7 Simple Home Remedies For Your Child’s Flu
Travelling with kids is both enjoyable and risky (especially when it comes to their health). Most kids often fall ill while on travel and all the enjoyment and fun comes crashing down for both your child and yourself.
One common problem that occurs to my son 9 out of 10 times while travelling is the ‘common cold’ accompanied with a cough and lots of sneezes – dressed up as influenza or flu.
On the latest travel that I went on (in December 2015), I carried with me lots of homeopathic medicines for flu as I believe and have experienced that if homeopathic medicines are given to the child on seeing the first symptoms of flu, then nothing’s more effective than them. But when my son welcomed the day with sneezes and passed the night with cough – I knew that the stage to give homeopathy and wait for it to show its miracles was gone!
Since I was in a new city, the point of looking for a doctor and trusting him for bringing good health to my child was baseless. In such a case, all I could rely on was – home remedies.
Simple Home remedies For Your Child’s Flu prove really effective in bringing relief to your child’s sore throat and gives her better sleep at night.
Here are 7 Simple Home Remedies For Your Child’s Flu:
Warm Water: No matter what age your child is, sipping on warm water through out the day will be extremely effective. This will give relief to her throat, help cut down on the infection, will increase the fluid levels in her body which will in turn help to flush out her cold (not literally) faster. Increased intake of fluids also thins down nasal secretions thus bringing quicker relief.
Honey: Honey is something most mothers and grandmothers swear by. It is an excellent antiseptic and is great for treating cough and cold when mixed with water. Simply mixing a spoonful of honey in a glass of water and give it to your child every now and then to sip on. Honey is said to have a hot tendency and thus tames cough better. Do remember, to not give honey to your child if he’s less than a year old.
Garlic: If possible, make your child have one clove of garlic (raw) and make sure he chews it properly before swallowing. It is an excellent germ fighter and cuts down the infection rapidly. If your child is too young and hasn’t yet started solids then you can even make a short necklace of garlic cloves and put it around your baby’s neck.
Jaggery (Gud): Jaggery or Gud is commonly found in most Indian kitchens and is very effective when it comes to sore throats. You could make bite size balls of jaggery and store them in a box in your kid’s room. These jaggery balls act like cough lozenges. Whenever your child experiences excessive coughing or pain in the throat, ask her to suck on to one of these balls. Teach her how to keep them in the mouth without swallowing them and how to keep sucking the juice. This will soothe her throat by clearing it and easing the pain.
Tulsi (Basil): Tulsi is found in all Indian backyards and is really worth worshiping owing to its medicinal qualities. All elderly women rely on the medicinal properties of Tulsi and always suggest Tulsi juice for flu. Take 8-10 fresh Tulsi leaves and wash them thoroughly. Crush them in a mortar and pestle and extract a few drops of juice from the same. Give these drops of Tulsi juice to your child and see the magic!
Homemade Lozenges: Mix black pepper powder, turmeric (haldi) and jaggery (gud) in a proportion of 1:2:3. Blend them well and form small bite sized balls or lozenges. Once prepared, the child should consume these within a day and you can make fresh balls each day. The antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties of the lozenges can cure the common cold in a relatively short time.
Haldi Waala Doodh (Turmeric Milk): Boil a cup of milk and add a pinch of turmeric to it. Add jaggery (gud) in place of sugar and bring it to a boil once again. Bring this to a drinkable temperature and feed this to your child for soothing her throat pain and relieving her of her cold.
Apart from making use of these home remedies, it is best to keep your kid well covered at all times and maintain adequate hygiene through out the day. Washing hands properly and frequently as well as wearing clean clothes at all times top the list.
Apart from the warmth that the above listed simple home remedies can provide, the warmth of a mother’s love is the best and the fastest healer of your child’s common cold and flu.
