9 ways to get well during cold & flu season

croupy sad baby

In my community it seems there is always something germy passing among the small kids and families.  It just seems to be a fact of life.  I'm not a germaphobe (nor am I a clean-freak, perhaps the two go hand-in-hand?) but of course, we like to stay healthy and not experience illness if at all possible.  Of course, it isn't always that easy. Just recently, we had a round of croup with the youngest one of our brood, and here is what we tried to help him get better.

Humidifier
Photo Credit

1. Clean up the diet. It's sort of hard to "clean up" a breastfed baby's diet that much, but I tried to give him homemade chicken broth if possible, mix coconut oil into his pureed fruits or veggies, and focus on giving him foods with lots of Vitamin C.  Fermented cod liver oil, which contains Vitamins A & D, is extremely helpful, but go easy with little ones.  If you're really still struggling, remove grains & sugars from your diet, and load up on the probiotics.  
2. Saline spray & suctioning. By far, this goes on the list as one of the LEAST favorite activities for a baby, but putting a salt water solution up their nostrils and sucking out the mucus with a nose bulb helps clear their nasal passages and allows them to breathe better.  Just be prepared for a few tears.
3. A humidifier with a few drops of essential oils like Tea Tree or Eucalyptus.  We ran the humidifier every single day for about as strong as we could to help moisten the air and to allow nasal drainage.  
4. Homemade vapo-rub.  I made a recipe very similar to this one last year and I have used it on the feet and chest.  
5. Oil of Oregano can help relieve congestion, among many other benefits. Be careful to dilute it in another oil like olive as it is VERY strong.  (Thanks to JMK for this recommendation.)
6. Colloidal Silver works for so many things. You can take it orally or even spray it in your ears for ear infections.
7. Elderberry Syrup is an absolute necessity in your medicine cabinet for colds & flu.  It's loaded with antioxidants and tastes yummy too.  If you give it to a child under one, make sure the formula you have does not contain honey.  
8. Homeopathy: See my post on what to stock in your medicine cabinet for specific remedies.  Our favorites around here are Aconitum, Chamomilla, Pulsatilla and Byronia Alba.  
9. Chiropractics: Whenever we're coming down with something, a quick visit to the chiropractor often helps as there is probably something out of alignment. Chiropractors can be especially helpful with childhood ear infections.  When Gabe's ears were inflamed several months ago, we saw our chiropractor 3 times in 4 days, and Gabe improved rapidly.  

runny noses are no fun

How did these work out for us?  Well, Gabe had croup for ~6 days (the longest bout we'd ever experienced for either child), and naturally broke his own fever the last day, and then was over it.  I think the fever was the last straw, and once he got over that, the croup was finished.

There are no doubt many other things you can do try to try get over the common cold or typical fall & winter illnesses. What are your tried-and-true home remedies?

Some *helpful* lactation tips

Running into friends is great because it gives you a chance to catch up, if even on the "weirdest" of things. Since having posted about exclusive pumping, it's really opened up some of the conversations I have with people, which I admittedly enjoy.  I realized that there are some things I didn't have the space to post on my EP blog as it was already so long, so I will add them here.


Random, but hopefully helpful, lactation tips for the breastfeeding or pumping mom:


To increase milk supply:
Aside from the obvious wellness practices we're always told (drink water, get lots of rest), which will generally ameliorate any condition, there are a few things you can imbibe or ingest which are said to increase the amount of milk your body can produce. The most common are:

• Fenugreek capsules or tablets
• Brewer's Yeast
• Oatmeal (the real kind)

See Kellymom.com for more information on "galactagogues".  Then try to pronounce that word.


A yummy recipe that was shared with me for increasing your milk supply follows:


Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies

1 cup *butter*
1 cup *sugar*
1 cup firmly packed *brown sugar*
4 tablespoons *water*
2 tablespoons *flax seed meal*
2 *eggs*
1 teaspoon *vanilla*
2 cups *flour*
1 teaspoon *baking soda*
1 teaspoon *salt*
3 cups *oats*
1 cup *chocolate chips*
2-4 tablespoons *brewer's yeast*

Preheat oven to 350°.

1. Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
2. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well.
3. Add eggs and mix well.
4. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla; beat well.
5. Sift together flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda, and salt.
6. Add dry ingredients to butter mix.
7. Stir in oats and chips.
8. Scoop onto baking sheet.
9. Bake for 12 minutes.
10. Let set for a couple minutes then remove from tray.

Indubitably, your spouse and other family members may eat these too because they're so tasty. I can assure you that they won't immediately start lactating, but there are other health benefits from the flaxseed, oatmeal, and brewer's yeast for them too! 

[I have found brewer's yeast and fenugreek at a local health food store (Nutrition S'mart for Tampa peeps). I actually inadvertently found flaxseed mill at Super Target (one of my favorite places), but you can probably find it more easily at most grocery stores.]

---------

Breastmilk Storage & Thawing:

If you freeze your pumped milk in special breastmilk storage bags (which I would recommend as they do not leak or latch on any weird chemicals into your precious pumped liquid gold), it is good in a regular freezer for 3-4 months. You should rotate your frozen milk so that the oldest in the stash is used first, so that you never have to dump expired milk. In a deep freeze, the milk is good for up to 6 months.  It is a good idea to constantly rotate it, because one of the amazing things about breastmilk is that the antibodies in the milk change every month as your baby grows, so is is helpful if they receive what they need, when they need it. 

Also, thaw the milk in the fridge or under running water. Never heat up milk in the microwave. It could develop hotspots and burn your baby's tongue/mouth, not to mention, it changes the structure and nutrition of the milk -- not a good thing!  To warm it up after thawing, we always just heated up a glass of water and soaked the bottle or bag of milk in the water until it was the appropriate temperature.  Mia's such an old bebe now, she takes it straight outta the fridge. Babes sure grow fast.

If your frozen milk is not all used up at the same feeding, it may be refrigerated and offered one more time again before discarding.  Frozen milk should be used within 24 hours of thawing.

If you have any other questions, feel free to shoot them my way. Or check out kellymom.com; they have so many great tips there. The Birth Center was always recommending that website to me, and I thought it was some random girl's blog whose named happened to be Kelly & was a mom (I should've been a detective). In reality, I guess that's just who she is, but nonetheless, her website is full of spectacular resources!  And now kudos to me for finding a way to use the word "spectacular" for the first time since elementary school!