What can you do when your child comes down with a cold or the flu?
Try these gentle, effective, and safe home remedies.
1)
Honey (12 months and up) How it helpsHoney coats and soothes the throat and helps tame a cough.
In a study conducted by Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, parents of 105 children ages 2 to 18 rated honey helpful and better than cough syrup for treating children's nighttime coughs.
What you needHoney, available at any grocery store.
Honey often gets hard at room temperature. To soften it, spoon some into a container and heat it briefly in a microwave or boil some water and then set the honey jar in the very hot water for five or ten minutes.
Your child must be at least a year old to try this remedy.
How to use it
If your child is 1 to 5 years old, give him 1/2 teaspoon of honey. If he's between 6 and 11 years old, give him 1 teaspoon.
Some people mix their honey with hot water and add a squeeze of lemon, which provides a little vitamin C along with the soothing honey.
Because honey is a sticky sweet, it's important for you or your child to brush his teeth after he takes it, especially if you give it to him at bedtime.
CautionsDon't give honey to a child before his first birthday. It can cause a rare and sometimes fatal illness called infant botulism. Find out more.
2) A neti pot (4 years and up)How it helpsA neti pot flushes a mild saline solution through the nasal passages, moisturizing the area and thinning, loosening, and rinsing away mucus. Think of it as nasal irrigation.
According to a report published in 2008, researchers in Europe studied 390 children ages 6 to 10 and found that a nasal spray made from seawater relieved cold symptoms faster than standard cold medications. It's not certain whether the salt water simply helps clear the mucus or if trace elements in the water are beneficial. But other scientists who studied the effectiveness of saline nasal wash solutions also found benefits.
What you needA neti pot, which looks like a very small watering can or teapot and is typically ceramic or metal.You can buy neti pots at drugstores, natural food stores, and online.
You'll also need a cooperative child. Your child must be old enough and willing to go along with the procedure, which isn't painful but does feel strange at first. It's definitely not for babies or young toddlers, and older children (and adults) might not go for it. Some people think it's neat, while others are grossed out.
How to use itBy tilting your child's head sideways over the sink and placing the spout of the pot in the top nostril, you can run water through the nasal passages to clean and moisturize them. This takes a little trial and error, but it's easy once you get the hang of it.
Try practicing on yourself before teaching your child to use a neti pot. Then let your child watch you use it. And finally, help him if he's up for it.
Here's the basic method:Fill the pot with the warm saline solution.
Bending over a sink, tilt your head to one side and place the spout of the pot deep in the top nostril. The water will flow gently through the nasal cavity and out the other nostril. (Breath through your mouth while rinsing.)
Repeat on the other side.
It may be easiest to practice with your child in the tub or shower.
CautionsDon't force a child who's not interested. This needs to be a very gentle procedure, to prevent both traumatizing him and damaging his nasal passages if he struggles
Toy drum isn't enough for him and no one can stop Hyzyd from trying the real drum! His dad gave in to his demand one Sunday afternoon to play the real drum coz he won't stop crying around and pointing to the drum set's direction. Oh, whatta boy!
He mastered his walking skill at Rajyindee Hospital's aisle . He loved to walk down the aisle everytime we visited my sis-in-law who gave birth last October 27, 2009. Don't you know that he was the "apple of the nurses' eyes" at that time?...LOL!
