The Sleep Store asked our facebook community for their best remedies for helping little ones when they have a cold, stuffy noses and difficulty feeding and sleeping.
Cough & Cold Remedies
Here's what our Facebook Community recommended
Warm shower before bed, nasla aspirator, bottle and vaporiser in room
The karvol capsules are brilliant for snuffly/blocked noses
Lots of cuddles! :)
Karvol is great for my baby! My preschooler loves vicks on her chest, and lavender in her pillowcase
Saline drops and a nasal aspirator
Vicks on the sole of their feet, on the outside of socks if under 3 months old. Stops coughs.
Vicks Vaporizer and vicks on soles of feet and chest :)
Karvol and vaperisor work great together
I use the vicks baby balsam for my kids on their chests at night (when they are ill). Seems to settle them pretty well.
Olbas oil is great. I just put it on a tissue by her head
Chicken soup plenty of cuddles and paracetamol
Argh had two weeks of bugs with three kids and I use a steamer with eucalyptus oil, though don't know how affective it is as having to resort to medication
(Vicks on the soles of baby's feet) I mentioned this to my partner a long time ago when one of our kids was unwell and he told me I was crazy and said "who told you that rubbish" I had totally forgotten about it till I saw your post and I googled it and apparently it really does work! I wish I had thought of this a few weeks ago when my boy was coughing all night every night for a week! I cant wait to tell my partner that I was right and Im very keen to give it a try!
Vicks in the bath! works a treat. Just no heads under, it's terrible to get out of hair. Oh, and keep up the preventer inhaler!
Cool Mist ultrasonic humidifier and fresh fruit and vegetables from MaMa
My Midwife told me about when my then 5 week old caught a bad viral bug from her brother 3 weeks ago. I swear it worked wonders on her!! Will continue to do this every time they get sick from now on.
Grotty Room Spray! it is fab! (for big & little ones!)
A vaporizer but have ditched the vicks one for one of your ultrasonic ones.Also vicks vaporub on the feet.Our baby has nsal obstruction so has a runny nose a lot of the time so we run a vaporiser quite a lot.
Warm bath, pjs with singlets and sokcs on, baby vicks, and a hot water bottle, blankie and cuddles
Smother feet in vicks and cover with socks, vicks on chest and in bath. Raise mattress a little . Nice warm Bath and warm milk. Cuddles until they fall asleep :o) A Strange yet easy dinner because they tend to be a little fussy.
I found this nasal aspirator to be great for my 3 mth old that has already had bronchitis & cold/flu. Forget the bulb, highly recommend the Nose Frida, no more sticking things up bub's nose & so much more effective at extracting mucus!
Harkers Relief balm on thier feet and a cut onion in there room
Cuddles :)
If your little one has a cough when lying down try cutting an unpeeled onion in half and place beside their bed for the night.
We've used vaporisers in the past but this winter they seemed to make coughs worse!? I remembered that moisture doesn't help asthmatic type coughs (irritates bronchial tubes) so used a dehumidifier in their room instead, set on 55% humidity with a few drops of eucalyptus on a cotton ball poked into vents. Worked really well, dried up nose and stopped the cough.
We lift the head end of teh cot/mattress - seemed to help heaps - loads of cuddles and will tuck away the gem of vicks on the feet for next time. :-)
Sleeping with them
I use the Rawleighs Mentholated Spray in their rooms (if a bad case, spray on the inside of their blankies/cuddlies), raise the head end of their bed, 1/2 teaspoon of a manuka honey for the coughs
Recommended Products
Baby vicks on the chest, and homemade nasal spray up the nose - 1 pint of boiled water, 1/4tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, mix then cool
This winter we have been giving our daughter Comvita Children’s Manuka Honey Elixir (there is a berry flavour too). Touch wood she has been quite healthy this winter - last year had constant broncolitis so this is a nice change. Can only give to 2 years and over thought.
Prayer!
Karvol and vicks combo all the way. Also, for littlies, saline up their noses right before a feed.
Loads of Vicks (front, back and feet with socks on after), propping the bed way up and, I hate to admit this, but we have a "medical dummy", which I have found really useful for easing many coughs without resorting to cough syrups or paracetamol. Mine are nearly 4 and just 5 and find this really comforting when they are feeling low (they had dummies when they were smaller and just having something like that to suck seems to help enormously... and I don't need to worry about them choking!). Also enjoying the KiwiHerb range this winter, with added Weleda echinacea drops. I occasionally resort to a vapouriser, but am not entirely comfortable with the amount of moisture they put into the air. And Ventolin for coughing in the early hours, which my doctor has told me is usually asthma related.
Half an onion in their room... No idea how or why, but even snotty they still sleep well, and nose doesn't run until they leave their room! Add an elevated cot and vicks on their feet and they're good til morning :0)
Karvol on a tissue, works really well
Elevating cot and a thin pillow underneath their fitted sheet.
I found that rubbing garlic on the soles of my bubs feet worked a treat too, to help clear things up. I now also give him echinacea drops daily too.
Weleda cold and flu pilules are great too- especially when taken as soon as first symptoms appear
Getting better! We usually have a bad few nights then when they are on the mend they start to sleep better.
Vapouriser and Kiwiherb cough medicine - can be used from birth
Vicks on feet and chest. Olbas oil on a tissue and saline drops in nose works a treat :)
Oil burner with Eucalyptus (sp?) burning before bed time, Little Fess nose spray, Vicks for babies and Brauer Runny Noses (natural remedy medicine here in Aussie)
We've been doing Vicks on the chest and raised cot mattress, but definitely trying Vicks on the feet and the cut onion in the room, thanks mums :)
Cant rub vicks into a baby under a year or two...i have vapoured the room with it yet my baby is still very snuffly. she also breaths more heavily at night as she has a heart condition. what else can i do shes seven months old now x
Karvol here too! Just like magic
Raising their beds a little, and doing something special - buying a hot water bottle with fluffy cover worked, as did "sneaking into their bedrooms" (at bedtime) with new torches and reading a story by torch light :o)
New era - homeopathic pillules for coughs colds an chestiness. Dissolve 1 tablet on the tounge. Safe and made for children.. I giv kiera ibeprofen an panadol together. An a herbal cough medicine. An i rub her in baby balsam vicks with lavender. Shes asleep. With the same cough.
And just keep fluids up. I let kiera drink powerade when she's sick.
Never knew you couldn't rub baby balsum on her feet, have done that since she was a newborn and I swear by it!!! Am trying a cut onion tonite also. An chamomile tea cold mixd with an apple juice is like a safe herbal valium for anyone at any age. Helps heaps to relieve symptoms of teething also.