Advice on Making Childs Cold Shorter

Mix of 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 honey makes a great cough suppressant and cold shortener.

Take one to two spoonfuls.

The link below adds some to the ingredients, but the idea is the same
http://www.livestrong.com/article/117156-honey-vinegar-ho...

Vitamin d and Chiropractic! Works for me and my kids, we get sick less often if we do it regularly and it doesn't last as long if we get adjusted at the beginning. Because the immune system is controlled by the nervous system, which is housed in the spinal cord. All nerves correspond to some bodily function.

zinc tablets, probiotics, elderberry syrup, and run a humidifier in her room at night.

I am sorry to hear about you little one getting colds...its just yucky...when my baby gets a cold I just count to the 15 day mark when I know he will start feeling better!
This is what we do when we get a cold:
-Humidifier (only if the hunidity in the room is less than 45% - we have a small hygrometer from Vicks to measure this)
-twice or thrice a day hot shower steam - extra careful with hot water running...
-every 2-3 hours saline drops in nosy followed by suctioning using manual or electronic aspirator - the manual aspirator they give you at the hospitla works best and we use the graco battery one for running noses. I am assuming you know the right technique to use the aspirator...
-eucalyptus oil drops on a little towel that we hang on the crib rail.
-rub all natural menthol vicks like cream on feet at nigth and put socks on
-avoid bananas - I think these make congestion worse
- if you baby is over 2 - you can do some medication per dr's recommendation.
- if the cold is really bad we do twice a day one squirt per nostril of afrin.

I think all my suggestions are to make the child more comfortable as they battle the cold - not sure if any of these will help the cold actually not last long......you might want to talk to your dr about some immune system strengthening for that.......

humidifier. garlic soup. sage tea. lots of liquids. rest. zinc cough drops.
hard to say whether or not they actually shorten the duration, but they make it more bearable, and will help it not to get actually prolonged.
khairete
S.

humdifiers help with coughs, but all you can do is help the symptoms - a cold has to run its course.

We use ImmunoSpray from PCHF and we use PB8 almost nightly, as well as therapeutic dosages of vitamin A when they star to get symptoms. Our kids get sick maybe once every 3-4 years....not even a runny nose. We also use Herbs for Kids mainly Echinacea/Goldenroot and Echinachea/Astragulus.

We also find that if we get the kids adjusted by our chiropractor at the beginning, it barely will last a day.

We use ColdCalm homeopathic tablets. They dissolve in the mouth -- you have to be consistent with giving them and start from the beginning of the cold, but they work great!

Homemade chicken and rice or noodle soup
Lots of fresh fruits: apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe
Lots of hot baths with menthol
Lots of rest and early bed times
Rub Vicks vapor rub on her feet at night too.
Extra Vitamin C and Echinacea

Sadly, colds are colds and have to run their course. I believe the best thing you can do is to keep them strong and healthy so they don't get sick in the first place. Here's what I do/did for my sons (now 14 and 18)...

1. Healthy diet rich in protein, fruits, veggies and light on junk food.
2. Stay hydrated, water and milk preferred.
3. Get lots of sleep every night.

Kids need a lot more sleep than we realize. We follow the "early to bed, early to rise" concept. My 14 year old is lights out at 8pm and my 18 year old at 10pm. Most of my students (high school) gasp in shock at this and then say, "I wish my parents would make me unplug and go to bed early." My boys sleep as much now as they did as toddlers and I make sure they have schedules that accomodate that (as best as possible, of course).
4. Daily bathing and washing hands after the rest room, before and after handling food, etc. Never underestimate the power of soap and hot water!

I know it seems too simple and too good to be true. Yes, they still get sick but the above usually keeps time out of school down to one or two days.

As for the cough, humidifiers are great but they can get moldy. I have the Vicks menthol pad warmer which puts out a great menthol/eucalyptus smell into the room which works wonders on coughs. On the really tough coughs, Vicks Vapor Rub. For the horrible, I can't sleep coughs, nothing beats Nyquil. The best way to beat a cough is tons of rest and water. I let me kids cough everything up during the day but make sure they have whatever it takes to sleep well at night. No one gets better if they're not rested. I had a vicious cough for 18 months and, really, it only went away when I got an unexpected three months off my after school job. I went home and rested every day and voila! No more cough! Memo to me...

