Home Remedies For Kids

What do you do when your baby has fever or stomachache, a bad cough, or stuffy nose? Home remedies are a worthy option for your baby’s developing immune systems. They’re natural and safe, and will alleviate the symptoms as well as medicines. After all, they’ve been tested by generations of moms who did the best for their babies. Be sure to tell your pediatrician about all home remedies you have tried or are considering for your child. In the meanwhile, here are some tried-and-true methods for treating common infant and child ailments with home remedies:

DIAPER RASH:

Diaper rash is a form of inflammation of the skin or dermatitis of buttocks, thighs and folds of skin.

It is a cutaneous eruption or skin eruption leading to inflammation and irritation. This occurs in babies and toddlers who are yet to come out of the diaper phase.

PRECAUTIONS:

• Do not put the diapers on round the clock. Observe their wet cycles and keep them without diapers for a few hours so that their delicate skin breathes.
• Keep on checking the diapers; wet and soiled diapers are rich breeding ground for germs that lead to skin infections.
• Every time you change the diaper, use wet wipes to clean the skin. Also use ample baby dusting powder.
• If you are using cloth diapers, wash them in warm water with mild detergent powder. Harsh soaps and detergents irritate the tender skin. Use a few drops of Dettol for final rinsing.
• Whether the diaper is wet / soiled or not, you must change it every four hours.
• Check the skin / skin fold every day while giving bath to the little one.
• If you doubt that particular diaper is not suitable for your baby’s skin, opt for another brand of diapers.

REMEDIES:

• Apply Olive oil to the affected area but do not massage.
• If the rash is bad, you may use cotton ball dipped in Olive oil and apply it gently over the skin.
• Use Corn Starch powder on dry skin. (Do not use Oil and Corn powder together please!).
• Apply Coconut oil or Sunflower oil on the diaper rashes and keep the area uncovered for some time. This will help in reducing the further growth of bacteria.
• You can apply fresh Aloe Vera gel over the rashes while giving bath.
• Add one teaspoonful of baking soda (Sodium Bi carbonate) to a bucketful of warm water. It soothes the inflamed skin. Allow the toddler sit in this water i.e. when you use baby tubs for bathing them.

COLIC / GAS TROUBLE

Colic is a painful spasm of an alimentary canal ( digestive tract) or is caused due to gas formation in stomach. Most of the parents can identify this condition when the baby starts crying and becomes inconsolable.

CAUSES:

Usually this condition is due to indigestion, improper digestion, food allergies, worms in the stomach / intestine, over feeding, poor diet of a nursing mother.

Nursing mothers have to be very careful about their diet.

• Avoid eating gas-forming foods like Cabbage, Beans, Legumes and Pulses.
• Include Asafoetida and Garlic in diet.
• Eat at regular intervals.
• Drink warm water with half Lemon and a pinch of Salt after meals.

HOME REMEDIES:

• Place a warm water bag / bottle on the baby’s abdomen gives instant relief. Do not keep directly on the skin.
• Set the baby in motion by rocking him gently in your hands, to give some relief.
• Boil a glass of water with half tea spoon of Ajwain seeds. Cool the mixture, strain and give one teaspoon of this every two hours to the baby. This is a substitute for commercially prepared gripe water.
• If the baby is on external milk supplements like powdered milk or cow’s milk, the milk protein may be heavy for digestion, so either temporarily stop the feeds or feed the baby diluted milk.
• Take a leaf of Ajwain or a Beetle leaf, apply Coconut oil on it, hold the leaf over a gentle flame of candle or oil lamp for 10 seconds, put it on the baby’s abdomen near the navel area, it will give an instant relief if there is a gas trap.

If the above remedies fail to work, please consult a qualified Pediatrician.

COMMON COLD AND COUGH:

Common cold & cough are the most common in children.

CAUSES:

• Acute viral infection of the mucous membranes of a nose and throat.
• Often it involves the sinuses.
• Cough is generally a response to some irritating condition such as inflammation or the presence of mucus in the respiratory tract.
• Cough can also occur as an infection or allergy to heavy dust or pollutant particles in air or tobacco smoke around (passive smoking).
• Common cold and cough generally affect a child’s food intake, sleep, and energy levels.
• It also occurs if anybody else in the family (specially the mother) is suffering from cold and cough.
• Children tend to become irritable and cranky, as they cannot express verbally what is happening to them.

HOME REMEDIES:

• Warm up Almond oil. Gently massage this oil over the child’s chest for about 5 minutes. Repeat the same on the upper portion of the back. The massage should be given just before you put your child to sleep with warm clothing. Do not subject the child to cool or cold surrounding after the massage. Make sure fans and air conditioners are switched off. This simple treatment will soothe the child and will keep the cough away and will also help in getting a good undisturbed sleep. Instead of Almond oil, you may use warm Coconut oil or even Sesame oil.
• Peel about 5 to 6 cloves of Garlic, very lightly warm them on a hot pan (tava) for 30 seconds. Prepare a necklace of the 6 cloves of garlic using a normal thread and needle. Put the same around the child’s neck when he/she is sleeping. The pungent smell of garlic will decongest the chest and give relief.
• Reduce the intake of Milk; avoid Grapes, Bananas and Tomatoes if you are a nursing mother. Don’t feed them to your toddler.

Add 2-3 drops of Fresh Ginger juice to half tea spoon of Honey, and give it to the child 2 to 3 times a day. Always make sure to use processed and refined honey to avoid the risk of Botulism that is common when you use raw and un-processed Honey.