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Fresh Fit N Healthy

Helping women in their 20a-40s optimize their hormones & overall health

Natural Mama Med Cabinet for Colds:

Nothing makes you find EVERY more natural remedy possible than when you become a mama and your baby gets sick. Here is what my Natural Mama Med Cabinet for Colds specifically looks like!

In the last 20 months of being a mama,  I’ve had to really figure out what I need to always have on hand, what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid ingredients I really don’t want unless necessary. I’m not against conventional medicine, but I am against using it as a first line of defense for my little one when there are SO many ways to naturally support their bodies (and ours!), without the side effects and cons that many medications have.

I could write a book of how disappointed I am in typical pediatrician advice since becoming a mama, you know, like being told I needed to give him two different antibiotics and zyrtec for his cold that also turned into an ear infection — “& that NO natural remedies would work for his bad inner ear infection”… Only to throw away the script and be able to heal it all naturally. Or the time he was making some weird breathing noises (ended up being just behavioral and very normal after talking to some other mamas at that age), but was told “well just in case it’s beginning of croup, give him steroids”. WHAT? A huge immunosuppressant as a first line of defense “just in case”?!

Anyways, I digress. Here are my more natural remedies and how I use them for any colds or respiratory illnesses he gets. This isn’t medical advice, just a chat from one natural minded mama to another. Always only do what YOU are comfortable with, and ALWAYS trust your gut. YOU mama, not someone you follow online or your doctor who sees them for 5 seconds, will usually know what’s best and when it may be time for something else.

me trying to get him some sunshine in after back to back sicknesses: stomach bug (that I also had with him) +then respiratory cold. It was a week!

 

Natural Mama Med Cabinet for Colds:

THREE Notes:

1) Don’t wait until you need it to get it – because then you end up resorting to whatever you can find at your local store which usually isn’t great.

2)For everything I mention below, you can find it in these places:

3) I know it’s SO EASY to want to just shut up the symptoms of their cold, that’s what my heart wanted to do in his first cold!! But we have to think of this from a holistic mindset – those symptoms are there because the body is trying to RID bad things. So instead of “shutting them up” via zyrtec or OTC meds, the best thing we can do is actually support their bodies THROUGH them and help their bodies rid everything as best as possible.

 

When I FIRST see ANY signs of a little snot or congestion coming on, I give him my “tinctures” in a medicine cup or syringe 3x/day to try to nip it in the butt before anything fully comes on. And honestly, 80+% of the time it does!
  • Tinctures I give (I usually just put all in a medicine cup and syringe it to him at meals):
    • Get Better Fast: great tincture for so many things by Earthley, baby and pregnancy safe! (SGM10 for discount on their site or find it on amazon here) — They also have a sinus saver and cough be gone that’s good for kids and adults!
    • Hylands cold and cough homeopathy OR boiron cough and mucous (usually alternate!) – find both here or at your local stores
    • Colloidal silver (I use this one now https://sarahgracemeck.mysilverceuticals.com/ but used to just use the sovereign silver in amazon folder here
    • Mary Ruth vitamin C, zinc, and probiotics (sometimes their elderberry too) – found here or you can shop their site directly! SARAHGRACE for 20% off!

 

 

When the cold has fully come on, then here are my daily / every 3-4hr things I do:
  • Zarbees chest rub for on feet with socks at night + on chest
  • frida humidifier in amazon store is awesome and you can put essential oils in it too! I run that next to crib AND his diffuser on his table
  • Earthley Feel Better Fast or Cough B Gone depending what is needed (code SGM10 for discount on their site or here on amazon)
  • Hylands cold and cough or Boiron (here or at your local store!)
    • I alternate between the Hyland’s and Boiron cold pre-made homeopathy – both here
  • Orega-cinn oregano oil
  • Colloidal silver (I use this one now https://sarahgracemeck.mysilverceuticals.com/  with a ton of good research behind it, but used to just use the sovereign silver in amazon link above)
  • Essential Oils are a MUST!!
    • Things I love to diffuse: Breathe Again, lavender, sniffleease
    • Things I use topically: snifflease down spine and thieves roll-on on bottoms of feet
    • Eucalyptus in shower floor when standing in the room with door closed creating a steaming effect
    • I use a DIY wellness roller on his spine and feet made of thieves, purification, lemon, lavender, frankincense and oregano (diluted appropriately based on age/comfort & past exposure to oils)
    • I also use an ear support/infection roller behind his ears and down neck as preventative because I learned the hard way last time that congestion can lead to ear infection real quick.
      • Recipe for that: 5 drops each lavender, cedarwood and melrose – fill rest with carrier oil – DO NOT PUT IN THE EAR, only behind the ear and down neck.
      • I also love the mullein garlic oil for in the ear.
    • ALL OILS HERE: https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/myaccount/wishlist?listId=6391069824bfe6000a9fec4c&enrollerId=18075069&sponsorId=18075069&userName=Sarah
      • (use code SHAREYL for 10% off!)
  • Sliced onions or potatoes on his feet with socks at bedtime (sometimes I do potatoes on feet and onions in bowl by his bedside)
  • Garlic in ANY way you can get it in them, for me personally I chop up a clove and eat it on toast with raw honey, but not going to traumatize my kids that way haha:
    • topically in a chest rub/salve
      • 8 garlic cloves
      • 1 cup coconut oil
      • 2 tbsp olive oil
      • 5-10 drops lavender
        • blend all up and put on kids feet or chest!
        • I haven’t made this but was told by many it works well if you don’t mind your kid smelling like italian food haha!
    • internally in a spoonful of honey
    • internally with this garlic “lemonade” recipe:
      • 2 cloves garlic
      • 1 lemon (or 2 drops lemon essential oil)
      • 1 qt filtered water
      • just a little honey or maple syrup to kick the bite
      • **boil garlic and water, then remove garlic and off heat, and stir in lemon + honey!

