I heard my 3 year old coughing in her sleep a few weeks ago. It was one of those croupy, wheezing coughs that hit without warning. The cough was not waking her up so I let her sleep. As soon as she woke up the next morning, she wheezed when she breathed, her barking cough sounded tighter. I immediately got out my favorite lung herbs to help her. It’s important to begin treating any illness immediately before it has time to take over.
It’s very simple to get younger children to drink any medicinal tea that may not taste the best. Adults can many times force themselves to down something if we know the importance of consuming it….it can be harder to convince a young child of it. 🙂
The child dosage for medicinal tea is 1/2 cup three times a day. If the illness is really bad or you don’t catch it at the beginning, you may need to administer the 1/2 cup of tea hourly or every other hour.
Simply bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil {or boil 1 1/2 cups at a time if you’d like to make the tea all at once for that day}. Add 1/2-1 tsp. of dried herbs per 1/2 cup water {double the amount of herbs if using fresh}. Cover the pan and steep for 5-20 minutes depending on how strong you want the tea. I typically steep for 15 minutes.
Once the tea is cooled, pour 1/2 cup in the drinking cup. The only other thing you need is juice. Thankfully my local Aldi has started carrying organic apple juice! Use whatever is available to you though!
Fill the cup up with juice….
… and down she drinks it! I like combining tea with juice rather than sugar – makes it a little healthier.
And as for this cough? I gave her the tea 3 times that first day and it was gone by the next morning! I also gave her elderberry syrup for a few days {about 3 times a day because she was happy and eating and not lethargic. If she were lethargic, I would give it to her hourly.}, to help her immune system fight off whatever she had.
How do you get your children to drink medicinal tea?
This is exactly what I have been doing to get my kiddos to drink elderberry syrup! 😉
Many people have questions about whether they can combine herbs with juice to help the taste. It works like a charm! 🙂
Sara – I make my elderberry syrup with some cinnamon stick and cloves and my kids love it (we sweeten with honey). It tastes so much better than plain!
Hi Jill, thanks for this!
I saw this on FB and thought you would have a brilliant response : )
Science and evidence-based parenting shared a link.
22 hours ago
“This is the kind of dangerous nonsense that leads parents to end up killing their kids by neglecting to seek proper medical attention. Look what she says – ” I also gave her elderberry syrup for a few days {about 3 times a day because she was happy and eating and not lethargic. If she were lethargic, I would give it to her hourly.}, to help her immune system fight off whatever she had.”
If your child is lethargic from a high temperature they should be given paracetamol to bring their temperature down and if they don’t improve you should take them to doctor. A very high or prolonged temperature are cause seizures in children, and news flash – elderberries are not medicine.
http://jillshomeremedies.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-i-get-my-toddler-to-drink-medicinal.html“
Thanks for the heads up on this! I responded on the page as kindly as I could. 🙂
Jill, do you think the lung tea or the tincture you link to would be helpful in fighting croup (I assume that is similar to the cough you described in your lo)? My 3yo had a sudden barking cough last night and it turned into a bad night of constricted breathing. We handled it, but I know that we may have several more nights of the same. I thought something like this would be an extra boost. TIA!!
It works perfect for that! I have just been dealing with the same thing with my 5 year old. She developed a croupy cough and then it settled deep into her lungs. I gave her 2 cups of the tea throughout each day which calms the cough but also breaks up and expels what’s in the lungs. I also gave her a natural antibiotic to help prevent infection. Garlic salve added to the routine works really well too! http://jillshomeremedies.com/2014/06/make-your-own-5-minute-antibiotic-garlic-salve.html
Jill recently posted…Natural Remedies for Diabetes
Thank you! Now to find it somewhere in my town because I don’t have it!!! We’ve been using the garlic salve already, too, along with some silver.
Thanks so much for the speedy response!!
Anytime – thanks for the question!
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