Each year about this time, I start preparing for the Winter months by making tinctures and elderberry syrup (you can freeze ahead) and other remedies to have on hand in case anyone gets sick.
I keep all of these remedies in my natural medicine cabinet so that everything is organized and ready to use.
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When Mom Gets Sick…
I realized a few years ago when I was the one to come down with the flu that there was one huge hole in my natural remedies plan…
I was the one to get sick this time. When my husband or children are sick, I get out the remedies and administer them on a schedule until they get better.
When I got sick, I was laying in bed and my husband asked…
“What do you need?”
And I responded, “I have no idea.”
When I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t have the energy to get all the remedies myself and I was too tired/sick/brain foggy to be able to explain it all to my husband.
To my husband’s credit, he figured out where to find the remedies and did pretty good with giving them to me on a schedule. With those and lots of herbal tea and bone broth, I recovered quickly, so my first priority was creating a checklist that he (or anyone) could use if I was ever sick or not at home when a child was sick and needed natural remedies.
My Natural Remedies Checklist
If you are the one responsible for providing care when someone in your family gets sick, I’d recommend making a checklist like this for your home so that if you are the one to get sick, you can get the benefit of all the remedies you give to your family.
To make mine, I started by making a list of all of the remedies I had on hand and their purpose, dosage and location. I made this into a checklist spreadsheet of sorts for easy reference. Not only did this make it more convenient for me to use these remedies, it was something I could easily hand off to my husband if I got sick.
When my husband and I were out of town for a conference and our kids were with grandparents, this checklist was helpful for them as well. One of the children had a stomach ache as a reaction to food, and the checklist made it easy for grandparents to find and administer remedies.
Below is the checklist I keep on hand (with links to how to make the remedies) and…
Click here to print my checklist of remedies and dosage.
Remedies Checklist for Common Cold, Flu, or Stomach Bug
- Give herbal teas (iced or hot) as much as possible for hydration and relief of illness symptoms. Peppermint, Chamomile and Nettle are a good combination for most illnesses. Can add fresh lemon juice and honey if desired for children over 1 year. (Here are recipes for all the teas I keep on hand)
- Give elderberry syrup (1 tsp for kids, 1 tbsp for adults) ever 2-3 hours until illness subsides. (How to make it)
- Raw Garlic: For adults, 1 clove of raw, organic garlic minced every few hours. (If pregnant, no more than 1 clove per day)
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Up to 1 teaspoon in a glass of water every few hours during illness.
- Vitamin C powder mixed into water every few hours as needed. Up to 1 teaspoon. (this is the one I use)
- If respiratory: Cough syrup as needed. Make a face steam by boiling 1 inch of water in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon each of rosemary, basil, oregano and thyme. Cover head with towel and breathe in steam to loosen congestion or calm a cough. Diffuse Lavender and Eucalyptus as needed.
- If digestive: Use digestive tincture as needed (up to 30 drops) for relief of nausea, stomach pain or other digestive problems. Diffuse peppermint (for adults and older kids) as needed. Give activated charcoal in capsules or mixed into water as needed.
- If skin problem: Clean well and use herbal salve as needed until better. (Suspect hand, foot, and mouth disease? See this post.)
- Magnesium Bath: Warm/hot bath for body aches, fever and relaxation. Add 1 cup magnesium flakes or epsom salts to bath and soak as long as desired.
- Hot Pack: Use hot rice pack to help with chills, aches or other problems as needed.
What natural remedies do you keep on hand for cold and flu season?
Hi, this is wonderful, thank you so much. Your blog is my go to! Just wondering if there is anything I can use on a 7 month old baby? He has a nasty cold and chesty cough but I know you have to be very careful with babies. Any ideas would be hugely appreciated! Thank you so much, Sophie
Thanks for this! For ear infections, I place warm onion ends over the ears for 5-20 min. And I put homemade plantain salve in the ears (as long as they’re not perforated!) I used to have ear infections 2-3 X a year and need to go on abx. The last few years of doing the onions and plantain salve, my 3 kids and I haven’t had any abx for ear infections! For pneumonia or bronchitis (any cough and fever combo), I make onion poultices (fry up half a chopped onion in a bit of olive oil and place in tea towel) and apply for as long as the child tolerates (at least 30 min). Can use same poultice for about 24 hours. Repeat every few hours. And for influenza, warm onions on the feet over night, with socks on. Truly works!