Because apparently deciphering why your child is sneezing is another thing parents *and grandparents* are expected to know.
By Lisa Hollinshead | Social 101
If you have children, you’ll know the drill.
They wake up with a runny nose. They’re rubbing their eyes. They didn’t sleep brilliantly. They’re tired and a little bit grumpy.
And so begins the internal investigation.
Are they getting sick? Is it hay fever? Are they just exhausted? Do we cancel everything?
Now throw grandparents into the equation — who, in many Australian families, are doing a considerable amount of the childcare themselves — and suddenly there are even more people attempting to decipher exactly what that sniffle means.
It’s something Bec Judd and her mum, Kerry Brown, know rather well.
And now the pair have teamed up with Zyrtec on a rather sweet idea designed to help make those conversations a little easier: a children’s storybook.
The statistics actually surprised me
Zyrtec commissioned new Australian research as part of the latest instalment of its Storytime initiative, and there was one figure in particular that caught my attention.
Almost half of Australian grandparents surveyed — 48 per cent — help care for their grandchildren at least once a month, while 29 per cent do so weekly or more often.
That probably won’t come as a huge shock to anyone currently relying on the grandparent WhatsApp group to make their working week function.
What is interesting is that almost one in four grandparents surveyed said they weren’t confident recognising the signs and symptoms of allergic rhinitis — aka hay fever — in a child.
And 34 per cent weren’t confident distinguishing childhood hay fever from a common cold.
Which, frankly, I understand.
Because while sneezing, itchy eyes and a runny nose are symptoms many of us would associate with hay fever, the research found families were considerably less likely to recognise things like trouble sleeping and daytime tiredness as possible signs.
Only 31 per cent of parents and grandparents surveyed identified those as possible signs of hay fever.
Enter Zach and Zoe…
Rather than giving families another information leaflet destined for the kitchen drawer, Zyrtec has gone down a much more child-friendly route.
Its new book, Zach and Zoe’s Sneezy Treasure Hunt, follows siblings Zach and Zoe on a treasure hunt at their grandparents’ house.
As they make their way through the adventure, they encounter common allergy triggers, clues and symptoms — essentially sneaking a little education into story time without making it feel educational.
And I actually really like that.
Previous Zyrtec Storytime books have focused predominantly on parents, but this one deliberately brings grandparents into the picture too — something more than half of grandparents surveyed said they’d find useful, with 54 per cent saying family-tailored resources would help them feel more confident recognising and understanding childhood hay fever.
For Bec and Kerry, it’s personal
There’s another lovely layer to having Bec create the book with her mum.
Bec experienced allergies herself as a child, meaning Kerry has already lived through that familiar parental game of cold, tiredness or allergies?
Now, the dynamic has shifted a generation, with Kerry helping Bec care for her own four children.
“As a mum, you become incredibly tuned in to your kids, but it isn’t always obvious what’s behind a runny nose, itchy eyes or a bad night’s sleep,” Bec explains.
“Even having experienced allergies myself as a child, I know how easy it can be to dismiss symptoms as a cold.”
For Kerry, the book reflects something plenty of grandparents will recognise: you want to know enough to notice when something isn’t quite right — and then be able to raise it with Mum or Dad.
“When Bec was growing up, I remember trying to work out whether she was coming down with a cold, feeling tired or dealing with her allergies,” Kerry says.
“It isn’t always obvious, which is why awareness is so important.”
Story time with a purpose
There’s something I particularly like about taking a health-awareness message and putting it into a moment families are already having.
Nobody particularly wants another lecture.
But sitting down with your child — or grandchild — and following two characters around a treasure hunt?
That works.
And if somewhere between finding the next clue and turning the next page, both generations learn a little more about what childhood hay fever can look like, that’s a pretty clever use of story time.
Especially when, as the research demonstrates, even the grown-ups don’t necessarily know all the clues themselves.
Zach and Zoe’s Sneezy Treasure Hunt is available as a free gift with a Zyrtec purchase at Chemist Warehouse, TerryWhite Chemmart and other participating pharmacies until 31 December 2026, or while stocks last. T&Cs and a one-gift-per-person limit apply. Media Release_Zyrtec Storytime_…
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