Do you feel like the wintertime sicknesses are inevitable? When one child is sick, do you dread the domino effect - how everyone else is just going to be struck with the same bug, one by one, too? That was our family a few years ago, and with each sickness that one of our three kids would bring home from school or playgroup, I would simply resign myself to the fact that the next few weeks would be filled with kids with runny noses, tummy aches, and missed school days. Two years ago, however, that all changed. How? Well, I simply got tired of the whole family getting bogged down with minor illnesses and decided to take matters into my own hands. There were too many other more fun and more important things to be spending our time doing to get sick, after all!
So now you may be wondering what our secrets to success at avoiding illnesses in the winter, and year round, for that matter? After all, our family has only had one cold so far this winter, and only had one or two colds and one or two days of missed school last year, which, in my opinion, a very good track record. In years prior to last winter, we regularly had 4 to 5 colds cycle through the household and at least 2 stomach bugs, which is why I wanted to share this with you. So what is it that is working for us? Since I have never been one to use a lot of over the counter medications, as I find that they work some of the time, but other times, they simply help with or mask a few of the symptoms, but no one actually gets better faster. We also prefer to try to treat our kids at home before going to the doctor, as doing so takes time, loading up all of the kids in the car, waiting for the doctor, and then you have to pay the copay, buy the medicine…you know the drill. For these exact reasons, essential oils, homeopathy, vitamins, and herbal and home remedies that are inexpensive and readily available, as well as a good hearty dose of preventative measures, have been our favored approach. Let me share with you our tools for healthy families, winter, spring, summer and fall:
Preventative tools: When it comes to preventative measure, we turn to three main things - essential oils, vitamins, and a good household surface disinfectant that is all natural and safe to use around our kids. We have two essential oil diffusers like this one that are used in the main rooms in the house, our kitchen and great room, and then one to use in our youngest’s bedroom every night for better sleep. When someone else in the family isn’t feeling well, I move one of the diffusers into their room overnight. In the main living area, I run our diffuser at least three times daily, typically using an immune support essential oil combination like this, along with lavender, tea tree oil, lemon, peppermint, eucalyptus, or a stress blend to calm our busy crew! The surface disinfectant is a natural one like this that we use around the house, but mainly in the kitchen, which is the hub of our household. We make sure to wipe down counters and tables daily, and light switches, door knobs and appliance handles both in the kitchen and in our main powder room once or twice a week. We also all make sure to take multivitamins, probiotics, vitamin C, and vitamin D3 daily seasonally, which you can read more about in an upcoming blog, get enough exercise and outdoor time, and as much sleep as possible with 3 busy kids!
Essential oils: What about when someone is starting to come down with something, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or a stomach ache, which tend to be the most common complaints? That’s when I will find an oil or combination of oils that suits their symptoms, and adding it to the diffuser along with the immune boosting blend mentioned above. Most often for cold symptoms, I will add a respiratory blend, or create one of my own using peppermint, eucalyptus, or Olbas oils in combination. If someone has a stomach ache, we make sure to add peppermint oil, and no matter what the complaint is, I often add a calming or stress blend or simply use lavender and/or chamomile and which are both very calming. Additionally, if your children are over the age of 3, you can rub the immunity blend or peppermint oil for stomach aches and headaches on their feet, belly, or temples and back of neck depending on their complaint. For younger children, some of the safest oils to use are lavender, chamomile and tea tree oil, which can be used on their feel, though I recommend a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut, grape seed, or even olive oil, which you may already have on hand, or one like this for children under three. Anyone can use a carrier oil for skin application, and it is recommended for some types of oils, so always do your research when trying new oils!
Natural remedies and vitamins – Another great option for when someone in your family is starting to come down with something, or if they are already not feeling well, is to use homeopathy, herbal remedies, or vitamins to help them to stay healthy or get healthy more quickly. These are one of my favorite tools simply because I can have some trusted remedies already on hand and give them to our family when they need them. I find that this is key because so often they start to feel sick in the afternoon after school or close to bedtime when no one wants to run out of the house to get medicine! At the first sign of any cold symptoms, such as a runny nose, I will often use an herbal immune system blend like this, followed but a blend for cold symptoms like this, to help them have some symptom relief. Next, we always use Zicam rapid melts (for kids over the age of 3), as this simple remedy shortens the length of our colds by over half, which means we all feel better faster, and often only one of two of us get the cold rather than the whole house! If someone has a stomach ache, I turn to the homeopathic remedy call nux vomica, because it most often simply takes care of the complaint with one or two doses (we take 2 of the easy to dissolve pellets or tablets every 15—30 minutes, as needed). If that doesn’t work, it can sometimes means they may be coming down with the flu, so I watch their temperature, use the essential oils mentioned above, and use a flu combination remedy like this. If a fever accompanies any sickness, our go-to remedy is called Oscillococinum (Oscillo for short). This homeopathic remedy comes in tubes of pellets, and for younger children age 2 and older, I give them a half a tube every 6 hours, and for older children and adults, a full tube every 6 hours until the fever breaks and subsides. Homeopathy tends to be very user friendly for kids, as the pellets or tablets dissolve easily, and it is nearly impossible to use them incorrectly or to use too much, because the remedies help the body to heal itself, which means the remedy helps if your body needs it, but does no harm if it doesn’t. If you would like to learn more about homeopathy, here’s a great article that describes how it helps your body to heal itself. These remedies have been trusted and relied upon by families in Europe for over 200 years, and I have personally used them for myself and my family for over 18 years, so I know personally how well they work!
Hopefully these tips for helping your family to stay healthier this winter and year round have been helpful, as a healthy, happy family makes everything for all of us busy moms and parents better. Using these simple, affordable tools, I have more peace of mind knowing that if anyone in our family comes down with a sickness, I have something on hand to help them to feel better and recover much more quickly. Here’s to a healthier rest of 2017 for you and your family!
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