I have an 8 month old right now, and she had her first cold – stuffy nose, some coughing in the morning and occasionally waking up crying mid-night from what I perceived as her experiencing pain – after we had a long journey from the US to Istanbul last August. She was about 4.5 months. I was so sad to see my poor baby ill, but there had to be a first time. Thankfully she recovered just fine. So I want to share a couple of things I did to help her overcome her cold and also some simple remedies from my own childhood for common ailments that kids experience, such as sore throat, wet cough and congestion.
For my little one, I made sure she got lots of rest. I nursed her as frequently as possible. I gave her massages using olive oil, and maybe a dab of eucalyptus essential oil on her chest combined with olive oil to help with her congestion, and some calming camomile tea before bed (just 3-4 tablespoons). I would sometimes put a couple of dabs of eucalyptus essential oil on our pillow that she’d be sleeping on too. This is another option if you don’t feel comfortable using essential oils on your little one directly.
When a child complains of a sore throat, it’s best to do something about it as soon as possible. The first thing you could do is combine some good quality honey with black seed (Nigella sativa) oil (1:1), or give your child a teaspoon of just black seed oil if they don’t mind the taste. If you don’t have black seed oil, then just give them some good quality honey. Even better, add about 1/4 tsp of powdered ginger, cinnamon and/or marshmallow root to 1 tbsp of honey. Give that a good mix and take a tsp every other hour or so.
Another remedy is to chop up one medium yellow onion, drizzle some honey over it, and cover it for about half an hour until the onion releases its juice. Take a tsp of the juice every other hour. This is helpful with coughs too. If one has a wet cough with mucus or is experiencing congestion, it is best to reduce dairy intake as dairy can increase mucus production. A wonderful warming ginger tea with honey and lemon is relieving. You could also prepare thyme & peppermint tea. For a dry cough, I would suggest using herbs that are mucilaginous (containing mucilage which is soothing in dry conditions) such as cinnamon, marshmallow root, and mullein. Ginger, thyme and peppermint are helpful with tummy aches or nausea as well. I remember my mom would always give us a quarter of a Turkish tea cup of thyme hydrosol whenever we complained of nausea or a tummy ache. It worked, but it either made the nausea or aching go away on its own if we were lucky or it caused us to throw up almost immediately and so I hated it because who likes throwing up?
For ear aches, again, black seed oil is my go-to remedy. Rub some into your ears and cover your ears with a cotton ball (make sure it’s not super small so that it goes disappearing into your ear). Another remedy is to drip a few drops of onion juice into the ear. You could do this by wetting a cotton ball with some onion juice (from either grated onions or chopped up onion that has released some juice over time) and gently squeezing the bud over the ear and allowing a few drops to enter the ear canal.
Always encourage rest during recovery and keep consistent with whatever remedy you decide to go with.
Disclaimer: This content is not intended to substitute medical advice. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to apply this information. This information is provided solely for educational purposes.
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