All Natural Home Remedies

How many times have you typed “home remedies” or “what to do when…” into google when your baby has diarrhea, the cold or is suffering from dry skin or eczema, etc. and nothing seems to be working? I have!  It is tough being a first time mom.  I worried about every little thing with my baby boy.  My first instinct if anything was wrong was to take my baby to the doctors of course, but not everything the doctor recommended I do worked.  For example, my son had extreme cradle cap and the cream his pediatrician recommended would work for a day or two and than it would reappear after a couple more weeks.

When I was pregnant, both my mother and mother in law would overwhelm me with information on what to eat and what not to eat.  I appreciated their advice, but I only took the advice of my doctor and ignored everything else.  I understood that they had babies too, but being pregnant for the first time made me pretty cautious of anything out of the ordinary.

The same happened when I went into labour and delivered my first-born baby.  I received advice from everyone!  What to eat and what not to eat, how to increase my milk supply, what to feed my baby, what exercises I should do with my baby to eliminate gas, colic and what home remedies I could use to cure almost everything my baby suffered from.  I would get frustrated with the amount of information that was flooding my brain because I felt that I should have known how to make my own my baby feel better without the advice of others.  Isn’t that crazy?  It was my first baby and I expected to know every.little.thing about teething and colic and increasing my milk supply.  Clearly I didn’t and I started taking their advice on home remedies they used on my husband and I!

Below I listed a few home remedies that I have tried and tested myself with my little ones.  I wanted to share them with all of you, so let me know if you end up trying any of them.  They worked great and I continue to use each one of them.

Gas, Colic and Tummy Aches – Asafetida:

You can buy Asafetida or “hing” from indian grocery stores.  It has a really strong smell, but it helps my kids when they had gas as babies or when they were colic.  Add a teaspoon of asafetida powder to a teaspoon of water and make a paste.  You rub the paste around your baby’s belly.  It helped my babies instantly.  My kids are 3 and 5 and I use the tablet form that is all natural when they have upset stomachs.

Runny Nose, Dry Skin, Eczema – Ghee:

“Ghee” also known as clarified butter can also be purchased at any indian grocery store.  I am not a fan of the smell of ghee either, but it works so well!  I use it for almost everything: dry skin, runny nose, cough and even in my children’s food.  Massage the ghee on your child’s skin and you will see results fairly quickly.  You can warm the ghee over the stove to make it warm (of course test it on your skin first to ensure it is not hot for your child’s skin) to add a more calming effect.  You can literally put ghee anywhere on their body.  If you are putting it in your child’s food, a teaspoon is enough per serving.  You can even use it as your alternative to cooking oil.

Cuts – Turmeric

Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties and can be purchased at any indian grocery store. When my kids get a cut or scrape their knees from falling, I use turmeric.  What I do is use one teaspoon of turmeric and one teaspoon of water and make a paste.  I apply a small amount of paste over the clean cut each day until I see the skin healing.  The healing properties in turmeric are amazing.

Teething – Frozen Wash Cloth, Dates and Chamomile

When my kids suffered from teething, they were fussy and would not sleep (thank goodness for sleep training).  They would be fussy almost all day and night and the only thing that helped was a frozen washcloth, mashed dates and chamomile.

I would always have a few wash clothes in the freezer for my little ones to chew on.  It would help sooth them and I noticed the cold would eliminate a lot of the pain they were experiencing because they slept better and weren’t as fussy.  They got so excited when they would see the wash clothes like it was their favourite toy!

Dates are great for so many reasons.  They are packed with vitamins and they strengthen gums and teeth development at a faster speed.  I would suggest giving dates slowly once your child starts on solids.  Soak them in warm water, or steam them and remove the seed.  Mash it until it becomes a paste and give 2-3 spoons to them per day.

Chamomile is another amazing solution in helping teething infants.  Dip a clean washcloth in chamomile tea and freeze it.  Give the washcloth to your baby to chew on, as it will help with inflammation and pain relief.  You can also brew the tea and once cooled, give a couple of spoons to your baby and continue throughout the day.  As well, chamomile popsicles are great once they are old enough to handle the sticks themselves.  Brew the tea as you normally would and make popscicles.

I am going to continue to provide home remedies that have helped my kids and that I truly stand by.  I would love to hear what home remedies help your child through some of their toughest days.

Anita Patel
Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant
info@hushbabyhush.com
(416) 885-2235
www.hushbabyhush.com
February 5, 2018