This post is one of our Pinterest fans FAVORITES so we thought we’d repost it in case you missed it the first time! What ? You are not following us on Pinterest? Come see why over 220,ooo other people are!…click here, and join us!
7 Home Remedies
to try when your kids are out of sorts.
Now by “out of sorts,” I mean sick, not just crabby!
#1. Diarrhea
I swear by the B.R.A.T. diet.
It stands for-
Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
&
Toast
( The toast needs to be white, and my kids usually don’t want it toasted. I still say toast, if I didn’t, the acronym would be B.R.A.B.!
Then you would have to say you have your kid on the ”BRAB” diet, and where is the fun in that?)
#2. Constipation
If you can get your kid to eat it, BLACK LICORICE will cure their constipation nine times out of ten!
I’m not kidding. I swear it works better than anything out there!
#3. Burns
Did you know that the baking soda volcano every kid wants to make for their science project is actually useful?
The chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar creates a cooling effect that will soothe your child’s minor burns.
It works great if they touch hot pans. Just pour equal amounts of the ingredients into a bowl to bathe your child’s hand till the burning stops.
You can keep adding each ingredient intermittently to activate the bubbles.
#4. Ear infections
These are being treated less and less these days with antibiotics, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t painful.
I like to use a hot pack big enough so they can lay their head down to relieve the “ache”!
Shelley spotlighted someone that showed us how to make a darling cover for them in her
“Hello Therapeutic” post.
I can’t get over how cute they are!
Now how am I going to go back to my washcloth hot pack without seething with jealousy?
#5. Headache
Before I go for the drugs, I like to try these three things-
-Give them a big drink of water.
-Rub their head/neck making sure to work out the knots.
-There is a pressure point between your thumb and pointer finger right here-
I do this one a lot. It really works!
#6. Teething
I hate it, don’t you?
I remember when my wisdom teeth started coming through and let me just say, Ouch!
For your little ones, just take a wash cloth,
wet the center with a little water,
spread on a Tbls. of apple sauce,
roll it up,
then freeze it.
Babies love this b/c it’s sweet, chewy, and cold so it numbs their gums!
If your little one isn’t very little and doesn’t choke on things, like my “little” one, try FROZEN PEAS.
We actually use all sorts of frozen things for Henry.
As you can see, frozen blueberries are not the best idea if you plan on taking your kid somewhere in the next…
oh I’d say, two DAYS or so!
It takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r
to get the stains off!
#7. Sore Throat
When their throat is killing them, I like to make them “Grandmas Top Secret Lemon Honey Drink.”
I’m not sure if it’s allowed,
but I guess I’ll divulge this time honored recipe.
It’s so simple, just heat 1-cup water, add 1-Tbsp lemon juice, and 1&1/2-Tbsp honey!
This feels so nice going down your throat, I just made some right now, and I’m not even sick!
Also check out Dawn’s magic herbal tea recipe that is sure to blast sickness away:
BONUS #8! Coconut Oil.
This stuff can help a bunch of things from diaper rash to dry hair - we love coconut oil around here (why?.. see this post). We found a brilliant new way to use it. The best part, we have also found a coupon to make it dirt cheap {yes that is a $10.00 coupon we just found for it. You are welcome 
}. Or you can find it here for a great price.
Want more natural remedies?
Check out these posts:
From Skeptic to Believer. All Natural Remedies.
Stop that cold in its tracks!
Zap that cold sore fast!
If you forget everything else, but remember what I told you about #2, I’ll feel like I accomplished some good in the world!
Thanks for sharing! Here’s one that’s been time tested, and it saved me from getting up a dozen times a night in the summer.
When the kids have mosquito bites (they wake up at night with itching and then they wake you up to do something about it), use a cotton ball to put witch hazel on the bite. They will go back to sleep and not wake you up any more that evening. I use it for my mosquito bites all the time, and only need to do it a couple of times before the bite disappears.
ALSO, for children and adults too, a teaspoon of brown sugar (followed by a couple swallows of water) cures the hiccups, EVERY TIME.
.-= Weedwacker´s last blog ..Smells =-.
Thanks! I didn’t know either of these remedies. I wish I had known them before my kids took a trip to their Grandparents and got mosquito bites on every square inch of their body. The poor things… and poor me too!
We use a spoonful of peanut butter for hiccups at our house.
That’s funny, because my kids crack up every time they see me about to eat a spoonful of peanut butter because it GIVES me hiccups every time. I’ve been getting hiccups from peanut butter as far back as I can remember.
