Cold and Flu season - Soothing a Sick Child.

My son is like the Energizer bunny.  If the whole house is down with a cold, he will still be playing most of the time.  Friday, I received the dreaded call that he was sick and when I picked him up he was sobbing, really out of character, and burning up.  He came home and asked to go to sleep.  Woah! What? I mean this virus or whatever it is broke our Energizer Bunny. Batten down the hatches.  It's going to be a long weekend! 

Whenever the kids are sick, I do all the typical things.  Give them medicine to manage the fever, push the fluids, popsicles are a must. I keep low sugar Gatorade on hand and get them all set up in a cozy nest on the couch where I can keep an eye on them.  Also, plenty of snuggles and some low-key entertainment help take their mind off feeling so crummy.  

As Dr. Mom you always wish you could do more to sooth their discomfort.  Here are a few little tools of the trade I find really helpful in a bunch of different situations.  

First of all I pull out the oils.  Essential Oils can be fantastic during cold and flu season and, well, any season really.    

Here are a few of my favorites to use with sick kiddos.  Peppermint can help lower a fever and sooth headaches.  Lavender has great calming properties and a wealth of other uses (burn relief, skin rash soother, and beyond.)  Lemon and Thieves are fantastic for cleaning surfaces, air purification and killing germs. Melrose and RC are fantastic when a chest cold or congestion is an issue.  The list goes on and on.   

Side Note on Essential Oils in General:

I don't have my kids ingest oils and for infants or small children I always sit on the side of caution and diffuse instead of direct application.  The Book Gentle Babies has a wealth of information for oil use with children, infants and pregnant and nursing mothers.  I highly recommend it for your reference library.   

I primarily like to use Young Living Oils.  I am not a sales person.  I buy them because we use them.  I tried so many other brands years ago when we started using oils and Young Living gave me peace of mind, results and a wealth of information and support.  Other brands gave me a headache or I just didn't see the results with them.  Now, that being said, it was quite a while ago.  There are a wide range of brands and there are a few up and coming companies I have my eye on and I will be trying as I need to refill our stash.  One of those is REVIVE.  I really love the quality standards and what I am hearing about this company but trying them will be the only way to tell.  Their price point sure is alluring.   Ill also mention Doterra, the other big MLM in the room.  Doterra and Young Living are rivals and the reality is that they are both good companies with good quality oils.  I have tried both and I responded better to Young Living so that is who I use, for now.  

Digestzen from Doterra helped me survive 9 month of morning sickness with my first baby and started me on my Essential oil using journey.  So I have nothing negative to say about the company.  Something about the blend was what I needed to sooth my stomach. If you have ever had severe long term morning sickness, you know you would do anything to relieve it for a bit.  This was a LIFE- SAVER

So, in short do your research.  Get a quality and PURE product!  Make sure its source is known and try them for yourself.   

When you have a sick kiddo you aren't going to be whipping up potions and hunting up supplies.  ]

Here are two ways I like to sooth my kids and use oils quickly.  

Shower Disks:


All you need to make these is baking soda and water and a min muffin pan.  You combine a Cup of baking soda and 1/3 -1/2 cup of water.  You just want to be able to make a thick paste.  You don't want it to be crumbly or super thin.  (I typically double or triple the recipe because I like to make the mess once and have enough to last a while.)

After they are mixed spay your muffin tin liberally.  You can leave them to dry overnight but I find this take a while and I have no patience for that.  I bake them at 350 for about 35 min.  Pull them out and let them cool.  If they look damp you can put them in a bit longer.  Once they cool they should pop right out of the pan.  You can store them in a ziptop bag or a pretty jar basically forever.

When you need to use one just pull in out, add a few drops of the oil you need/want to use.  Next,  close the doors to the bathroom and steam up the shower.  Put the disk on the shower floor so it gets wet but doesn't wash away right away.  As the baking soda mixture rinses away the oils are slowly released in the steam.

For a fussy baby I like 5 drops of lavender
for a cold I like Melrose, Eucalyptus and lavender (2 drops each).  Oregano is also fantastic



I don't know about your house but we go through Band-Aids and Boo Boo Buddies like there is no tomorrow.

 

We also go through winter gloves and socks.  They beg for cute character socks and then they lose the mate.  Why?  If your kids are like mine, they hate to part with them and will hold on until they are 5 sizes too small hoping to find the missing one. Nope! It is gone!

Why not repurpose those cute little socks and gloves.  They are the perfect size and it is so easy!

All you need is some dry rice and a funnel (Also some yarn and a wide eye needle for the gloves.)

For the Socks, all you have to do is get a funnel and fill them with rice.  Then, knot the top! Done!

The gloves are done almost the same way.  Fill them with dry rice up to the bottom of the cuff.  You can use the funnel tip and your fingers to really work the rice into each finger.  

Next, grab some yarn and a wide eye large needle.  Just stitch across the top.  I am a beginner seamstress at best.  In fact, that's probably a stretch. This does not have to be professional or perfect.  You just want them to be closed.  I go across once and then back again filling in the gaps.  Knot it off at the end and you are done.  

These can be tossed in the microwave for a minute to warm them up or you can keep them in the freezer.  

They are just the right size for little hands.

For ear aches I like to warm them and you can even add a drop of lavender.  They are also great without oils.  They are so soothing.  I have used them myself too.  

The best part, the kids always smile when they see them.  When you have a sick little one the smile is a welcome sight even if it's a bit pitiful.  

Have a fantastic Sunday and don't forget to do something messy!

Don't forgot to share and comment and check out the post on what is coming up through the rest of November!

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