Something has been going around in my family the last few weeks and unfortunately my 3 year old got it. It’s never fun to have a sick child, but it’s a lot easier when you have tools on hand to help.
I remember as a new mom I would call my sister every time my son got sick (okay I still do). She has 4 kids of her own and a lot of experience to draw from! It’s nice to have someone who can walk you through what to do and what to look for.
In case you don’t have a holistically-minded sister to call right now, let me be the one to walk you through what you might want to consider the next time you have a sick toddler.
First, some things I try to always remember:
- There are many good ways to do this. This is a mantra I came up with a few years back to help me in my perfectionist moments. When I think I have to do something the right way or I will mess everything up, it’s simply not true. This is especially the case when caring for sick little ones! There are SO MANY different things you can do to help support their immune system. Usually there are even multiple different ways to do the same thing. If you try something that doesn’t work, try it in a different way, or try something else! There are many good ways to do it.
- Sickness is evidence of the body’s immune system kicking into gear and working towards healing. We don’t need to fear it, but we also don’t want to be part of the problem. The body knows how to heal and naturally does what it can to get back to health!
Now that we have our foundation set, here are a couple things I do the moment my child shows signs of illness:
Check their diet
When an illness is coming on, I immediately cut out inflammatory and mucus forming foods to the best of my ability. Fortunately, my toddler is not a picky eater. I have also been doing this his entire life, so at this point he’s used to it. He now tells me when he’s sick that he can’t be eating a bunch of cheese and milk.
I mainly avoid treats and processed sugars (but eating plenty of fruit is great) as well as dairy products. I focus on whole foods, fruit and veggies, fresh smoothies, fresh juices, whole grains, etc. If he is given a treat from someone else, we save it to eat “when he gets better.”
Make sure bowels are moving
Constipation is not your friend, especially when you’re sick! You need to be eliminating properly every day to get rid of all that junk. This is true of anyone, including toddlers. If he is not pooping sufficiently everyday, I’ll give him an herbal tincture to help.
Garlic poultice
See my post from last week about how to do a garlic poultice! My toddler had a slightly weird voice by the end of the day one day and that very night I did the garlic poultice because I knew his immune system was ramping up to fight something. The garlic poultice is great for really any kind of illness because it supports the immune system and fights bacteria and viruses. I do this at the first sign of illness and then continue to do it every night until the worst of it subsides.
After this, there are many things you can try as the illness takes its course. Here are the things I did with my toddler during his most recent illness. For context, his symptoms were a barky cough, fever, boogers, chest and sinus congestion.
Nebulizer
I am new to the nebulizer! I recently started using one for the first time for asthma and it’s helped me a lot. When my son started wheezing and having breathing problems, I thought, “Hey, maybe the nebulizer would help him, too?” I’m so glad we gave it a try because it worked great.
I have a child-sized mask that we attached for him to use. In the medicine container, I poured just straight silver and that’s it. We turned the nebulizer on and read some Christmas books to keep him entertained and pass the time. He said it was “annoying”, but he didn’t cry and agreed to do it every time I suggested it. I noticed he would sleep a lot better on the days we did it before bed.
Onion poultice
Here’s another thing that I can tell really helped with the chest congestion and coughing. I also have a blog post all about how to do an onion poultice, so check that out for more specific instructions. Basically, you cut up an onion, steam it for a couple minutes, then wrap it in a paper towel and place it directly on the chest when it’s not too hot to touch. It’s a great way to draw out congestion and also boost the immune system.
The downside is your child and their bedroom smells like onions. And when they also have the garlic poultice on their feet at the same time… it’s pretty strong. But you gotta do what you gotta do! It won’t last forever – that’s what I remind myself.
Humidifier
We keep a humidifier going in his room each night when he’s sick to help him breathe better.
Diffuser
We also had a diffuser going each night. For the first few nights we used a drop of echinacea oil in it, which can help with breathing. I wasn’t sure how well it was helping, so after that we tried several nights with just a drop of on guard in the water. On guard is good for supporting the immune system, and I think it smells great.
