Home Remedies for Toddler Cold :(

If she doesn't have a fever I'd skip the tylenol and motrin. for her nose - saline (even if you don't suction, keep it moist). for her throat -honey, just a 1/2 tsp a few times a day. for her aches - steam in a bathroom or give a bath to her. lots of liquds and cuddles. If she really is sore, you could try the motrin. Hope she feels better soon!

Cold'n Cough 4 kids, it is a Hylands product (the people who make teething tabs). it is 100% homeopathic that's what i give my two year old.

Hi M. - isnt it the worst when our little ones are sick?? Cough and cold medications are no longer recommended for young children but a dose of ibuprofen will relieve alot of what is ailing her. It will help with fever and the inflammation in her throat and for headache and body aches. You can repeat the dose after 6 hours.

You can try some honey for her throat and to ease a cough - since she is 2, she is old enough. I usually mix it with some apple juice and warm water since my kids didnt like it plain. A humidifier in her room at night will also help as will steaming her up in the bathroom. (just make sure to wrap her well when you come out so she doesnt get a chill)

I would avoid the Neil Med sinus rinse or neti pot for now because it can put undue pressure on her ears if they are congested too. Some ocean nasal spray will help thin secretions just fine.

If her symptoms worsen, she has labored breathing or spikes a fever, be sure to give your doc a call right away.

I hope that she feels better soon!

Rub Vicks Vapo Rub on the bottoms of her feet at night before bed, then put on socks. I know it sounds absolutely wacky, and I have no idea why or how it works, but it really seems to take care of regular congestion. My kids had a cold last week and after just two nights of this, they barely needed a Kleenex. I have a regular vaporizer with no meds in it running also all the time. But the Vicks is cheap, won't hurt her, and for whatever reason, really seems to work.

If she likes it, peppermint tea with honey in it is so soothing for a sore throat/congested chest as well. And the Vicks on the feet thing really does work great (I was skeptical at first and needed convincing)!

We also use the Neil Med squeeze bottle. But, nothing beats tylenol for the aches.

We do nasal rinses for our whole family. It has drastically cut down on illness. We use the Neil Med squeeze bottle recommended at National Jewish Hospital, but you can get pretty close to it using nasal spray and a bulb syringe. My little people only go for it when sick and they see the value in it. I do it for prevention of allergies and colds for me and my oldest son. Dark honey works for coughs. GL! I know it's not fun.

A bath! That helps my body aches feel better and my congestion breaks up from the moist air.

I'd have to disagree about Tylenol. It does NOT do a thing for me or my kids, besides who wants to mediate every 3 hours? For me, it's Ibuprofen all the way! (Share a little secret: if you gargle 1 t of Ibuprofen in the back of your throat, nothing helps numb your throat better). Drink Emergen-C (my 2 year old loves it). Add Silver Colloidal to it too. Rub vicks on her feet and put socks on at night after giving her Ibuprofen (too bad you can't teach a 2 year old to gargle). Have her drink as much liquid as you can (half water, half juice). BTW, strep throat is going around, so you may want to get her checked for that?? Nothing hurts worse!!

Bundle her up and take her out in the cold for congestion or sit her in the bathroom with the shower as hot as possible. there are some great natural products out there for prevention not cure!

You've already gotten a ton of good advice, so I'll just add that we found a wonderful syrup for cough/sore throat at our natural food store. It's called Chestal - there is a kid's brand and an adult brand, so make sure you get the right one. My 2 year old had a wicked cough for a month, and this was the only stuff that worked (better than the 8-hr Robitussin that I tried). It is honey based and also has homeopathic remedies in it. One thing that I found to be very important was to give it regularly, not as needed. If I gave it to her every 2 hours, it completely controlled her cough. If I gave it to her when she started coughing, it didn't help right away.

Go to your local health foods store and wander around. You should find something good there.

for steaming to break up the congestion turn the shower on as hot as you can and sit with her on the bathroom floor and just let her breath in the vapors. a saline solution for drops to help with draining (its salt and water basically but I like to purchase it, just make sure it is just saline and nothing added) I purchase it because it has the built in nostril thing for squeezing.
hot (warm at this age, but as warm as she can drink it) honey and fresh lemon will help her sore throat. my grandmother used to give this to us when we were sick and I still really like it.
orange juice for the vitamin C, my dad would warm it up I think the only benefit that has really is that it is soothing on a sore throat, it helps to drink either drink with a straw.
also massage her toes, this is the reflexology point on the foot for the sinuses and will help with circulation and drainage.
give her a good multivitamin for kids, keep the liquids coming.
if her drainage turns a bright green you should really take her in to the doctor as it is usually an infection at that point.
if it is an infection and she does need an antibiotic, just make sure to feed her yogurt to help build up good probiotics as well.
good luck, it is no fun when they get sick

I use the book Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child and love it! It offers mulitple remedies for things like colds including: conventional treatment, homeopathic treatments, etc. Also, Vitamin Cottage and Whole Foods have trained staff that can point you in the right direction for your child's specific needs.

Hi M.--
There's a few things you can try. You can find an all natural baby vapo-rub at vitamin cottage that will help clear her nose...just put a little on each side of her nose. The electronic nose sucking thing (I can't remember the name) works much better then the manual ones--they have them at Babies R Us. A hot bath with some peppermint essential oil works great. You can try homeopathy---I recommend alpha CF (also at Vitamin Cottage). You have to give it to her every 15 minutes or so until the symptom start to dissipate and then every couple hours after that. See if she will eat soup or something warm.
Good luck!
J.

I like Hyland's medicines, which I find at WalMart but are available elsewhere. They are medicines that focus on using natural products to help our little one's feel better.

Other than that, nice warm baths and lots of warm liquids will help relieve some of the pain she is experiencing. Maybe you can get her to suck on a throat lozenge that contains zinc, vitamin c and/or echinacea. Those all help strengthen the immune system. Another home cure-all is breastmilk, if it's readily available.

I hope she feels better soon. Have a GREAT weekend!

S.

This seems to work for us: Put a humidifier (warm mist or cool mist. I use a warm mist but you need to make sure that you can keep it out of reach because the water in them gets very hot) in her room for sleeping and a pillow to keep her head raised. for a cough I use a tsp. of honey (buckwheat, I've read,works best).

M., I always give my girl who is also two a tea which has hot water, lemon, and honey. Obviously not too hot and the lemon has lots of Vitamin C and honey for the throat. Also I have a great great book called smart medicine for a healthier child which will provide healing solutions for almost all things children can come down with using herbs, essential oils, accupressure, homeapethy, and will show you what a doctor would give. This book is almost my bible.

Good luck,
B.

Johnson's vapor bath and vicks infant vapor rub on her feet at night will help with the stuffy nose, and also seems to help them sleep. Vaporizer and humidifiers seem to work as well. I don't know you may consider these items medicin, but they are mainly euciliptus and witchazel so if you have those items see if you can find mix on line that would utilize those components. My mom used to have us gargle warm water to help with a soar throat, but I'm not sure if a 3 year old knows how to gargle yet. Popsicles are a good way to sooth and get some fluids down, make them with gator aid/pedilight if you have them on hand.