Since we are in the thick of winter here and I’ve had 3 of my 4 girls sick the past week I was just wondering what others do to ward off or treat all those annoying illnesses that are so prevalent in winter.
I generally try and get my girls to rest and just wait it out and try and make them comfortable but I wondered if anyone here had any wonderful remedies or take preventative measures.
Even I would like to know about this. Thanks for posting at the right time Marmee.
We are a wash your hands family. We wash (or use a hand-sanitizer) the moment we enter any building or get into a car. We lysol wipe our door knobs frequently. That’s all I’d advise - wash, wash, wash. Even so, everyonce in a while a cold does sneak in 
I agree with the hands washing! I also just make sure my family’s immune system is as strong as possible. Eat lots of fruits and veggies and drink plenty of O.J., exercise and get plenty of sleep. Every thing that we would do all the time but I am just extra careful about it during cold and flu season.
Hello there mommies…I want to share an article from babycenter.com regarding home remedies for cough and colds. Hope this can be of help.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_eleven-safe-home-remedies-to-soothe-your-childs-cold-and-flu_10014077.bc
Hello! I don’t think there is an easy answer to prevent coughs and colds caused by viruses, although I totally agree that hand-washing is really important.
But also I always comfort myself that the process of catching viruses and recovering from them is so important for our babies long-term health and development. It is really important to develop their immune systems through being exposed to viruses and might even make them less likely to develop problems like asthma and hayfever.
hope that helps a bit!
Thanks for all your replies.
We do the hand washing, eat really well with lots of raw fruit and veges etc but we seem to still be constantly sick.
I do believe it builds healthy immune systems in the long term but I think it’s just having 4 young children that means by the time the last is better there is a new round. The last of them recovered last week and now we are starting a new cycle with a different bug!
I am exhausted caring for them all 
Maybe I should start a thread on how to cope with that lol
What helps us is homeopatic preventive cold remedies by Hyland’s and some others. I worked really well for us last winter considering that my son gets sick a lot in childcare
My family still swears by chicken soup! Fresh air, even in winter, seems to help. Plus exercise for improved lymph flow.
So bundle them up and send them out to build a snowman, while you make soup
So…the other day I had the beginnings of a cold - coughing a bit, sneezing and a bit of a head “fuzz”. I mentioned it to Krista G. Her suggestion was to eat some roasted garlic. Well, going a bit overboard - partly because I just really didn’t want to get sick, and partly because it tasted SOOOO good, I ate an ENTIRE head of roasted garlic! No one came near me for a long time, but, hey, my cold vanished into thin air! If you try it, drizzle a little honey over some of them - that’s tasty too.
Hey Kizudo,
I was looking at this post to see if anyone mentioned the garlic and there you are. It really works. You can eat it a few times a week just as protective maintenance and if you feel like you are getting sick, eat it right away. Garlic is one of the best foods we can eat. It is really easy to feed this to little ones if they are sick. You could feed them a clove each hour as a natural antibiotic. Here is our recipe.
As many heads of garlic as you like. Cut the top part off of each head.
Season with salt and/or season all to taste.
Drizzle with olive oil, making sure to get it in the cloves, around 1/4 inch of oil in a small pan that can just hold the garlic.
Cover with foil and bake on 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
When it is done try drizzling some honey over it and spoon the hot oil over the garlic. It is really good if you peel and onion and place that in there before you bake it as well.
At the first sign of a cold or any sickness we roast garlic. It is one medicine that my kids can’t get enough of. I hope this helps.
Kizudo is right, if you eat more than 4 cloves you will have a pretty strong smell of garlic on your breath later.
“Pretty Strong” would be putting it lightly according to my husband! lol
We get spinal adjustments to prevent them. They really work. I didn’t get sick at all lat winter. Our chiro is wonderful. In fact, we even skipped both flu shots and were just fine.
Marmee, I have a strict routine that whenever we walk inside our home, we wash our hands with Dr. Bronners natural soap or another naturally derived soap (not with common chemical hand soaps or “anti-bacterial” versions. We also wash our hands before eating at a restuarant. This year since we switched to Vegan he hasn’t had one cold. He rarely ever gets sick but if if he has a runny nose I give him:
Lit’ Critters Immune C, plus zinc & enchinacea gummy bear (bought at walmart)
Planetary Herbals Kid’s Immune Protect Liquid or Planetary Herbals Well Child Echinacea-Elderberry Herbal Syrup (place a little bit in his sippy cup to drink) and extra Vitamin C foods/fruits
Visit: http://products.mercola.com/multivitamin-childrens-chewables/
hi marmee,
ayurvedic lifestyle can prevent your kids from falling sick easily.
try the following when they hv cold, cough, flu:
for younger kids
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp fresh basil leaves
1 tsp honey
also try to give your kids lots of green lentil soup-- its very healthy and also lots of nutrient.
if u want any other specific remedy pls visit dr,pankaj naram at facebook or visit www.ayushakti.usa
When we started swimming lessons I was told that the immunity will get stronger,plus the use of sauna helps a lot- the change of hot,cold… So far we have not been sick,just bit of sneezing 2 days ago. Now it’s all good again. Not sure if that is good or bad as we haven’t had any viruses so far ???
and I am also using light therapy products and they are fatastic.Work well with me.
We also get spinal adjustments. I love our chiropractor. We also wash our hands constantly!
For many this is a very skeptic and non traditional route, but I swear by Homeopathy. It has not only worked for me but for my 21 month old son. I have had my doubts since you are not sure if it’s working, but if you are patient it really does. And I was a believer after it cured my husbands of his severe allergies which all the other meds dr. gave him failed.
I just keep her warm and spoiled!