Essential oil roller for fever
After a couple days of coughing, he came down with a fever just before bed. We did all our normal healing routine, but added an essential oil blend I have in a roller bottle specifically for fevers. It has:
- 6 drops Hawaiian Sandalwood
- 8 drops Melaleuca (Tea Tree)
- 1 drop HD Clear (doTerra blend)
- 3 drops Rosemary
- 5 drops Basil
- 3 drops Lavender
- …all added to a 1 oz. carrier oil (such as fractionated coconut oil)
I rolled this onto his forehead, back of his neck, feet, behind his ears, and down his spine.
Fever/Flu tincture
A couple years ago my mom, sister, and I made a bunch of herbal tinctures for various ailments. One is called Fever/Flu. It has lemon balm, peppermint, white pine bark, boneset, echinacea, and elderflower in a glycerin and water base.
Each time my son woke up that night I checked his temperature and saw it was gradually rising. Around 1:45 a.m. I gave him a teaspoon of the Fever/Flu tincture (I didn’t think about it or I would’ve given it to him before bed when his fever first showed). Around 6 a.m. he woke again and his fever was a little higher, so I gave him another teaspoon of the Fever/Flu tincture. He woke for the day around 8 with a reduced fever and by 9 a.m. he was at regular temperature and feeling great.
If he still had a fever in the morning, I would have continued to give him a bit of the fever tincture every hour or so as well as use the fever oil roll on every couple hours. I would have given him a warm bath and offered some herbal tea to sip on. Keeping him hydrated would be a priority.
Other herbal tinctures
I’d highly recommend giving your baby tinctures early on (after 6 months of age, of course) so they are always used to taking them! That way when they get sick as toddlers, taking a tincture is no big deal. You’re able to give their immune system a lot of great, natural support without having to jump straight to Tylenol every time. There are plenty of great options out there, but I’ve been using the Dr. Christopher “Kid-e-___” line with my son since he was little. They have a generic vitamin and mineral one that I give him on a regular basis when he’s healthy, mainly to keep him in the accepting tinctures mindset. They have many different ones for various ailments. One is called “Kid-e-Well” or the “Winter formula” and it is great for support during these yucky winter illnesses.
They have one called “Super Garlic Immune” that is not part of the Kid-e line, but kids are still able to take it. The main difference is it’s not very tasty.
For a couple days I had my timer set to go off every 30 min. to one hour and I would alternate between Kid-e-Well and Super Garlic Immune each time the timer went off. When it was the Super Garlic Immune turn, he would just have his water ready with him so he could rinse it down and not have to deal with the yucky flavor very long.
With herbal remedies, you take them often! You can’t overdo it in the same way you can with medications.
Congestion ointment
While we were making the tinctures, we also made some ointments, including a congestion ointment. This one has brigham tea, cinnamon, eucalyptus, horehound, lobelia, and parsley, all in a beeswax base.
I would put it on his chest and behind his ears during the day. After several nights of onion and garlic poulticing, he was doing much better, so I switched to simply rubbing the congestion ointment on his chest, back, and feet right before bed.
Honey fermented garlic
This is another thing I’m newer to. My friend gifted me a jar of garlic cloves she had fermented in honey last year and I finally pulled it out to try during all the sickness last month. The cloves have been fermenting for at least a year so they are nice and mild and slightly sweet. You can just eat them straight! I gave one to my toddler. He wasn’t a fan, I think mostly because he chewed it for too long instead of just getting to the point and swallowing it down. But he did swallow it! So there’s another option for supporting the immune system.
That’s it! That’s all we’ve done this go round and he’s doing great. He’s back to sleeping through the night and things are pretty normal. Still has a bit of a cough, but overall, he’s good to go.
There are plenty of other good things I could’ve done, such as vitamin C, elderberry, pineapple juice, salt cave, etc. Like I said, there are many good ways to do this!
Just remember, you have options. You don’t have to jump straight to medication if you want to try a few other things first. The body is amazing and capable of healing. It’s going to work out!
Related blog posts:
Garlic Poultices are Great – Qest4
How to Make an Onion Poultice – Qest4
