Home remedies for child sickness such as cough, cold, colic, gas, acidity and many more are as essential as anything else for a parent with babies and small children.Till baby turns one year, it takes time for parents to understand a few things and settle down.
The doctor visits are expected every now and then and we seek advise of experienced aged relatives who may give up a tip or two about our baby.
This is a normal scenario in almost every household unless you have a medicine degree specializing in medicine
Slowly we may come across a few home remedies that is time tested and easy to follow. These home remedies are generally cost effective and the ingredients are mostly available at home or easily available.
Here are a few common home remedies that children might need often.
But do check with your doctor as a safety measure still.
#1.Home remedies for children cough & cold
Home remedies for children cough & cold – Following the below will help a child with common cold and cough and provide a lot of relieve from the discomfort if any.
The child will sleep well, feed well and recover soon in most cases.
If however you feel, you may consult a medical practitioner if any medicines are required.
With my own experience I have seen, this helps the child recover within few days without any medication and there are no side effects.
Honey, lemon and basil leaves ( For 1 year+ Kids)
Take 1/2 cup water and add around 200 grams of properly washed Tulsi or Basil leaves.
Bring this to a boil till water becomes 1/4 of a cup.
Cool down and add a tea spoon of honey and 1/2 a lemon.
Give this concoction to the child throughout the day. Great home remedies for children cough and cold!
Lukewarm water throughout the day and lots of liquid in diet
Give the child warm water throughout the day.
This will help sooth the throat and give some relief from continuous coughing if any.
Along with warm water, soups, juices(not cold) and any form of liquid in diet helps.
Hydration always helps and with frequent liquid intake, the kid will need to use the washroom often.
This helps to remove toxins from the body and also helps in flushing out mucous resulting in faster recovery.
More home remedies for children cough & cold-Blow the nose/use bulb syringe for suction
With cold, the nose usually gets blocked resulting in breathing problems, disturbed sleep and sometimes even wheezing in some children.
One of the most important thing is to keep the nose clean as much possible.
In case the kid is able to blow her nose, get her do it whenever you feel her nose is blocked. If she is not able to blow her nose, a bulb syringe can be used to suck the nasal liquid which is mostly the mucous.This will give her relief.
Using vaporizer or humidifier
Use a humidifier to keep the air around humid and full of moisture. This may help ease the throat irritation and congestion. I have always used a vaporizer for my children. I have noticed a significant improvement after I started using it. The child coughs less and sleep peacefully.
Its a good idea to use one so that the child sleeps well and gets up rejuvenated next morning.
Rest and Sleep
Proper rest and undisturbed sleep helps in recovery of all kind. With cold specially the body becomes tired easily. So do anything that helps baby sleep. Keep calm and peaceful environment in the room with no disturbance. Phone, TV, Music or other gadgets causes disturbance in sleep.
All the above points helps baby sleep well and thus recover well and fast. So keep a calm baby room.
#2 . Home Remedies for Colic, Acidity and Gas in babies
First of all you need to understand when your baby is colic.
Consult a doctor if baby cries almost everyday around the same time, often and does not stop for long and you may not understand why.
In case she is colic you can try the following remedies that are time tested and works well in most cases.
Warm Bath
This is not actually a part of the treatment but to just take a break from the constant crying which may become tiring for the baby as well as the parents.
To get the baby to any further remedial measures, the baby needs to calm down.
A warm bath mostly helps to do this job well.
This will at least sooth the baby for sometime so that you can proceed with the next step of trying to relieve her from the discomfort.
Hing( Asafetida) water – Indian remedy for colicky babies
Make a thick paste like mixture of hing and water and apply around the naval of the baby keeping the paste not to touch the centre naval.
Hing (Asafoetida) is good to reduce gas, irritable bowel and indigestion.
But we cannot directly give hing to babies, so this method generally helps.
This is a time tested Indian method that almost all Indian children have been through and mostly gives results.
After the paste dries up keep it for a while and remove with a wet cotton.
Make little fresh paste every time. You cannot store this effectively.
Apply this whenever you feel baby is becoming irritable with colicky symptoms.
Massage
Massage baby’s tummy area gently in clockwise direction for sometime.
This may ease the bowel movements and might help to release the stuck up gas.
Since babies are mostly on milk throughout the day, gas may be a problem that many face.
