Hello everyone! I have been battling with trying to keep my little family healthy. I know I’m not alone in this so I thought I would share some of my findings with all of the home remedies I found on Pinterest.
I have tried just about all of them and only a handful of them gave me any results at all… some of the results were very short term and in my opinion not worth it for my kids to feel icky again in a few mins.
So in my household we try to stay away from prescription and over the counter medicines. We like to go the all natural homeopathic way.
Since my daughter started Kindergarten we haven’t been able to all be 100% well in our household. I also babysit my 3 year old niece during the week so she gets added in the mix poor girl.
Well long story short I am always looking for little sick hacks to help my little family feel better.
Some of the things that I have tried even if I have thought some are too crazy to work…I have tried them just to be sure. I didn’t want to just assume.
There are a few that everyone has heard of:
Lemon and Honey Tea
Vicks Vaporub (I use The Honest Company Brand)
Cool Mist Humidifier (I use my diffuser since it is so big It works the same)
Those are the basics.
What I have tried:
All of the above obviously…
Black Elderberry Pills (adults that can swallow pills)
Elderberry Gummies(for kids)
A slice of onion on the feet with socks on while you sleep
A slice of potato on the feet with socks on while you sleep
Diffuser with Eucalyptus or Thieves essential oils in it
Pineapple or Pineapple juice to help cough
Marshmallows for sore throat
Spoonful of Raw Honey (natural cough syrup)(No honey for babies under a year old because of the risk of Botulism)
Pressing tongue to the roof of your mouth and finger between your eyebrows for 20 seconds
Detox Bath With Eucalyptus and/or Thieves Essential Oils and Epsom Salts
Ok Now down to the Details….
My Personal Favorites Are the Lemon and Honey Tea, The Diffuser with Eucalyptus in it, And The Vaporub. These 3 are tried and true work well for me and my family. They don’t make us well in 5 seconds but I feel better with these remedies. The lemon and Honey Tea helps my throat not be so sore and the warmth of the tea feels soothing on my throat. I always seem to be able to breath a little better after drinking some. The diffuser at night while we sleep with the Eucalyptus in it lets me and the kids get more sleep there is less coughing through the night. And The Real MVP here I truly believe in is to put the Vaporub on the bottoms of my kids’ feet at night with socks on, and I add some to there chest and back. They sleep so soundly with this it is truly amazing how well this works!
So for the other nitty gritties I tried some did work for us but I had a hard time with some of them because of my kids.
The Elderberry pills and gummies are supposed to be taken if someone around you is sick ( if you have been exposed) or right when you start feeling like you make be getting sick. I started taking these when my son developed his cough. I would take them with breakfast and with dinner. My Best Friend swears by them. But Unfortunately a week Later… I am sick with what my son had. So I’m not sure how i feel about these. I have been doing some research and I think I might try to make my won Elderberry Syrup from Scratch and that might be more Effective.
The Slice of Onion or Potato on the feet at night with socks on. A lot of people swear that this works and what is supposed to happen is with the slice on your feet while you sleep it is supposed to draw out all the toxins from your body and in the morning it is supposed to be black. We tried both of these on separate nights and the onion just became wilty(just like the one i left out in the room just so I knew it wasn’t just from sitting out overnight) and the onion was pretty similar just wilty looking. No black on either of them. Another mom from my daughters school told me about these and said that when she used it on her kids they turned black. To each there own.
My Diffuser which i have linked the exact one that I use. I fill it with water to the fill line and add out 12 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil to the Water. I face it where the steam goes directly on the one of us that needs it. I see a definite improvement on how my kids breath and how much coughing happens at night with it on. I used thieves 2 times before the Eucalyptus but I ran out of thieves and my husband told me that the thieves was too strong of a smell for him to sleep with. I recommend the thieves more for a warm bath.
I read on Pinterest about Pineapple or Pineapple Juice being a natural way to help with sore throat and cough. Both of my kids love Pineapple so I bought a fresh one from Costco and cut it up. I didn’t see a huge difference in there coughs to be honest but they ate the Pineapple up 🙂
Now for the Marshmallows helping with sore throats. This one i doubted but after reading more about it I decided to try it with the kids. I just gave them a large Marshmallow that I had in my cupboard leftover from our smores night we had. The powder coating on the outside of the marshmallow helped to coat my kids’ throats and It was easy to get them to eat. It didn’t last too long and if they drank water it went away. So its more of a temporary fix.
The spoonful of Honey is good even if you arent sick. I give it to myself and my kids(Not for kids under 1 year old because of the risk of botulism) for allergies. I found a 3 pack of Raw Honey at Costco in the organic section. The Honey seems to act as a Natural Syrup but needs to be taken a couple times a day.
Ok so this really worked for me. I read on Pinterest about pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth and placing your thumb between your eyebrows and applying pressure for 20 seconds and It will release your stuffed up swollen sinuses. It worked when i did it. Instant relief! I had the worst sinus headache from being so swollen yesterday and this helped a lot.
Apple Cider Vinegar…..I definitely have a love hate relationship with this stuff….The way that I take it is a spoonful straight. I usually chase it with something because it burns and tastes soooo gross. A lot of people add it to water with lemon and honey but I don’t like to drag out the icky taste and to me the lemon and honey doesn’t cover up the horrid taste…but this stuff WORKS! I can be horribly sick one day and the next be perfectly fine after taking this 2-3 times a day. I just have to muster up the courage to take it. I had a horrible sinus infection and instead of going to the doctors and getting antibiotics I took apple cider vinegar 2 times in 2 days and my sinus infection was gone!!! So if you are brave enough it is worth it. I don’t advise giving it to your kids. Take it first and you will understand lol.
Detox bath. i think this is a combination of the essential oils with the Epsom salts and the steam in the bathroom. My son needed some steam fro his breathing and this is what the advise nurse advised us to do. I had some thieves essential oil still and added about 3-4 drops while the tub was filling with warm water. The Epsom salts detox your body pulling out toxins, the essential oils help with his breathing as does the steam. Its a win win. My son loves baths too so i gave him a couple of toys and we hung-out in the bathroom for a lil while.
Alright so what do you think?
Is there something that you have tried that works?
Id love to try some of your ideas.
Day By Day SAHM 