Cough Combat

The kids got a lot more coughing going on this season for some reason. In the past, I used Elderberry syrup and last year tried making my own cough syrup with honey and lemon. Nothing was truly effective. As I was browsing through the aisle at Target, I came across Hyland’s Cold ‘n Cough and Zarbee’s Naturals Children’s Cough Syrup. I though since my kids are past the infant stage, I could try something a little stronger… although still staying within the boundaries of being “natural”.

Let me just say that I am quite pleased with the two! If my child is only battling a cough, then I reach for Zarbee’s. But when there is a little sniffling or runny nose going on with the cough, then I reach for the Hyland’s. I’m not sure how effective the Hyland’s is in terms of combating a cold, but I will say that my kids have neither developed a fever or anything further then the basic symptoms (runny nose, sneezing, cough). Let’s just say I barely reached for the Tylenol in the past 4 months.

I think that Zarbee’s works really well and quickly. There have been some nights where I can hear my son coughing up a storm! One dose of Zarbee’s and it calms it down enough for him to get a better night’s rest. It’s probably going to be my go-to for the cough for a while (sorry Elderberry).

P.S. When I first tried giving my kids Zarbee’s – it was actually the adult version because that’s what I had in stock at home. I just gave a really small dose – .5ml (my kids are both over 35lbs). Honey Lemon… sounds familiar.

Preparing for cold season

Yikes! Cold season is coming up! Besides the annual flu shots for the kids, I have been stocking our medicine cabinet with the following products for when the kids do get the minor cold. I really do hate giving medicine often, so most of what I use are natural medicines. I’ll keep knocking on wood because when my kids haven’t gotten sick, it’s never lasted more than a couple days – always staying on the minor side. Whew. Who really knows what keeps their immune systems up… could be a number of factors: being breastfed, genetics, healthy diet, or just plain ol’ good luck.

I have come to really like Target’s Up & Up brand. The generic version of the Infant’s Tylenol has actually worked well for my kids. And I like how it dispenses in a syringe – My kids prefer to take their meds this way versus in a spoon.

For that darn cough that takes forever to go away after a cold, I give the kids Elderberry Syrup. It takes some bribing with my 4yo, but my son takes it like a champ. I’ve also alternated that with a homemade cough syrup recipe that I found on Pinterest that uses honey and lemon.

Ahhhh, good ol’ Echinacea for defense. I love this stuff. There is no harm in building up the defense! The kids have no problem taking this one. Sometimes, I just put a drop in the kids breakfast oatmeal, but otherwise, they usually can take it right from the dropper. I don’t actually give this to them on a daily basis or anything – only when it seems like a cold is coming on, or someone else around the house is sick and I’m hoping it doesn’t pass along.

These Sniffles ‘n Sneezes tablets are really easy to give to the kids. Although, I haven’t determined yet if its really effective. I usually use it in combination with the Up & Up generic Tylenol and bundling up the little ones so that they aren’t chilly. However, considering it’s natural, I continue to give it a shot when the kids start a sniffle and sneezing frenzy that isn’t allergy related.

Last but not least, don’t forget your humidifier! Really helps my little ones (and myself) sleep better at night. I love the Crane ones – they are so cute. We have the frog and the owl (not pictured). Hello Kitty was too expensive for my taste. But you can get the filters on Drugstore.come for about $10.

 

Oh – in fact – I buy ALL of these products (except the Up & Up) from Drugstore.com. Can’t beat the prices, especially when Ebates has the 12% cash back days on it. Seriously, if you aren’t online shopping through Ebates right now, you are missing out! Use my referral code dammit: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=d1WP3PcGkOO6zQmkJBydXg%3D%3D

For those restless teething nights….

I can only imagine what it must feel like to have beautiful empty gums… and then BAM! – Teeth start sprouting up. Yikes. The thought of something sharp emerging through the gums, breaking through and then the even wider part pushing up…. how painful is that?!

So I guess we shouldn’t blame our little ones for keeping us up at night during those teething pains… However, we can try to best arm ourselves to maintain our own sanity and rest right?

I was fortunate with V, she went through teething like a champ up until her bigger molars came in at 2yrs old. Back then, I used Orajel teething gel with her… which honestly, I don’t think did much compared to the products I used during round 2 with baby K.

Fast forward a couple years, and add a baby that had a harder time with teething. I was definitely on the hunt for something that worked! This time I used Hyland’s Teething Tablets. Worked great and I loved that it was natural. Fortunately, by time I needed them, new ones were out on the shelf (they had a short recall). I also went browsing online and came across something that I liked even better!! Natrabio Teething Drops! Godsend! Everytime K woke up at all in the middle of the night, it was so easy to reach for the bottle and put a drop in his mouth. I swear that most of the time, he just laid back down and went to sleep. There were times that he might not have even been teething, when I gave him a drop and he just laid right back down again! I don’t know… but it had this amazing instant soothing effect.

My first choice was to reach for the drops, but there were some nights tougher than others, and I would alternate between the tablets and the drops.

Both the Hylands and Natrabio I purchased mostly from http://www.drugstore.com When they had a “green & natural” sale – it was 30% off, so I stocked up… plus accessed the site through www.ebates.com first to get an additional 5-12% cashback. whoooohoooo.

During the daytime, it was much more tolerable and I’d keep my kids busy chomping on teething toys. Both my kids loved the ones that were ice cold (particularly the Munchkin one shaped like a hand – probably because the fingers were small to chomp on).