  • Cough elixir from alittlelesstoxic online if there is a bad cough with it:

    • he hates pineapple so wouldn’t drink it but I did try it and heard it / pineapple really works!

    • 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup raw honey, juice of 1 lemon… and then can add grated ginger & cayenne too if it’s for adults and (or kids that would actually take that hah)

  • Prop up his bed if that works / keep him upright if needed
    • we try but usually he moves so much he ends up on the bottom end anyways hah
    • If congestion is too bad we have hit sleep on one of up upright in a recliner all night
  • All my herbal tinctures I continue doing 3-4x/day that I mentioned above as first line of defense too:
    • Mary ruth vC, zinc, probiotics + Earthley feel better fast (discount code SGM10 on their site) + colloidal silver (quality and brand do matter here, so just don’t buy anything) + Hylands & Boiron premade cold & cough homeopathic liquids (all can be found on amazon store here or noted above. Also can often be found at local health food stores.
  • Hot steam showers with eucalyptus dropped on floor of shower
  • Epsom Salt Baths (I also like to add 2-3 drops lavender essential oil in that bath for him!)
  • Snot sucker/bulb to help them clear it

 

For FEVERS:

(here’s a highlight bubble on IG with some book screenshots of what I’m about to summarize)

I wish I had known all I do now years ago, but it took watching my son go through his first fever around 14 months old to really dive into what’s true and not about them. To each their own, BUT know that fevers are inherently bad, they are actually HELPING the body fight whatever it is, so if you can let them ride it out, that’s the best. It’s case by case, and this is NOT medical advice. But I’ve also learned that it’s not the number that causes febrile seizures (which is why most of us worry and want to bring it down immediately), it’s the quick spike in temp (which you can’t really avoid because by the time you see the high number, the spike has happened).  ANYWAYS, here’s what we do with fevers:

  • Lower fevers/or they aren’t showing any discomfort, let it ride out and just try to make them rest
  • Fever that are higher (his got to 103.6) or they are showing a lot of discomfort, then I use natural remedies to bring comfort and possibly lower a little: cool cloths on neck/head, epsom salt baths, lemon or peppermint essential oil down spine (diluted for age).
  • If I feel a real need to use medicine, I use the genexa tylenol that is free of the yucky stuff. I really try to save this as a last resort though, because SO many mama friends have told me if you can let the fever go, it will cause the actual illness a lot of times to be shorter since it’s helping the body fight! But if they aren’t sleeping at all and I know he needs rest, sometimes I’ll give 1/2 dose at bedtime after more than 1 full day of poor naps and night sleep have gone by, just to finally get in some sleep for him. (I’ve only had to do this once in his 20 months, when I knew he was experiencing really bad head pressure due to nanny and husband having the same thing, and he wasn’t sleeping much at all, gave him 1/2 dose and he slept through night – which to me was worth the trade off for his healing).
And last but certainly not least…

All the sunshine, hydration and good nutrition I can get in him even though he usually doesn’t have much of an appetite as normal – but eggs + avocado + berries have been a good go to he’ll always eat! Or homemade pancakes where I just make them out of 1 egg, a banana and 1-2 tbsp flour or natural protein powder.

Bone broth and raw garlic are so healing if they will take it in any form (mine won’t usually, but have cooked his rice and orzo in bone broth and he’ll eat that).

 

And then I myself take a lot of things too when sickness hits, because it’s hard enough to care for a sick baby when you’re healthy – let alone sick yourself. Trust me, I’ve been there.
  • ARMRA colostrum in smoothies (I use this daily!): 15% off right here
  • double dose of my favorite antioxidant red drink(use code SHAREYL for 10% off!) I take a shot of daily
  • immungummies from YL
  • whole food vitamin C (I like mary ruth and young living!) or C-salts too! Shop here for 20% off Mary Ruth by using code SARAH GRACE
  • Probiotics (Thorne (10% off link), young living (use code SHAREYL for 10% off!), Klaire Labs – all good brands!)
  • If I can’t get in sun, then Thorne vD drops too! Just add into my red drink shot!
  • Thorne Zinc
  • Manuka or propolis honey
  • and roll thieves roll-on on hourly (behind ears, down neck and spine) to try to prevent myself from getting it.
    • I also love my wellness roller I have made up of thieves, lemon, purification, frankincense and oregano!
  • Get all the sunshine and rest and good nutrition + limit sugar and processed foods a ton during this time to try to strengthen my immune system!
  • ^^ all of those are things I use when pregnant – if I wasn’t pregnant, I’d also add in the ACF found here (hubby takes it and they also have a kid version!) – BUT I won’t lie, it’s taste is repulsive so have a chaser hah.
  • Sometimes even if I get the START of it (sore throat usually), if I do all these things consistently, I can kick it before it turns into full blown sickness.
  • With sore throats, I also add in gargling with Thieves mouthwash hourly, taking a tbsp of honey with 1 drop thieves and frankincense in it, and gargling with a combo of warm water, sea salt, cayenne, ACV and lemon juice!
  • And the newest one, RAW GARLIC! I’m truly a believe after this last time of sickness hitting our home for 4 weeks and everytime I started getting the beginning of it, and it would kick it! Just be prepared for repulsive taste and smelling like garlic.
    • You can also ferment garlic cloves for 4-6 weeks in a jar of honey – but obviously you have to prepare that one in advance!

 

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