Above photo a random grab from Google images.
I will start out by saying I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. My Mom is a nurse in a complimentary medicine clinic. I do seek out complimentary medicine whenever possible. I’ve heard from SO many of you who are dealing with the same thing as us, no matter when you live in the country: a persistent, nagging , dry cough. My almost 6 year old Son has had it a solid 2 months straight. My 3 year old Daughter has had it, gotten over it, had it again & kicked it again. I tried so many things in the past few months, and I wanted to share what I feel really helped us finally kick this. There is nothing worse than sleepless nights, sick & crabby kids & parents. As always, do your own research, consult a trusted medical professional with any questions/concerns, and follow your gut for what you feel is right for your family.
This is what worked for us:
Essential Oils: I upped the time I was diffusing essential oils. I diffuse Josiah’s Oils Germ Fighting Blend with Fir (safer around youngin’s): http://www.josiahsoils.com/store/p353/Germ_Fighting_Blend.html. In general I run my diffuser 20 or so minutes 2-3 times/day. I upped that to a good 40-min to an hour, on low/med output, a couple times/day & especially before bed in our room. I use this diffuser, I’m on my 3rd winter with it & can’t say enough good things about it. It’s quiet, adjustable (in terms of output) and has never given me a single issue: http://www.josiahsoils.com/store/p163/Atomizing_Diffuser.html. And finally, I also use their pre-diluted roll-on of the same blend & apply it several times/day to my kids spine. They do it to each other usually, up one side, down the other. http://www.josiahsoils.com/store/p349/Germ_Fighting_Roll-On_Blend_%28Pre-Diluted_and_Ready_to_Use%29.html
Immune boosting. I had been relying on homemade elderberry syrup on & off over the fall months, and I do believe in it (I use Wellness Mama’s recipe). But like anything, our bodies become used to something so I feel making the switch to Echinacea tea was a good one! We love the Traditional Medicinals line. I bought the last pack my food co-op had & it was going to be 2 weeks before they got more so I grabbed a 6pk from Amazon to stay stocked up for winter. I have their Throat Coat, Cold Care assortment too, but my Son who especially needed an extra boost (he’s fighting Lyme’s as well, a topic for another post) really prefers this over all the others: http://amzn.to/2gJw7Uj. As with elderberry, from what I understand it’s best to do a few days on, then a few days off, that goes for most remedies. And that’s what we’ve been doing with the tea. We hit it hard for about 3 days when I really ramped up my efforts on all the things listed here. And then took a couple days off. Now we’re back to a couple cups/day for a few days.
Drosera by Boiron. I picked this up at my food co-op, it is labeled for a dry cough that is worse at night, exactly what we had. It was 30C & I gave 3 pellets every 2 hrs (waking hours) to both kids for 2 days. Here’s an Amazon link, but these actually were a better deal at my food co-op as they had a $2 off coupon if you bought any 2 Boiron remedies. http://amzn.to/2hLL1qP
Chestal syrup: This is something I will not be without again. I picked it up at my food co-op for $13/bottle, not cheap, but it worked so, so well. The adult version has a blend of 5 homeopathic remedies, and does have dosage for children 2+ on it (it has honey so should not be used under 2). There is also a Children’s formula, it has a blend of 9 remedies. My Son disliked the children’s blend because he said it was too sweet, but my daughter loved it so I kept both around & both worked great as needed. There were several nights when I failed to give it before bed because they seemed fine, but when they laid down they started coughing & coughing. After a capful of this, they’d be out the rest of the night. It does have sodium benzoate in it, I wish it did not but it is so beneficial otherwise that I give & recommend it without hesitation. I posted about this in my group page & heard from many, many others who’ve had great luck with it as well! You may be able to find it locally, or it is on Amazon of course: http://amzn.to/2hriIl0http://amzn.to/2hfcm5Nhttp://amzn.to/2hfcm5Nhttp://amzn.to/2hfcm5N
Humidifier! We burn wood & have a very small & tight house. We constantly have a pot of water on the wood stove, and I’m not a fan of the humidifier running constantly. I hadn’t pulled it out for the year yet but once I did, in conjunction with all the above remedies I mentioned, I did feel it helped. Also, getting a good hygrometer can be beneficial too (measures humidity). Dry air can aggravate a cough, and knowing the humidity level in your house helps. This will be our 3rd winter with the following humidifier (we call it our fog machine). Yes, it’s plastic, and made in China, 2 qualities I try to avoid but believe me, for this category there are not many alternatives. It is quiet, very easy to clean, does not leave stuff around it wet & I’ve been very happy with ours! http://amzn.to/2gCZ80E
NAPS! Huge of course. My Son will be 6 in March and has been a very regular napper until the last few months, when we started skipping them most days & going for earlier bed times. Although he’d maintain he was NOT tired, he’d be out within a couple minutes of laying down with me & his Sissy. I knew he needed them!
So, the combo of those things were what finally seemed to kick this cough for our family. Could any 1 remedy alone have worked? Of course. It’s not a controlled study. It’s my life experience & that’s what I share here. I’m sharing in hopes this will help at least 1 other family struggling with kicking this too! Do you have a remedy that has worked well that you’d like to add to this list? Let me know, we can’t have too many options!
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