Isn’t it funny how quickly our kids can get sick? One day they are running around outside & the next day they are sick. With being a working mom with 4 kids, I had to figure out a way to nip these symptoms in the bud so all their illnesses did not take over our lives.
To help our kids get back to their healthy self faster, I want to share some remedies I have used to avoid multiple trips to the Emergency room , Urgent care or doctor’s office. And these tips have prevented a cold getting way worse & possibly a throat or Ear 👂infection. I have done these at home therapies for all my kids for over 20 years and they work! Very rarely have I had to take my kids to the Doctor for anything!
Only 4-5 times did I have to go to the dr. over 20 years because a cough turned into a lower respiratory infection. And then it was because I got lazy and slacked on doing these remedies.
Nip It In The Bud
Does your child ever start getting a plugged nose, runny nose or start a little cough? Maybe its been windy outside or they rolled around in the grass & their allergies ( histamine release ) start acting up. Or they haven’t slept good for a few nights & are run down just on the verge of getting sick.
If so, you need to nip this in the bud and get this under control & prevent it from becoming a full fledged cold, illness or giant respiratory or ear infection. Don’t automatically go to the drugs first. Try this good natural remedy first.
If you hear the sniffles for 1-2 days & it goes away, great. Do nothing. But if it lasts to the 2-3rd day & seems a little worse, it is time to Take Action! Its time to start killing some germs & drying that mucous up.
The dripping mucous drips down the front of their cute little faces. But it also drips backwards down their throat & irritates the Cough Reflex in the back of the throat. This is called the Post Nasal Drip. This causes a little dry cough you hear all day.
This post nasal dripping is very irritating to the mucous membranes of the throat and can lead to a Sore throat if not dried up. Then germs get into that broken inflamed area of the throat and multiply and now your child is opening themselves up to pharyngitis or worse yet Strep throat.
At night to prevent that post nasal drip from hitting that cough reflex in the back of the throat & coughing all night long, have your child sleep on their sides. Not on their backs. While on their side, the drip doesn’t drip backwards and hit the cough reflex but floats down the sides of their throats. They sleep much better too.
Salt Water Rinses Work!
Salt water has been used for many generations to clean wounds and after dental procedures to clean & aid healing. Salt has antibacterial properties as well as preserving properties when applied in abundance to foods. Salt water changes the pH of the mouth, which deters the reproduction of many microorganisms.
Make a little mixture of ½ tsp. Salt dissolved in ½ cup of hot water ( it will cool to warm rather quickly) or ¼ tsp salt to ¼ cup water. Or ¾ to ¾. Just use the same ratio.
Have your child gargle as long as they can 2 times & spit it in the sink. Save some water in the cup.
Dip and Sniff
With the salty water that is left over from gargling, have your child sniff some of this saline water up their nose. Have your child dip their 2 fingers in that water and bring their finger up to their nares. Then have them inhale that little bit of water up their nose.
Dip & sniff 4-6 times up their nose, the deeper the inhaled sniff the better. When they done it 4-6 times and are finished, Let it sit in their as long as possible. Make sure this is done after they eat, drink and brush their teeth so that the salt water can sit on their throat and in their nose & sinus tracts for a while.
This helps irrigate / wash their nose & throat. Have them not drink or eat for 30 minutes. Do this twice a day for 4-5 days. I do it before school & at night before bed & let the salt sit in there all night. Sometimes their nares are a little irritated. If so, I put a little barrier of Vaseline around their nares or Some very mild lotion helps too. I also am a firm believer in Aloe Vera gel to heal skin irritations.
Sometimes this is all it takes. But….
Tips on Medicine
If I caught the congestion too late & its starting to lead to a wet Cough, A combination of Salt water rinses & a few doses of allergy medicine does the trick. Allergy medicine dries the whole body out so make sure they drink lots & lots of water or they will get dehydrated which opens up another can of worms.
Make sure you get an Allergy medicine for children which has these TWO ingredients: an Anti Histamine and a Decongestant. This way you cover both receptors of the mucous production. At this point, we don’t know which receptors are producing the mucous or if both are. So to be sure to stop the production, make sure your medicine has each of these ingredients.
I am very conservative with giving my children drugs / medicine. I do not want their little kidneys and livers having to detoxify all those drugs at such a young age. I feel less is better. This is why I don’t give the dose every single 4-6 hours for days like it says on the package. And I use the bare minimum of ingredients versus the “Multi Symptom” drugs… You don’t need all those ingredients.
Just a few doses may be all they need to get it under control, nip it in the bud and dry up their mucous. Just 2-4 doses spread out over a few days may be all it takes to get ahead of these cold or allergy symptoms. Then stop and reassess.
Then all they made need is just salt water rinses for a few more days without medicine.
If I do give medication, I only give one dose before bed maybe 2 nights in a row and then skip a night. Then I give a dose the next night. Or I give it every other night. Especially if they are in sports & sweating a lot (losing fluids). Make sure they drink Tons of Water!
Through out the year If I see the sniffles returning then I do salt water rinses & give a few doses of medicine if needed and then stop again. I do this through out the year for a few days when needed. This Keeps all their Colds and Allergies under Control all year long. I never give the drug every 4-6 hours for like 5 days… I feel this is waaaaay too much.
During the Cold and Flu season, I have a little tray ( from the dollar store) that holds the ½ measuring cup, the ½ tsp & the salt. Each child has their own plastic cup with their name written on it with a sharpie to prevent cross contamination. It stays in the corner of my kitchen counter. My kids know that it works! They are so use to it that they suggest it every now & then. I do it to myself too.
So, jump on these small symptoms Right Away with Salt Water Rinses & you will have healthier kids and a less stressful Cold and Flu season
