If you have a young brood at home, chances are you’re going to need to fight off ailments at some point. While most of these are acute and short lived, the odd one does require a visit to the doctor.

However, antibiotics and medication are prescribed less often today because of antibiotic resistance. There have been instances we saw the doctor and she told us to go home and rest, continue the remedies we were using, and let my kiddo fight it off over the next few days (advice I greatly appreciated). Always go to the doctor if symptoms are serious, but for more minor child ailments, take a look at these home remedies that could be beneficial!

Ear Ache

Nearly every child will have an earache at some point-some are more prone than others. This can range from a mild dull ache with few other symptoms, to the ear being painful to the touch, hot and red, and accompanied by a fever and tiredness. Consider a honey and lemon warm water mixture if accompanied by a sore throat and ensure that your little rests. Seeing a doctor for tinnitus may be necessary; you can learn more about that here. Some olive oil drops may be prescribed. (We like using Wally’s Naturals.) We have found relief from ear aches using diluted Thieves and Purification essential oils on a cotton ball around the outside of the ear.

Common Cold

Colds can be picked up throughout the year, but particularly at the start of the school year and in the winter. We homeschool and the first week all the public school kids were back to school, we ended up with 2 colds in our home (germs are shared everywhere!). If your little returns home from church, the store, or school with a sore throat and congestion, make sure they get plenty of rest. A hot water bottle taken to bed can relieve chills and aches, along with a little homeopathy remedy like Cold Calm. We also like taking elderberry syrup.

For a sore throat, we love our homemade cough medicine, but an ice cold Vitamin C smoothie can offer relief when it hurts to swallow food. Our kids love my homemade smoothies (strawberries, ice, milk of your choice, baobab powder, and a dash of vanilla, maybe a little stevia).

A soup made from warm bone broth, with plenty of tender veggies to boost your little one’s immune system is a great dinner (or any meal). We like to drink it from a mason jar when we are fighting illness. It is a good immune supporter, and helps coat the gut (where most of our immune system lives) so we can get well faster. not to mention it is full of collagen and minerals!

Hayfever

In our home, hayfever is very real-there have been times when my son and I couldn’t breathe at all through our noses because of hayfever. If your child has a runny or swollen nose, is sneezing and has itchy eyes, hayfever can be to blame. Encourage them to stay hydrated, and try an allergy remedy like Borion’s Histaminum Hydrochloricum 6C.

My mother in law read changing the pillow case helps prevent laying and sleeping in the same pollen over and over-so changing pillowcases frequently, or rinsing off every night before bed in the shower (which may be difficult with very young ones). Also, a hypoallergenic pillowcase can be a good preventative. 

Being a parent is tough job- especially if your child is struggling with their health. Children tend to go through a period where they come down with every bug going around-and other times they’re healthy no matter what they come in contact with.

Try these home remedies at the onset of a rundown immune system.

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