Naturally Perfect

When it comes to colds, my sweet little Darius turns to the dramatics. Middle of the night coughing fits are aggravated by sucking back boogers so hard he's going to self inflict a nose bleed over the top sniffing, and I'll often be told,"I don't feel really good," when I ask how he's doing.  Now, I'm no doctor, but I AM a Mom who likes to sleep through the night. So, after the past couple of nights of interrupted sleep (and not by the six month old, but by my sweet little three year old) I turned on my thinking cap, and out popped some remedies I could feel good about.

Honey on a cracker, served up at bed time is a natural cough suppressant. Honey is a natural antibacterial agent, and while it soothes a scratchy throat, it also helps fight the infection. Please make sure you are not serving this to a child under twelve months of age though, as there is a perceived risk of botulism in infants.  Feel free to brush your big boys teeth afterwards, but don't let him swallow much in the way of liquids, which may simply wash away the protective coating.

Here's a little bit more about honey: "Honey is also being used as a wound dressing in Australia because of its antimicrobial properties, sometimes working better than topical antibiotics against difficult to treat bacteria."

Second, I have a serious beef with humidifiers (hello bacteria breeding machine spewing particles of mold into the air!) but when a little man is congested, and the air is so dry all you hear is hacking and coughing coming from the room next door. So, what I do is boil some water on the stove, place in a bowl, and set it on a high-ish surface in my main mans room. Problem solved! [Just don't do this step until your boy has gone to sleep so the water is not slashed and sloshed onto the carpet. Oh, and also don't put the water too close to your sleeping angel as accidents can happen...just be careful and use common sense is all I'm saying.]

Lastly, and this one is a no brainer, but still counts - keep your kiddo hydrated. When a throat is already irritated, there's nothing like dehydration to kick that coughing fit into over-drive!

What are your favorite natural remedies?