A Sneak Peek Inside My Natural Medicine Cabinet

When I was pregnant with my first baby, Judah, I remember desperately wanting to use non-toxic skin care products on him. However, seeing how I’d just left my job as a registered nurse, I couldn’t afford to go out and buy all the natural baby products I wanted so, instead, I got busy making my own.

I bought the books Natural Babycare by Colleen Dodt and Herbs for Children’s Health by Rosemary Gladstar and devoured them. I marked out the recipes I wanted to try and bought all the supplies I needed. As soon as they arrived, I got busy making everything I needed to care for his skin naturally. Yes, my baby skin care kit was fully stocked and complete. I was a happy mama because I was doing something good for my baby and our family, and I had saved money in the process.

Then, as my little man began to get older, I realized that I also wanted to use herbal remedies anytime he was sick. I wanted to help his body heal itself, and I didn’t want to put potential toxins in his body, even in the form of medicine, if I could help it. What I needed to do was to replace many of the typical things in my medicine cabinet with natural options.

I needed to create a natural medicine cabinet in my home.

Today, I’d like to bring you into my home and give you a sneak peek of what’s inside my natural medicine cabinet these days. What started out as a handful of things for one child has grown into a fully stocked cabinet for a whole family! My hope is that it will inspire you to create your own natural medicine cabinet in your home, to learn more about using natural remedies, and to live life a bit more naturally!

Inside My Natural Medicine Cabinet

In the beginning, my natural medicine cabinet was very minimal. I was just getting into using herbs, I didn’t have a ton of extra money to spend buying natural options from the store, and I only had one child who rarely needed any medicines whatsoever. Over the years, though, my natural medicine cabinet has definitely grown (sometimes way too much) as I’ve had more children and we’ve faced more health issues (nothing major, thank the good Lord!). Over the years, I’ve slowly added items here and there depending on what we need.

When it comes to the remedies I keep stocked in my natural medicine cabinet, some things I make myself, and others I purchase from companies I trust. It really comes down to the time versus money issue which I talked about here in my winter skincare post.

Also, know that all of my supplies and materials are not located in the same place in my home. As in, I don’t have one big beautiful natural medicine cabinet where I keep everything. I keep all my supplies and tools in separate bins under the bathroom sink. Most of the remedies are kept in a cabinet in my bathroom as those are things I administer to the kids when needed. All essential oils are stored up high where my kids can’t reach them (minus the KidSafe blends you’ll see in the pictures – I really need to move those as well!). My herb blends (for teas and syrups) are stored on a shelf in my kitchen for easy access, and many remedies are kept in the refrigerator or freezer if they need to stay cool. I also have a lot of herbal tinctures in my natural medicine cabinet, and most of these are not included in the list below because I use them for so many different things.

Let me also say that not all of the remedies below are safe for kids. Many are, but some are reserved for adults only. Do your research, and stock your natural medicine with the remedies you need.

So, enough talk. Let’s take a sneak peek into my natural medicine cabinet… at least at how it looks for the time being. This baby is always changing.

Basic First Aid Supplies:

It’s always a good idea to keep basic first aid supplies handy for cleaning wounds, managing bleeding, and bandaging cuts and scrapes. I keep a variety of these supplies on hand, but the following list are the supplies I have to replace most often. In fact, after going through so many bandages caring for Isaiah’s finger, I’m going to need to restock soon!

• Gauze ( 4×4 | 2×2 | rolled – 4 inch + 2 inch )
• Cohesive wraps
• Ace-wrap
• Bandaids ( variety packs + kid designs )
• Cotton balls
• Cotton swabs
• Various tape ( clear + paper )
• Scissors
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Rubbing alcohol
• Witch hazel
• Iodine
• Saline solution ( yes, this works as a great wound rinse )
• Soft tissues

Essential Oils:

I’m a fan of using essential oils, especially in combination with other natural remedies. They just work so stinking well together! Below are the essential oils I keep in my natural medicine cabinet to use for most first aid situations or everyday ailments. I do keep other essential oils on hand to use for different things, but they’re not included in my natural medicine cabinet.

• Lavender
• Tea tree
• Clove
• Plant Therapy KidSafe Synergy Blend Kit

Tools:

Here’s a list of tools I keep packed up in a basket under our bathroom sink beside the bandages. These definitely come in handy in a variety of situations from splinters, to headaches, to fevers and more.

• Thermometer
• Stethoscope
• Otoscope
• Sharp tweezers
• Bulb syringe
• Neti pot or sinus rinse bottle
• Ice pack, heating pad + hot/cold aromatherapy bags
• Plastic syringes

Allergies:

I’m grateful that no one in my family has major issues with allergies. That means that these remedies don’t get used all that often, but I keep them on hand just in case we do ever need them.

