It’s that time of the year – cold and flu time – and we’ve had a couple bugs make their way through our house in the last month. Baritone and I have young children, and when babies/toddlers are sick of course you want to make them comfortable, but there aren’t a lot of medicines on the market that can safely be administered to children under 2…or even under 4 or under 6. Even if there were, we like to go as natural as we can and let their bodies fight things as much as possible so they can build up their immune systems. This doesn’t mean we don’t give them medicine when they need it – far, far from it! It just means we try to avoid prescription/chemical medicines if it’s safe and possible, and instead we try natural remedies first to see if they’ll do the trick.
Below are some natural cold remedies safe for young children, ones we have found effective. Please know that I am not a doctor or a nurse, and you should always read product labels and consult your pediatrician if you have questions or concerns when trying a product.
Honey
Honey is a fantastic natural antibiotic and sore throat / cough soother! Not just any honey will do – you need raw, unpasturized honey (and local if possible – local raw honey also helps with allergies!). Just a spoon or so works wonders for a raw, irritated throat. (You should see my kids come running when I call out, “Who needs some honey for their throat!?” 🙂 ) A tablespoon of raw honey can be added to some warm lemon water and put in a sippy cup for sick little ones to drink. Note: honey should not be given to children under the age of 1.
Hyland’s
We keep a variety of Hyland’s products in the vitamin/medicine cabinet. For cold/flu symptom relief, they make a daytime and a nighttime syrup that can be given to children 2 and older. 
Personally I have found that for the nighttime syrup one dose is usually not enough to relieve symptoms. I give the sick child one dose before bedtime (and it helps somewhat but it doesn’t stop the coughing 100%) and then I have to give another dose a couple hours later. That usually kicks in and the child stops coughing…for a few hours at least. After about 4 hours though it wears off and I wake up hearing the child coughing again, and I have to get up and give them the next dose. As most parents of young children know, there are not many cough syrups on the market that are safe for children under 6, and there are even fewer that are safe for children under 4 and under 2. This has been one of the more effective ones we’ve discovered…but read on for something even better!
Maty’s Baby Chest Rub
This stuff is almost a miracle in a jar! I recently discovered this baby chest rub, and, honestly, it has been the one product I will never again be without. This product has let our children sleep through the night without coughing! I was honestly amazed the first night I tried this on our kids. I rubbed it on the bottoms of their feet (then put socks on their feet) and I also rubbed it their chests and necks – even on our 8 month old – and most of them slept through the night without waking up coughing! It has a very strong (but not too unpleasant) smell…that might be the only drawback…but it’s worth it because it is so effective! It can be used on babies 3 months and older, and I even used it on our 4 year old with excellent results.
For the most effective results…
Try combining all three of these products! When I put a sick baby to bed I want them to get the best night sleep possible (hey yeah I want to sleep too!) – so I will often give them honey, a dose of Hyland’s night cough and cold syrup, and then I’ll rub their chest and feet with the chest rub.
Have you tried any of these products and had good results? What are some of your favorite natural cold remedies for children?