COUGHS & COLDS?…… NOT IN OUR HOUSE!

It may seem like your little one has one cold after another all winter. Young children haven’t built up their immunity to the 100’s of different cold viruses that are around. That’s why they can get as many as 8 to 10 colds each year before they turn 2 years old. And going back to nursery or school after the holidays means that your child will be coming in to contact with a whole new host of bugs.

Eating a balanced and healthy diet and taking plenty of exercise can also help but with a few essential oils you can face the winter ahead.

An essential oil burner is a great thing to have in the house and can be used in the bedroom, the front room or my preferred location, the hallway. This way you pass it all the time, walking around the house as you go about your daily routines.

At the first sign of a cold add to the water reservoir 2 drops ofCardamom Elettaria cardamom, 2 drops of Lemon, Citrus limonumand 2 drops of Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus globulus, and light the candle. Watch that the burner doesn’t run out of water, it should last a good few hours.

Each one is different so read the individual instructions that should come with the burner. Always buy one that has a glazed inner surface.

If your little one does come down with a cold Myrtle, Myrtus communis is a great decongestant and can be used with babies as young as 6 months old. Myrtle can be added to Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia in an essential oil burner and can be used at bedtime.

A ½ hr before bed add the drops of each essential oil to the water reservoir, (see below for amounts) light the candle and close the bedroom door. When your child goes to bed blow out the candle and their room will be full of the decongestant properties of Myrtle and the antiseptic and sedative properties of Lavender, hopefully stopping the cold in its tracks or shortening it considerably. This can be repeated nightly.

My 2 quite often go to school with one drop of Myrtle on their collar if they have a cold, or to act as a preventive against all those runny noses! A word of warning though, Myrtle can stain so keep away from anything white!

Coughs and colds are an inevitable part of childhood, but by using the above advice you could find that your nights are less broken and that if you do succumb to the odd cold you may get over them a lot quicker than before!