5 Soothing Ways To Help Your Sick Kid Feel Better

Having a sick kid stinks. Having four sick kids, all at the same time, really stinks. I should know!

And why is it that anytime one of my kids get sick, all the others end up sick too?! It’s not like I’m not doing my darnedest to keep them healthy and to minimize the spread of germs.

I mean, the elderberry syrup is flowing, the antimicrobial essential oils are diffusing off and on, homemade disinfecting sprays are being spritzed all over, hands are being washed repeatedly… all to no avail, it seems.

And, to make matters worse, not only are my kids miserable, but they’re all miserable in different ways. Kid #1 has a headache while kid #2 has a sore throat. Kid #3 is all congested and stopped up, and kid #4 is just plain whiny! What’s a natural mama to do?

After years of using natural remedies when my kids get sick, I’ve not only stocked my natural medicine cabinet with natural aids that help support my kid’s body when he’s sick, but I’ve also learned some little tricks to help my sick kid feel better at the same time. These tricks are not complicated. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, and today, I’m going to share what I’ve learned so far on this mama-ing journey when it comes to making a sick kid feel better fast!

Using Natural Remedies For Common Ailments

Viral illnesses are one of the most common causes of sicknesses this time of the year. In my home, as soon as my kids start showing classic cold symptoms, I brew up a fresh batch of elderberry syrup for everyone in the house. We also use homemade electrolyte drinks if fevers are present as well as vapor rub for congestion, herbal relaxants and pain relievers for headaches, and honey cough syrups and herbal demulcents for sore throats.

If a stomach bug is the cause of my kid’s sickness, elderberry syrup won’t be of much help so I pull out some of my other favorite remedies. Things like ginger chews, homemade electrolyte drinks, blackberry root tincture, and bone broth. If they have a sick stomach due to food poisoning of some sort, then activated charcoal is my go-to in this situation.

Now, natural remedies are great to use anytime your kid is sick. Not only do they help support the body in returning to a balanced, healthy state, but they can help the body recover from a sickness more quickly than it would without the remedy. Rest, nourishing foods (if appropriate), and natural remedies are all a part of approaching sickness naturally but don’t forget that healing takes time.

While you’re waiting for the body to heal itself, your child will still experience some of the uncomfortable symptoms of sickness. This is where mama and some soothing come into play.

Below, I’m going to share 5 simple things you can do to help your sick kid feel better while recovering from any sickness as well as a few more herbal remedies and how we use them.

5 Soothing Ways To Help Your Sick Kid Feel Better

1. Quality Time

One of the best things you can do to help your sick kid feel better is to spend some quality time with them.

When you’re sick, rest is one of the best things you can do for your body, but kids don’t always understand this. When they’re not sleeping, they’re bored and want to be entertained. Video games and TV can have their place when it comes to entertaining kids when they’re sick, but parents can also provide some distraction as well.

Little things like rubbing your kiddos back, reading them a book, playing a card game, or listening to some music with them can go a long way.

2. Special Drinks & Treats

Another way I often help my kids feel better is to give them special drinks and treats when they’re sick that they don’t get at other times. When we’re sick, we do our best to stay away from cold drinks, sugar (other than honey for mixing with herbs or sweetening tea), and dairy.

Our homemade electrolyte drinks (great for fevers, nausea, or diarrhea) are one of these special drinks, especially the ones made with their favorite herbal teas, but so is lemon ginger tea (great for viruses) and room temperature minty chlorophyll water. They also enjoy getting garlic honey (great for chest congestion or stomach bugs) or warmed cinnamon applesauce with slippery elm powder (great for sore throats or diarrhea) mixed it.

3. Hot & Cold Therapy

When you have a fever, there’s nothing better than a cool cloth on your forehead. The same can be said for a warm rice pack over your lower abdomen if you have diarrhea and stomach cramping.

Hot and cold therapy can be used in a variety of ways whether it’s a simple bag of ice and a heated rice pack or a fancy freezer pack and a heating pad.

4. Aromatherapy

Essential oils are a big part of our natural medicine cabinet. Not only do their therapeutic properties come in handy when my kids are sick, but so do their aromatic qualities!

One of the most common ways I use essential oils when my kids are sick is in my homemade cleaning products. Not only does this help discourage microbes around our home, but it helps create scent memories at the same time (only if the same scents are used each time). Another way I use essential oils and aromatherapy is by diffusing essential oils off and on. You can diffuse essential oils in a variety of ways, but I like to sprinkle a couple drops of lavender essential oil on a cotton ball and put it by my kid’s bed to help them rest. Lastly, depending on the symptoms my kids have, I’ll often rub vapor rub on their chest, back, or bottoms of their feet to help them breathe better or to help them feel cool when they have a fever.

5. Affirmations

The mind is a powerful thing, and our thoughts affect our health for better or worse. When we’re sick and we feel bad, it’s normal to think negative thoughts, but if we dwell on these types of thoughts, it can hinder healing (Mercola, 2016).

Like I said earlier, it’s human nature to think negative thoughts when you don’t feel good, and this is especially true for kids. That’s why, when my kids are sick, I like to encourage them and say positive things around them. I’ll tell them they’re looking good, that I love them, that I’m going to take care of them, that their bodies are designed to heal themselves, and that the symptoms they’re experiencing are actually beneficial. I also try to make sure that the books they’re reading, the games they play, and music they’re listening to are on the positive side when they’re sick.

Seeing how these kinds of thoughts don’t come naturally to them when they’re not feeling good, it can be comforting to hear someone else say it to them. And, in my experience, it always perks my little sick ones up a bit and makes them feel better.

So there you go… some natural remedies and some soothing ways to help your sick kid feel better… from a mama who’s been there and done it!

Do you have any special things you do to help your sick kid feel better? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

This post was underwritten by Maty’s Healthy Products. All opinions are mine. Maty’s Healthy Products offers all natural products are made with whole-food ingredients that come from Mother Nature. With no harmful side effects or drug interactions, why use anything else? They offer products for babies, children, and the whole family. Check out Maty’s Healthy Products on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

REFERENCES:

• Mercola, J. (2016, February 4). The Science of Positive Healing Thoughts. Retrieved February 14, 2017, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/02/04/healing-thoughts.aspx