Hey fellow parents, We are leaving Kenya in late July, and the hardest part is saying goodbye to our sons’...
Home Remedies to Prevent Cough and Cold
If you’ve had several kids, you can always tell the cold is coming, but deep down hope your instincts are wrong. The cough always signals the start, a bit of runny nose then the fever creeps up on you. One minute they are ok and the next they are mumbling away in their sleep, then bam!-their temperature shoots up like a rocket!
You go into full doctor mode peeling the clothes off their backs while administering a dose of paracetamol then dash to join the endless queues at your favourite hospital paediatrics (I’ll play nice and not mention names here) that is also filled with dozens of sleep-deprived red-eyed parents with their little ones in tow.
Why is it that colds and coughs pick the eeriest of night hours when sleep is deepest and sweetest to infect your kids-right? If you are in the same situation as we are then folks in your house are passing around a cold-like some never-ending relay race!
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Then there is obviously a stash of cough syrups from every pharmaceutical manufacturer you can think of, some formulated from natural compounds that you have never heard of and perhaps one or two that you can tell are expired, judging from the weird colour, smell and consistency of the medicine.
Anyways enough of my ranting, like it or not cold season is here with us mums and dads! and just like always, we have to toughen up and hold it together! Fortunately we have a couple of hacks that can help you out.
Natural Cough and Cold Remedies
To first-time parents reading this, it does get better with time and to help we thought we could share a few tips and some of the preventative home remedies that have helped us with our toddlers and pre-schoolers. These include easy, do it yourself hacks that any parent can do at home.
1. Always have your kids brush their teeth before they go to bed and as they rinse gargle warm water mixed with salt. This one is the simplest and easiest habit to install.
2. A mixture of ginger, honey, fresh orange juice and garlic (optional) approximately 5-10 ml of the mixture (Dawa) everyday will help strengthen their immune system.
3. Hand hygiene is important, regularly wash their hands with soap and water, this not only kills viruses from infected surfaces they have come to contact with but also gets rid of other harmful bacteria.
4. A warm glass of milk mixed with turmeric and honey every night before bed boosts their immunity.
5. Avoid regularly feeding your kids the sweet stuff, especially candy, sweets, and chocolates including ice cream as they may lead to cough and throat infection. This together with cold drinks is a bad combination.
6. Mask up where possible. This may be hard to police but try, we all know how those birthday parties and any other social get-togethers for kids can be super-spreaders!
7. Where possible, get the flu vaccines. This is best guided by your paediatrician or local family clinic and hospital.
8. Most important-if cold or cough or flu symptoms persist CONSULT A DOCTOR!
There you have it! I must say the list is not exhaustive, these preventative remedies have kept us going through our endless bouts of cold and cough attacks, we hope that they also help you mums and dads!
Let us know in the comment section below some of the remedies that work for you.