Good luck!

Are you sure it's not allergies? In that case, a humidifier may actually do more harm than good.
Otherwise, for a cold, Airborne for Kids, Zinc lozenges, LOTS of liquids and rest.

Be sure you aren't dealing with allergies, but either way bump up your daughters immune system and get her on some high quality vitamins to help protect her from cold and allergies in the first place, and to help keep bouts of illness shortened when they do occur. I can send you a link if you would like recommendations.

This is what I do for my kid when they get sick:

I do Zicam Spray in thier mouths at the beginning every three hours, or whenever I can.

I give them Briar Rose drops (15 drops) for a 8 and 9 year old (this was from our homeopathic MD, since my kids are not vaccinated, and that is what she gives her gives a few days a week during cold season. It is for the Immune system). When they are sick, she suggests giving that two times a day until the cold subsides. We do it for ourselves too when we are sick.

Also homeopathic for coughs is Lithy Tree (also 15 drops) (when they were 3 years old it was 12 drops of both homeopathic meds). But that may be for coughs that you want to break up and come up, versus just dry coughs.

A teaspoon of honey with some Tumeric on it. Dr. Deepak Chopra had mentioned this on a show once for coughs and I have been doing it. My daughter loves it, my son not so much. I just guessed with the amount of tumeric and give them water to follow it. Once a day.

I also do tea (herbal) with lots of honey and cinnamon (both healthy for the body). This seems to help the cough.

Good luck

I really love Hyland's products and always recommend them. I just started using some of their tablets, called Sniffles and Sneezes. The reviews say that the cold will be shortened and less severe. Also, when my daughter has a cough I always use the Hyland's cough syrup WITH HONEY. I buy it online from drugstore.com. Good luck, I know it is hard, my daughter is 2.5 and goes to daycare only part time and is always bringing home a bug.

You have gotten great responses so far! I would like to add that there may be a possibility this is allergy related (especially since pollen counts are abnormally high this year). If she is getting a cough but no other symptoms, or her nose is only running clear and not green/yellow, then allergies could be the culprit. I am thinking this might be the case with your daughter since it sounds like her cough is reoccurring (if I am reading your post correctly).

Also, when mu son was about 6 months old, he got a really bad cold. Nothing was helping him and the doctor ended up giving him an inhaler for the cough. It made a big difference! Still coughed at night, but not so severe.

Chronic coughing is also a symptom of asthma, so if you can rule out the common cold, I would take her to the doctor to get her checked out for allergies/asthma. Even if it is the common cold, you might want to take her in because it seems like she is getting sick very often. Maybe your pediatrician can help out. Good luck!

It is common for coughs to last much longer than the actual cold. Check with the doctor to make sure your daughter does not have asthma if the cough gets bad. In addition to the other things you are doing, I recommend acupuncture. It saved me when I had a cough that wouldn't go away. Hope this helps.

You didn't say how old so some may not apply. The best things I have found for my kids is Vitamin A. You can get it in liquid form and dilute it I usually do it in sprite as it takes away from the nasty taist. And sometimes I give it to them in pill form. Zinc is good. I have not used it but know I should. Also depending on age either use sailine drops in the nose at least two or three times a day if she's little. Or if she's 5 or older get a nedy pot can be found at walmart and use it. I am not sure a child younger than that would cooperate well enough to use it. But they are wonderful!!!!!!

HOpe that helps good luck and God Bless1

Lots of rest and some sunshine each day. Natural vitamin D from the sun is processed differently than a D supplement in vitamins or mill. The natural vitamin D process will help! Probiotics are also good for the system. Buy one with minimum 2 billion cultures from a a vitamin or health food store. Not the yogurt! I put it in my kids' smoothies. They take it daily.