Easy hiccups cure, get a pencil and put lengthwise in your mouth all the way across you back teeth bite down and hold for 60 seconds. Saw it on the doctors last year, thought it was crap, 5 min later DH had hiccups , tried it, it worked! it worked on me and my daughter that week too! Coconut oil is helpful for eczema too. Black licorice is good respiratory healthy as well and for sinus infections try oil pulling (swishing of sesame oil in the mouth for 15-45 min , also good for respiratory issues and dental health or issues.
I had no idea about the black licorice!! I’ll see if my kids will eat it!
.-= Lynn from For Love or Funny´s last blog ..11 people are smarter than I am =-.
I’ll be using the teething remedy TODAY. Poor Baby J is cutting molars this week and they are no fun at all! (I actually received a gift {it came from Target} of these “teethers” that look like nets on the end so that you can put frozen fruit in them. That took the pain away a few days ago but I’m trying the washcloth today!)
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..The Secret Life of CeeCee WilkesChapters 36-50 =-.
Hi Lauren, I used to put an ice cube in a wash cloth ( the thin baby ones) and tied an elastic around the ice cube- My kids used it to chomp their needy gums on. Works great and no mess – perfect for car trips;)
This is your most useful post yet! I had never heard about most of these tips. Thank you!
.-= Amy @ Blowout Party!´s last blog ..From the Closet- Gorgeous Headbands by Dolce Vita Mia =-.
I am definitely bookmarking this one so I don’t say, “Where did I read how to…?” Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I really don’t care for black licorice, but a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. I had no idea!!
Love all these tips! Natural rememdies are the way to go! Peppermint oil is also a great way to ease nausea. Just put a little on a kleenex and lay on your kids pillow. Added bonus: It smells great, even when your kid stinks!~
Great ideas! Thanks!!
.-= Tami Higbee´s last blog ..Builders of Nations =-.
When my kids were teething I used freeze pops. The ones in the long tubes. Don’t cut it open for them to eat, just hand it to them straight from the freezer. They can chew and chew on it and if they happen to break through the plastic, it won’t hurt them since it is made to be eaten. My pediatrician told me about that one.
I’m drinking the secret lemon honey drink right now! It’s amazing and does feel fabulous going down! Thanks for the recipe!
I have used this remedy for years and it is SO good. The only thing I do differently is use lime instead of lemon.
I’m printing this – thank you!
.-= Julie´s last blog ..What really matters =-.
Great tips! I had never heard of the BRAT diet, will have to try that next time. And what a cute baby/blueberry photo!!!!
.-= Jessa (Holiday Haven)´s last blog ..WISH i was on HOLIDAY – Craigdrroch Castle =-.
THANK YOU for very useful tips! I am going to bookmark them now!
Thanks Em, that was very useful and I loved the pictures. My rice bag is actually a sock with a big knot tied in the end…it is hideous but for a quick one it works
Just remember..no honey for babies under 12 months.
Shoot, thanks so much for the reminder. I don’t think about it b/c my kids can’t tell me their throat hurts till they are well over 12 months of age.
Thank you so much for the tips! I CANNOT wait to try the black licorice tip. My 6 year old takes Fletchers Laxative for Children every single day as prescribed by the gastroenterologist in an attempt to get his body working right and retrained to go regularly. I really hope this will work for him!
.-= Amy Edwards´s last blog ..Good Excuse! =-.
When my daughter was little I gave her Jello everyday to help with #2.
)
If you can find a good acupuncturist, it may help with the constipation.
Swimming cures constipation in our house – everytime! Within 5 minutes kicking around they are out running to the bathroom!
So does jumping up and down on the bed! Every time I allowed the children to jump, within a minute or so they would have to go poo. Lol
try probiotics – you can become dependent on laxatives.
My 6 year old gets constipated sometimes, so I give her a few prunes! She loves them!! If your little one isn’t that into them on their own, we also like to chop up a handful of them and throw them in to our oatmeal! My husband even likes it this way! Super yum!
Thank you so much for the teething ideas.
Thanks for all the tips Em!! I will use them on my sweet grandchildren. you have some great ideas… the one about the baking soda and vinegar for burns is a life saver. Cute bags for the hot packs for ear aches. Remember the long white gym socks we used!! thanks again!!
HeHEhE, yep, Jack and I still use them. I even made one with those socks that have toes. Thanks for keeping it real Mom.
Now here’s one for if your infant is colicky or has lots of air or gas in the tummy.
Boil half an onion in water until the onion is soft.
