clean germ carriers: When a family member is sick, household objects may have germs on them so sharing them can spread illnesses. Use soap and water or a disinfectant, such as diluted bleach on toys once a day to prevent your child’s siblings from picking up the same germs. If your little patient has been lying on the sofa channel-surfing all day, wipe down the remote before other family members use it. The same goes for the phone if your child has been talking on it while sick.

Practice prevention: “With most common childhood illnesses, you’re contagious for 24 hours before you have any symptoms so a lot of the contagions have been passed on before you know it,” says Dr. Cheryl Houseman, medical director of the primary care centre at University City Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For that reason, as the saying goes, prevention really is the best medicine. “Practice good common sense things, such as frequent hand washing, and make sure the kids eat a healthy diet, get lots of rest and get the flu vaccine; I absolutely suggest it for kids of all ages, “ says Dr. Houseman. For more information and to find out if it’s suitable for your family, ask your doctor.

Learn more in our Cold and Flu Guide, plus find out How to avoid keeping the kids from getting sick all year.