Cough and Cold home remedies to improve immunity in babies

Homemade Remedies For Cough And Cold In Babies

Cold and cough are the most common infections that a baby attracts, due to their developing immune system. Children can be infected when they come into contact with germs that spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes, or when they come into direct contact with an infected person.

With Covid-19 now spreading across the nations, It is even more important to understand how to improve the immunity in babies towards cough and cold.

With every changing season, babies are affected in the worst possible way. Watching the little one cough and sneeze all day is really heartbreaking. This is when we immediately call their pediatrician and ask them for medicines, which can treat our baby.

There are several medicines, which can treat the flu like symptoms in your little baby; but in the said conditions of Lockdown (current situation across the world due to Covid-19), and even otherwise; treating babies with homemade remedies sounds way better than treating them with medicines.

It is at this time that your grandmother’s and mother’s homemade remedies come into action, to save your little one from the flu like symptoms. So let us see what all ingredients have proven to kick out the cold and cough from your child.

Home remedy ingredients which help in fighting cough & cold in babies

1. Breast milk: There is no greater remedy than breast milk for curing the flu like symptoms in your baby. It works as a remedy for any infections in babies who are six months of age or even older.
   
   
2. Homemade nasal drops: Did you know that you can make your very own nasal drops at home? All you need is a sterilised spoon, where you need to mix ½ tsp salt and 8 tsp of warm filtered water in a sterilised bowl. Keep the baby’s head tilted as you drop the
   prescribed amount into their nostrils.
   
   
3. Turmeric: The good old turmeric appears on every homemade remedy list. But this is because it has so many health benefits. Mix a little turmeric with warm water to make a smooth paste and apply this mixture on your baby’s chest, forehead and the soles of their feet.
   
   Wash off the mixture after some time. The heat from the turmeric will help in diluting the mucus and allow it to ooze out easier.
   
   
4. Warm mustard oil massage: Mustard oil has some medicinal properties too. Warm a cup of mustard oil with two cloves of garlic and a few kalonji seeds (Nigella sativa).
   
   Massage this infused oil onto your baby’s feet, chest, back and palms. Wipe away the excess oil with a muslin cloth.
   
   
5. Steam: This is a natural and an easy way of clear the blocked nasal passage of your baby. Run the hot shower/tap in the bathroom and let steam fill up the room. After turning off the tap, take your baby inside the room. The steam will be mild for you but it is perfect for a newborn.
   
   
6. Infused water: This remedy is only for babies who are 6 months or older and have been introduced water already. Boil filtered water with a spoon of ajwain/cumin seeds or tulsi leaves. Filter this water and bring it down to a lukewarm temperature before bottling it and feeding your baby in regular intervals.
   
   
7. Warm water concoction: You can prepare a warm water concoction using ingredients like 1-2 tbsp of jaggery, 1-2 tbsp of black pepper, a pinch of cumin seeds and a cup of water. Mix all the ingredients and bring the water to a boil.
   Cool and filter the water to be fed. Do not give your baby more than 2 tbsps of this concoction.

These homemade ingredients will come handy to treat your child’s cough and cold. Instead of giving your child regular dosage of medicines, these homemade remedies will act as perfect medicines, which will be suitable for your little one.

Specially during the pandemics like Covid-19, it is all the more important that you know these home remedies to keep your child safe inside the home without the need to visiting any hospital or doctors.