• Chamomile tea bags for itchy eyes
• Freeze-dried nettle capsules (freezer)
• Neti pot/facial steam herb blend (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)

Constipation:

Like the allergy remedies above, there’s not much use for these remedies in our home, but every now and again they can come into handy if you find yourself in a situation where you need them.

• Traditional Medicinals Smooth Move tea
• Move It Move It Herb Balls (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)
• Homemade suppositories (freezer)

Congestion:

Congestion is one of the most common symptoms babies come down with when they have colds, and it’s just as common for older kids and adults. Thankfully the below remedies, along with a steam vaporizer, have always helped us handle it pretty well.

• Shower steam tabs
• Menthol vapor pads
• Maty’s Baby Chest Rub
• Neti pot/facial steam herb blend (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)

Coughs:

Coughs, unfortunately, are frequent visitors in our home during the colder months when more viruses are going around. Here you’ll find some of our favorite herbal and homeopathic cough remedies that we use.

• Maty’s Organic Cough Syrup
• Roots & Bark Cough Blend (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)
• Herbal cough syrups (refrigerated)
• Homeopathic cough syrup
• Herbal cough drops ( homemade or buy )

Digestive upset:

Upset tummies can be a big deal for anyone, particularly for little ones. That’s why we have some effective remedies on hand for things like nausea, diarrhea, heartburn, and achy bellies.

• Peppermint + chamomile for tea
• Activated charcoal capsules
• Maty’s Acid Indigestion Relief
• Gaia Green Tea Leaf Tincture
• Slippery elm root powder
• Ginger chews

Itchy Skin:

Skin rashes tend to show up in my home more often in the summer months seeing how my kids play outdoors quite a bit more. Plus, we live in the woods so poison oak abounds! Thankfully, some of the remedies below are a lifesaver for itchy rashes, but they’re also really helpful for bug bites, itchy sunburns, or rashes from common childhood illnesses.

• Colloidal oatmeal
• Scratch No More salve
• Burts Bees Poison Ivy Soap
• Redmond Clay Hydrated Clay
• Homemade calamine lotion
• Aloe vera gel (refrigerated)

Pain, Headaches, Fever:

Pain and fevers are something that everyone will experience, and most of us will also have a least one headache in our life. Below are the remedies I keep on hand to approach these situations as naturally as possible.

• Come On Down fever tea blend (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)
• Oh! My Aching Head! glycerite (Get the recipe in my FREE Herbal Remedy Recipes e-book!)
• Trilight Herbs White Willow + Feverfew Glycerite
• Chamomile + Catnip for tea
• Sore Muscle Ointment for muscle strains
• Ginger Cayenne Salve for muscle strains
• Dit Da Jow liniment for sprains
• Arnica homeopathic tablets and gel for sprains and muscle strains

Sleep/Nerves:

I’m a big fan of sleep… my sleep and my kid’s sleep. That means, if there’s ever any trouble sleeping, there are remedies in our natural medicine cabinet to soothe the mind and body and help it relax into a blissful state of sleep.

• Herbal bedtime tea blend
• Chamomile tincture
• Bach Rescue Remedy
• Magnesium Oil

Yeast/Bacterial Infections:

Infections. Yuck. They’re not something that many of us want to mess with so I keep my natural medicine cabinet stocked with natural remedies to help keep them at bay so I don’t have to deal with them. Whether my kid has deep congestion in their chest, an earache, or a scratch or bite, I’m totally on top of doing what I can to keep infections out of the picture.

• All-purpose “Neosporin” salve (Get the recipe in my Ultimate How-To Guide: Herbal Ointments, Salves, and Balms)
• GOOT (Get the recipe in my Ultimate How-To Guide: Herbal Ointments, Salves, and Balms)
• Homemade suppositories (freezer)
• Echinacea tincture
• Earache Oil (Get the recipe in my Ultimate How-To Guide: Herbal Ointments, Salves, and Balms)
• Dr. Kloss’s Liniment – herbal wound disinfectant
• Manuka honey

So there you go… the contents of my natural medicine cabinet.

I purchase all of my herbal supplies from either Bulk Herb Store or Mountain Rose Herbs, my essential oils from Plant Therapy or Edens Garden, and basic supplies and tools from Amazon.

Now let me say again… if you don’t currently have a natural medicine cabinet in your home, but you’d like to make one, don’t let my list overwhelm you. Start by making a list of the most common illnesses or situations you face, do some research and find some natural options you can have on hand to help you approach those situations naturally, then make or buy those remedies and keep them somewhere in easy access. As new illnesses or situations come up, repeat the whole process again. Before you know it, you’ll have a fully stocked natural medicine cabinet, and you’ll be caring for your family as naturally as I do!

If you have a natural medicine cabinet in your home, I’d love to know if you keep it stocked with anything I’ve not mentioned above. I may have to add it to mine. Just leave your comments in the comment section below. It’s where all the good conversation happens anyway!

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.