Fighting a Cold- the Natural Way

I feel like my house has been a sick house for the last week or so. Pip came down with a head cold last Thursday night, and we have had a hard time shaking it! This didn’t surprise me, because I just stopped breastfeeding last week- I kind of expected it. When I saw that the slight fever, runny nose, and watery eyes was not teething, I had a little freak out moment. I ran to the grocery store and bought some Vicks Baby Rub and even some Triaminic. I know, Triaminic is only for ages 6 and up, but I was so scared of it getting bad! When I asked the pharmacist what to do, he pretty much said there was nothing to give a 6 month old except for a spoonful of honey. HONEY!?! Umm, all of my research says DO NOT EVER give honey to a child under 12 months old because it can cause Botulism! Needless to say, we will not be visiting that pharmacy anymore!

So, I bought the Triaminic because I knew that if I was going to give my child anything over the counter, I wanted to be sure it would at least be effective. My husband freaked out about it and did a ton of research. He did come across a few articles of moms giving a very small dosage to infants with no side effects. He wanted me to try other things first. Fine!

That night we did Baby Rub on her feet, chest and near her ears, I cleared her nose with the bulb syringe (snot sucker), and started her humidifier with some eucalyptus oil in it. **SIDE NOTE** You can use a carrier oil with essential oils, such as eucalyptus, instead of Baby Rub. We also gave her Hyland’s tiny cold tablets, which she thinks are candy. I also busted out more frozen breast milk than I usually give her, in attempt to build her immune system a bit more. She was fighting a slight fever, so I knew that her body was trying to rid itself of the virus. She also pooped about 5 times in a 24 hour period- another sign! I could hear her breathing through a stuffy nose, but she seemed to be sleeping fine. I, on the other hand, did not go to bed until 1 am! I kept checking on her, and apparently it’s really difficult to sleep when your infant is sick. She woke up once at 5 am to eat, at which point I added more cold tablets to her milk and sucked out her snotty nose. I freaked out a little at that point when her cough was much heavier than it had ever been, and I gave her some Triaminic! A normal dosage is 10mL for a 6 year old, and I gave her under 2mL. As I sat there with my coughing baby, images of going to the hospital because of Pertussis or RSV ran through my mind. That’s why I gave in- it seemed the lesser of two evils. I needed her cough controlled just enough so I could get to the morning and avoid the emergency room. Then I laid back in bed, unable to sleep, researching if the medicine would cause her to stop breathing. Oh the joys of a first time parent...

When she woke up around 10am (yay!), nothing had changed. The Baby Rub did seem to calm her cough, but she still had a runny nose and watery eyes. Seeing this, I ditched the Triaminic and went to work on the natural remedies I knew. I made my own saline solution since I had not been to the store. 8 ounces of warm water with about ¼ tsp salt. Let salt dissolve and let water cool. Then using the snot sucker, I just dropped (don’t squeeze!) a few drops of the water into her nostrils or right below them. As soon as they hit her face, she sucked in with her nose! Perfect. This solution cleared her almost instantly! The website said that you can then clear out her nose after about 30 seconds (with the sucker), but I didn’t even have to. And she never seemed to mind it. I did this every time she woke up and right before she went down again to make sure she was clear. Re-make this solution every 24 hours so it is fresh and does not grow mold. Keep in a glass container, and I kept mine on the counter- I didn’t want to put cold water in her nose!

Next I would give her more cold tablets (let her eat them or in her bottle), and then feed her. I always gave her the saline before I fed her so her nose was clear for breathing. The we took a warm bath. I made the water hotter than normal because she handled it just fine and it seemed to feel good. She was acting like her normal self in the tub! I let her play for about 20 minutes since she seemed so good. I added a little bit of eucalyptus to her bath water (just a few drops, especially if you will be washing her with that water), and I used the saline in the bathtub too- less mess! More Baby Rub on her feet under socks, and across her chest. Keep baby warm, because their body needs to be warm to fight the virus- even if it makes them sweat a bit (only when she laid on me or cried).

We did this process through the entire day. At night, my mom brought over some garlic oil for me because I had run out. Before bed, I used a knife to pierce the capsule and I rubbed the oil all over the bottoms of her feet and then put her socks on. We did this often when we were kids and not feeling well. It doesn’t smell pleasant, but IT WORKS! I did this instead of Baby Rub, just to experiment. That night, she slept 9 hours straight, and after a 6am wake up to eat, she slept again until 10am! The bottom of babies feet absorbs thing straight into their bloodstream, so it is so good to put garlic, eucalyptus, or thieves oil on them to fight illness.**SIDE NOTE** You can create your own garlic oil mixture with these instructions.

The next day we did the same thing, but replacing Baby Rub with garlic oil. We also stayed home- no need to expose her to more allergens or sickness. I turned on her humidifier for every nap and kept her door closed to allow the room to stay moist. We are now 4 days out, and she is almost completely better! She still has a crusty nose, but it’s not as runny. I haven’t used the saline today, because she seems to breathe just fine.

My husband kept saying “we need to take our vitamin C” because he was afraid of getting sick. I was naive enough to say “No, this is a baby cold. It won't affect us!”. WRONG. My husband now has the worst cold I have ever seen, and he can’t seem to shake it. So, for now, my evenings are filled with double work for two sickies. Two humidifiers, two doses of cold fighting herbs, warm water baths/showers, and so on. Just hoping that I can dodge this one (yeah right!).

And lastly, when the cold has left your home, be sure to air out all rooms, lysol the air, and wash all sheets, blankets, toys, etc. that the sick ones have come into contact with. Last night I took apart her swing and car seat to wash the fabric and scrubbed her toys with hot soapy water. This morning I stripped our bed, her crib, opened the windows and turned on all the fans. Get that sickness out of the house! Good luck fighting your colds!