But be gentle while you massage. You will know the right pressure for your baby instinctively.
Very light massage may not help and more pressure than required may hurt.
SO be little careful while massaging but this method helps in my experience.
Exercise
Hold both the legs upwards gently and start moving them in cycling motion and every time you do that, it should apply slight pressure on her tummy.
This also helps in releasing gas. In between cycling keep pressing her tummy with her knees gently so that some pressure is applied on her stomach area.
Do this every day few times and you will soon see results.
Baby will release gas and be relieved from discomfort.
Burp
Burp the baby immediately after feed else it could lead to reflux and discomfort resulting in a cranky baby.
Monitor mothers food if breastfeeding
Breastfeed is universally accepted as the best nutritional food for the baby.
But if you see your baby is becoming colicky, you may need to watch your diet.
Spicy or oily food may sometimes cause the baby to have acidity and gas.
Try going on simple food that is easy to digest and does not produce gas for you and then watch your baby if she is becoming any better.
Many times this helps.
Change the bottle
Changing the bottle also helps sometimes.
Bottle fed babies sometimes are not able to latch on to the nipple properly and suck in extra air.
This causes gas and results in stomach pain that becomes chronic over a period of time.
Try changing the bottle and give her a nipple that she can latch on better and avoids air sucking.
Scientifically advanced and well researched bottled are available in the market.
They may be on the costlier side but may help ease the colic pain.
Tummy Time
If baby has grown enough to have tummy time, do not miss.
Lying on their tummy and trying to lift the neck creates optimum pressure on their intestine resulting in release of gas and better bowel movements.
A couple of minutes few times a day can help develop baby skills as well as reduce the colic tendencies.
Home remedies such as these may take time to show results but are the best ways.
Take medical help is required and you can follow these along as they have no side effects and are good for the baby.
Natural gripe water
Consult your pediatrician if you should give gripe water to your baby.
Gripe water consists of natural ingredients that helps with stomach ache in kids.
But be aware to buy a natural one without preservatives and any artificial addetives.
Home remedies for children - boosting immunity
It is a known and scientifically proven fact that we can boost our children’s immunity with the following:
- Natural food and avoid packaged food and maintain timings
- Undisturbed and timely sleeping scedule
- Exercise regularly in the form of play or otherwise
- Avoid pollution as much possible
- Keep hydration level optimum throughout the day
Here are a few things that you can specifically do to improve immunity level of your baby/kid:
Include Gooseberry in diet at least one quarter in the year
Though gooseberry is a wonder fruit, it is the raw taste might not be very appealing to kids in the beginning. You may make small pieces and coat them in sugar syrup and sun dry them.
Give your child a few pieces enough for half a gooseberry each day. Children generally like to have candied gooseberry. Use organic sugar for the syrup.
You can also try boiling gooseberry and mix it with honey and give them.
Some children may like them raw with little bit of salt.
Raw turmeric
Grate some raw turmeric and boil it with milk. Add some honey and let the kids have it twice a day. This is a great immunity booster.
Honey and tulsi during winter or season change
Children and babies (1year +) are prone to cold, cough , allergies and various illness while the season changes and specially when the whether starts getting chilled.
Crush 5/6 holy basil or tulsi leaves and mix half a spoon of organic honey and let your tiny tot have this everyday. This will ensure protection against common cold or cough or allergies and reduce the intensity of illness to a great extent.
Silver Bowl and spoon
Feed babies in silver bowl and spoon. Silver kills pathogen and makes the food free from effects of impurities like fungi or bacteria. This is a huge benefit. You can keep one small bowl and a spoon separately for her and wash it immediately ready to be used the next time.
It boosts immunity and keeps baby out of many types of danger.
Happy Parenting!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are home remedies for coughs for children?
For coughs in kids, a doctor can prescribe medicine. However, you can try some home remedies too. - Honey mixed with lemon and warm water can give relief for a cough. - Herbs like thyme, garlic, basil, etc. can be boiled in hot water and sipped as a tea. - Steam inhalation can be tried with aromatic plants like eucalyptus.
2. Is home remedy good for kids?
Home remedies for children are beneficial because kids cannot always tolerate medicine.
3. What home remedy stops gas trouble in kids?
Home remedies like gargling with salt water and sucking on peppermint lozenges have mostly been found to help.