Friday, March 28, 2008

fighting off illness

so callum got a late easter gift from his cousins - his first illness
steve and i were so happy that it looked like he'd make it through his first year without getting sick.
but at 11.5mths, he is full on unwell -the ear infections his cousins had must have been worse than that because callum does not have an ear infection - he does however have free-flowing mucous and a dry cough with elements of mucous to it.

when it comes to illness, i try and use only natural things, anything that can trigger the body's natural ability to heal itself.

callum is just under a year, and this makes it tricky, as several natural remedies are contraindicated for the under 12mth crowd.

one of these remedies is raw honey, which has been shown to be more effective for coughs than your over the counter, synthetic cough syrups. but 12mths+ only

so i have turned more to homeopathy and aromatherapy, and good old hydrotherapy

a few of the things being done...

baths with a few drops of eucalyptus - like a natural form of vick's vaporub sans alcohol and petroleum based gels

take a baby jar, add a teaspoon of salt, and add two drops of eucalyptus. seal it with the lid. open and breathe in as required - a nice jolt to the system

coryzalia - love this - another boiron product that has been helping with cal's symptoms

steams - i found another use for our electric fondue pot - add lots of water, a few drops of eucalyptus and use as a humidifier. now that a lot of the mucous has been flowing out, i switched over to lavender as it has a gentle sedative effect and relaxant.

i've been doing a few immune boosters myself, as well as taking natrum muriaticum and my usual course of vitamins, and of course a round of boiron's oscillococcinum.

am still upset he came home sick, but we are working our way through this - and hopefully the cough starts to resolve soon so we can finally enjoy some early spring walks

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