Natural Cough Remedies for Babies and Toddlers

Since the cold and flu season is upon us, and it seems as if everyone I know is getting sick lately, I feel compelled to post this article regarding natural remedies for your child’s cough or cold. In our household, we try our very best to combat illness with holistic remedies first, before paying our family doctor or pediatrician a visit. However, if our symptoms continually get worse, it’s usually our physician that we turn to. It just so happens that at this very moment, my entire household is fighting a nasty cold the natural way, but here’s what we are doing specifically for our 1 year old daughter who has a runny nose, a cough and is dealing with some minor congestion.

I will address the symptoms below…

Congestion/Stuffy Nose:

1.  If your baby or toddler seems congested, you can take him/her into the bathroom to run a hot shower. Usually, the steam from the hot shower will help to loosen any congestion that may be resting in the lungs. What we do specifically for our daughter when this happens, is to have “playtime” for about a half hour or so in the bathroom, while the steam works it’s magic. You can also deal with congestion this way by placing your child in a warm (but not hot) bath, which can be very effective when you add a few drops of essential oils such as eucalyptus to the warm water. The vapors can sometimes help to clear the nasal passages, allowing your child to breathe easier and without discomfort.

2.  We also run a cool-mist humidifier during naptime and bedtime. By doing so, it usually helps our daughter deal with breathing issues. Note: When using a cool-mist humidifier, follow the cleaning instructions and if your model has a filter, always check it for mold or mildew before running it for any amount of time.

3. If you are a nursing mother, breastmilk has several healing properties, one of which being a excellent and natural way to clear the nasal passages. When my daughter was younger and still nursing, I would usually place just a few drops of breastmilk in each of her nostrils to help clear them, this method usually worked just fine for us. However, now that we’ve reached the toddler stage and I’m no longer nursing, I have resorted to using saline drops or spray to help loosen dried mucus before I suction them out. I have found the website www.kellymom.com to be a wealth of information regarding the benefits of breastmilk over the course of your nursing experience. There are even some great articles about continuing to breastfeed while your infant is sick. I highly recommend that you check them out.

4. Never underestimate the power of Vick’s Vapor Rub. I buy the one formulated specially for babies called Vick’s Baby Rub which is supposedly the safer version to use vs. the regular formulation, which excludes some of the main ingredients such as menthol and instead opts for eucalyptus and rosemary oils. The Pediatricians involved in a study released by the Wake Forest University of Medicine (NC), warned that the ingredients in the original formulation of Vick’s Vapor Rub could potentially turn out to be harmful for young children and babies. So, better safe than sorry, right? Usually before bedtime, I  put a generous amount of Baby Rub on the soles of my daughter’s feet and cover with socks. (However, I would always check with your pediatrician first, before applying any sort of over the counter medication or remedy to your child)

Source: CBC News 2009

Cough:

1.  It’s important that your child stays hydrated. If you are nursing, it’s definitely best to just keep nursing, more so maybe than usual. Breastmilk is essentially the best medicine for a sick infant. However, if your child is past the nursing stage, make sure that they stay hydrated with either water or even watered-down juices. I personally mix about 2 parts water per 1 part organic apple juice for my daughter and she seems to love that mixture!

2.  You can even make your own homemade, but natural cough syrup. I’ve personally mixed this concoction below and it seems to really help my daughter when she has a mild cough.

Natural Cough Syrup Recipe: (For children over the age of 1 only):

1 oz. lukewarm water

1 tsp. Organic Lemon Juice

1 tsp. Raw, Unfiltered and Unprocessed Organic Honey

*Mix all of the above ingredients and drink mixture twice daily until cough subsides*

 

3.  And…Last but not least, getting enough sleep is absolutely crucial to feeling better sooner! I try and lay my daughter down for a nap at least twice a day when she’s not feeling well, even if that means that I have to lay next to her in order for her to stay calm enough to actually sleep. Remember: Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep!

So, that concludes my personal remedies for treating a child who has a cough or cold. Now, I understand that everyone may have their own personal methods, even if that means immediately treating illness with medication prescribed by their pediatricians. I am in no way disgracing the value of a good doctor, but I do believe that it absolutely cannot hurt to give natural remedies a try, allowing the body to recover naturally and in it’s own time frame. Thanks for listening and good luck to you in your treatment methods, whatever they may be!