Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Cold Season Survival Kit For The Little Ones.

If you’re like me, it’s right around this time of year that you start to let your guard down when it comes to illness. The more warm days I see the more comfortable I get. Surely we’re almost out of the woods for cold and flu season, right? Wrong. So this year I am staying diligent until the very bitter end. July. Just kidding, but here are our favorites  for getting us through those heartbreaking days of extra cuddles and extra bowls and sheets. What we swear by in our cold and flu medicine cabinet.


Cold Season Survival Kit For The Little Ones.

First, PREVENTION. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. I am a firm believer in putting my efforts in keeping my kids’ immune systems strong. Allowing and insisting that they get plenty of sleep. Disinfecting and keeping their spaces clean and aired out. Feeding them as many healthy whole foods as I can each day, and I’ve shared this before but I will share it every time because I absolutely swear by it: Buried Treasure’s Acute Cold and Flu. It’s is packed with nutrients and herbs to boost your immune system and while it’s awesome to take when you’re sick, I give it to my kids every few days to keep them extra strong when they’re well. I mix a tablespoon into a quarter cup of grape juice and then freeze it into popsicles. I can barely choke this stuff down plain, but in grape juice it tastes great. My kids will eat the whole batch in one sitting – but it has to be grape.
I don’t throw this phrase around lightly because I’m superstitious and they used to be sick all the dang time, but my kids get sick (including a runny nose) maybe once a year since I started this stuff a couple years ago. For the popsicles, I use squeezable popsicle molds, I love that I can lay them flat, stick them in whatever crevice is available in my freezer. Trying to store those upright 6 packs are nearly impossible at my house. Speaking of runny nose, a great way keep them cear while they have it is to spray this awesome Little Remedies Saline Mist in their nose and use the NoseFrida to unstuffed it. Works like a charm every time.
Second, you’ve probably read Jenna’s awesome essential oil recipes (see below), they’re another really great addition to preventing illness and also helping treat it. Diffusing oils like On Guard throughout the house is great for maintaining a strong immune system. We all have this pretty diffuser and love it!

This Melagel is not so much for illness as injury. Scrapes and cuts specifically. Another must have. The tea tree oil and other additions speeds up healing time so much and doesn’t leave a scar. So happy to see Melaleuca products on Amazon!
COLD + FEVER: For those times when we can’t avoid the illness, we were recently introduced to the Kinsa Smart Thermometer. This thermometer works in tandem with the Kinsa smart phone app. The thermometer never dies, has an extension cord and reads in 10 seconds. It stores the readings in profiles for each kid and you can keep track of their stats right in the app. We also think the “Group” feature is so cool, you can join a group like a school shown below and see what is happening, being passed around, and how long to expect an illness to last in your community.

When you have the fever and chills all you want is to get warm. Toss a blanket in the dryer for an extra kick of heat, take a bath with Babyganics Vapor Bubble Bath, use an all natural vapor rub (or Eucalpyptus or Breathe Essential Oils right into a humidifier.) This one is our favorite.
STOMACH + FLU: Heaven forbid, the flu. Where it’s not so much about treating it as just trying to help them get comfortable and cleaning up the aftermath. We love the reader suggestion to use towels instead of blankets. To lay towels underneath the kiddos in their beds on the couches, etc. They’re so much more absorbent and you’re less likely to damage more expensive textiles. 
To help settle an upset stomach from the flu or even just car sickness we love these single use Mommy’s Bliss Nausea Relief supplements. Toss one into your kiddo’s back pack for a road trip or bus ride.
We’ve all heard the BRAT diet for the flu – bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. Can we add popsicles? PRABT? It can be hard to get our kids to drink enough fluids to replace what they’ve lost with the flu. Popsicles are a comforting way to increase fluids and try to settle the stomach. These all natural fruit pops are awesome!
Anything we missed? Excited to hear all your additions, share below or on our Facebook page!

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