A couple of weeks ago we finally got over a cold. By we I mean my toddler and I. I am the 'smart' mom that takes her baby and husband out sledding during the season's first blizzard. First the sniffles and runny nose, none stop mind you. Wiping a toddler's nose every thirty seconds is not fun, as any mom will attest. As I recovered more or less, her runny nose turned into a cough, a deep chest cough. Wanting to avoid bronchitis, a sinus infection, or anything along those lines, I delved into finding natural treatments to get rid of this nastiness without drugs.
Here are some things that worked for us to drive this cold away before any lasting damage.
- Daily dose of Vitamin D3 at 2,000 IUs for toddler, 4,000 IUs for me (that's actually a modest amount to take when sick). For baby E I would just puncture the gel tab and squeeze it in with her syrup/honey.
- Echinacea & Goldenseal whole plant supplement. I just took the capsule, but for my toddler I opened the capsule and emptied 1/3 the contents into a 1/2 teaspoon of honey and mixed it.
- The remedy that I think had the most punch specifically for the chest cough is two cloves of lightly boiled garlic (if you're making it for a baby, about 1 minute, better raw for adults), with one tablespoon raw honey, and one table spoon fresh squeezed lemon juice. This amount was enough for the two of us. Bonus: the baby loved it. Just make sure not to give honey to infants under one.
- Honey Gardens Elderberry Syrup: at the recommendation of our holistic pediatrician, we also gave her this for general immune system support.
- Boiron Children's Chestal Honey Cough Syrup: I can't say this was as good as garlic with honey and lemon, but it works well when you get the first symptoms, not so much for us in our case.
- Humidifier in our bedroom.
I always want to try just one or two remedies at a time to see what really works well - but when the baby is actually sick, which is rare, I just want her to get better faster! No time for experiments when it actually happens. At least a toddler can more or less tell you what hurts and where. I always remind myself that being sick is good and necessary, it is like exercise for our immune system. Another plus - it makes you really appreciate the times you are healthy!
What cough, cold, and/or flu remedies are your favorite?
If you haven't yet, check out numbers 1 through 22 of our Glimpse into Eco-Babyz:
DISCLAIMER: ARTICLES ARE NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL ADVICE AND ARE BASED ON OPINION. consult your doctor if you need medical attention.
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Right on time for this post. My baby is sick and have this nasty cough. The only thing that I've tried is eucalyptus oil robbed onto chest and back and a few drops into a candle diffuser. Thanks for the info, I'll definitely try the garlic.
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