5 natural home remedies for sick children

If it’s tough to be sick as an adult, it’s even worse for our children when they catch colds and the flu.

Headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, fever and cough, or stomach flu. It’s easy to feel miserable and worn out when you’re little, and as an adult, you naturally want to ease and help your child in the best way possible.

Here are some natural and completely toxin-free life hacks you can use when your child gets sick!

1. Serve organic super honey water with ginger

Honey is a fantastic food with many good qualities. It contains minerals and vitamins as well as antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals.

Honey has antibacterial effects as well as mucus-loosening and cough-suppressing properties. That’s why honey is great to eat when you have a cold.

Recipe for honey water:

• About 325 ml water
• 1 tsp organic honey, unpasteurized (note that children under 1 year should not eat honey)
• 1 tsp fresh organic ginger

Instructions:

1. Boil about 325 ml water in a kettle or saucepan.
2. Let the water cool to about 38 degrees Celsius and add about 1 tsp organic honey (honey should not be heated above 38 degrees Celsius as it loses its beneficial properties).
3. Press about 1 tsp fresh ginger through a garlic press into the water.
4. Stir in the mug or shake the bottle.

Adjust the recipe according to the child's age and size. This amount of Super Honey Water is suitable for children between about 1-3 years old.

It can often be hard to get children to drink water and fluids when they have a fever or a cold, and this honey water can be a lifesaver because it tastes good thanks to the honey.

2. Fight off the sore throat by gargling with saltwater

Having a sore throat is really unpleasant. It burns, stings, and feels like you've swallowed sandpaper. A sore throat can make it difficult to swallow both liquids and food, which is so important to get when you're sick.

Help your child soothe their sore throat with a completely natural and homemade remedy: saltwater gargling! The recipe is super simple and contains only two ingredients that most people have at home.

Children can usually learn to gargle around 4 years old. A smart tip is to teach the child to gargle with plain water before letting them gargle with something that should be spat out.

Let the child gargle with a sip of warm water and teach them to always spit it out. Once the child knows how to do it, you can move on to saltwater gargling.

Recipe for salt gargle water:

• about 2.5 dl warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Instructions:

1. Teach the child to gargle with plain warm water first.
2. Boil about 2.5 dl of water in a pot or kettle.
3. Pour warm water into a cup and stir in the salt.
4. Make sure the salt water is at a comfortable temperature for your child and not too hot to avoid burning.
5. Have the child gargle with the salt water for about 30 seconds, then spit it out. Feel free to gargle several times until the cup’s contents are finished.
6. Remember to stir the cup constantly so the salt doesn’t settle at the bottom.

Gargle with salt water as needed, up to 3-4 times a day. Most people feel relief immediately.

3. Try the onion trick for cough

Yellow onion is also a fantastic food with many beneficial properties. Onion contains sulfur compounds that can help fight mucus and promote the expulsion of mucus from your airways during colds.

Onion is considered by many to be the most powerful natural antibiotic, capable of fighting both viral and bacterial infections as well as relieving cough. Onion has traditionally been used against cough for hundreds of years.

When your child has a cough, you can try the onion trick overnight to ease coughing fits or why not make your own homemade cough medicine?!

Recipe for the onion trick (cough relief at night):

• 1 organic yellow onion
• Bowl or deep plate
• Warm water (optional)

Instructions:

1. Peel the onion.
2. Cut the onion into slices or wedges.
3. Place the onion on the nightstand next to the bed or on the floor beside the bed.
4. If you want, you can pour warm water over the onion so it’s almost covered. Experiment and see what works best for you.
5. Let the onion sit in the bedroom overnight so it can soothe the cough.

Recipe for onion syrup (homemade cough medicine):

• 2 organic yellow onions
• 10 tablespoons organic honey (note that children under 1 year should not eat honey)
• Juice from 1 organic lemon
• Glass jar

Instructions:

1. Peel and roughly chop the yellow onion and put it into the glass jar.
2. Mix the honey with the lemon juice, pour the mixture over the onion.
3. Screw the lid onto the jar and let it sit in a warm place for about 24 hours.
4. Strain the mixture into a new clean airtight jar and store in the refrigerator (should keep for about 1-2 weeks).
5. Take 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of syrup 2-4 times a day for cough.

Onion syrup is an old-fashioned remedy for cough that our ancestors used a lot. However, the onion syrup can have a strong taste for both kids and adults, and a useful tip is to hold your nose while taking it. That way, you don’t taste it as much! 😉 The lemon juice also makes the taste more bearable.

4. Load up on Vitamin C

Vitamin C has long been praised for its health benefits when you have a cold or the flu, and most of us have probably heard that we should load up on vitamin C when we are sick.

However, the body does not produce its own vitamin C, so we must get it through our diet. The question is how to get this important vitamin to our children?

Here are some tips:

• Make a smoothie with frozen banana slices, blackcurrants, strawberries, plant milk, and add Pink Pitaya Powder, which is rich in vitamin C, B vitamins, fiber, and minerals.
• If the child can swallow a capsule, Dr Mercola’s Liposomal Vitamin C is great. Suitable for all children from 4 years and up. For those who can’t swallow capsules, MaryRuth’s Vitamin C Liquid Drops are also suitable for children from 4 years and up.
• Make homemade rosehip soup with organic rosehip powder.
• Slice yellow and red bell peppers and eat them as they are!

5. Rehydrate the body with plain water!

Children’s bodies can easily become dehydrated during colds, high fever, or stomach flu. Keep in mind that your child may need to drink extra water during illness. Plain water works very well, and you should avoid juice, soft drinks, and other beverages with high sugar content as they can cause mucus in the throat.

If the child has vomited or lost a lot of fluids, you can use a homemade sugar-free rehydration solution with honey.

So how do you get the child to drink fluids? Here are some tips!

• Let the child drink with a straw.
• Give the child a water bottle they can carry with them or keep by the bed. With an insulated water bottle, the water stays cold and fresh for a long time!
• Freeze ice cubes and fill the water glass. All children love ice cubes!
• Flavor the water with squeezed lemon, orange, or another fruit the child likes.
• Make ice pops with water and berries.

Recipe for homemade, sugar-free rehydration solution with honey

• 1/2 tablespoon Himalayan salt
• 1 liter water
• 2 tablespoons organic honey (note that children under 1 year should not eat honey)
• Juice from 1 organic lemon

Instructions:

1. Heat water and salt in a saucepan.
2. Let the mixture cool to about 38 degrees and add about 2 tablespoons of honey (honey should not be heated above 38 degrees as it loses its beneficial properties) and the lemon juice.
3. Stir and pour into a glass jar, chill, and serve.
4. Store in the fridge. The rehydration solution will then last about 3 days.

Last but not least! Children need lots of closeness and love when they are sick. Take the time to cuddle with your child, read a book, play a game, and give them plenty of daddy and mommy time!

Please leave a comment with your best lifehack for sick children so we can learn from each other!