Pour the water not the onion in a bottle/sippy.
Put a tsp of sugar in. Remember what Mary Poppins says!
stir it.
Drop an ice cube in to cool it down.
Have your baby drink as much as possible. Doesnt have to drink it all just enough.
and it somehow gets all the air off their tummies and lets them sleep.
(grandma told mom when i was a baby. I was colicky. So was my mom. They said it worked everytime. I gave it to my daughter once when she was having hurtful gas. It helped her)
Try lemon juice on the blueberry stains. We used to eat mulberries off Grandma’s tree and get stains all over us. Lemon juice took it all out of our clothes and off our hands and faces.
~a
Vitamin A drops work every time. The trick is start them at first sign of your child or you feeling sick. Must do correct dosage for Childs age and weight and for a maximum of 3 days, no more because it can be harmful if taken for too many days. When I feel like I’m getting sick I take these drops and it keeps me well.
Awesome. When my kids were teething, I took the dollar gloves from Wal-mart or Target and washed them up, dried them, then stuck frozen peaches in the fingers, tied off the cuff part and let the kids go to town with them! Nowadays I see they have the mesh teethers! (I knew I should have patented it!)
Also, if your child is coughing at night, rather than using cough syrup or some other medication, we rub Vicks Vaporub on the bottom of their feet for a bit, make sure there is plenty, and then stick clean cotton socks on them. (I don’t know why they have to be cotton, that’s just what my mom did!) The coughing stops at night!
.-= Maija´s last blog ..Fast Runner =-.
One thing that helps my kids ear aches is to put some warm rubbing alcohol in their ear. It relieves the paid almost instantly and allows them to sleep. This especially works for swimmers ear but works for other ear infections too.
It does work great, but remember to not put it in ears that have tubes in them. It is eqivalent to pouring alcohol on a open wound. Not pleasant for the little ones!
Here we heat up an onion, wrap in a towel and lay on ear. The heat and the fumes minimize the pain. Old German recipe
Smells but works and everyone has onions at home-simply stick in the microwave.
One of my favorites for night time coughing is a teaspoon of honey at bedtime. Try to give it last thing with no water afterward. It really works. CAUTION though – don’t give straight honey to small children. I can’t remember the age now but I think it’s 2 or 3?
the age is 1 do not give honey to infants under the age of 1
I want to give a big thanks to everyone for sharing your tips with us. I didn’t know most of them, and am way excited to try them out!
Another method for ear infections is an onion. Cut an onion in half and heat in a pan until soft and juice is running from it. Let cool and then hold to infected ear for 5-20 minutes.
I tried this when we had just moved into our new home and everything was still in boxes & my son woke up at 11:30 screaming in pain over his ear. I was tired, couldn’t remember were anything was at but had remembered reading this somewhere. He stopped crying literally within 5 minutes of letting the juice seep into his ear and the next morning his ear no longer hurt at all. I have since tried it two other times and it has worked every time!
I have heard that the juices from garlic work as well and that is sold at ‘health food’ stores with the little eyedropper things in them already.
Thanks Em….and everyone else for these fabulous tips!!! I loved your post about first day of school traditions and now tips about what to do after your kids start school and the colds and sickness begins! What great info for the fun and practical parts of parenting!!!! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Look the tips! Knew of the BRAT diet and it has worked well!
I’m bookmarking this page and will follow your blog.
I’ve scanned though other pages but can’t seem to find the other “posts” you mention Aubrey. Can you direct me to the “tips about what to do after your kids start school and the colds and sickness begins”, please?
Thanks!
Does the black licorice have to be a certain brand? We have chronic constipation in our house and any natural things (other than prune juice which is getting old) we can do would be great- we are already on Miralax, mineral oil, probiotics, Dulcolax, Wheat bran and high fiber diets with little to no improvements.
We’re now on a Miralax and magneseum citrate 3 out of 4 weekends a month (fri pm; sat am; sat noon…then miralax sat pm and sun am); and miralax and mineral daily during the week to “clear everything out”. The Magneseum Citrate even hit my hubby hard! We’ve also added Pedisure w/ Fiber.
For ear infections/pain, I’ve also heard to use sweet oil. Put a few drops in the ear and place a cotton ball to keep the liquid in (if old enough).
Regarding teething – you can us cloves rub it on your finger and rub it on the childs tooth area it has a nubing affect. Also pickles work – don’t know why maybe the vinager and cold but it really workd on both kids.
I do the pickle thing with all my kids and tell everyone about it as well.
Hi – I haven’t read the rest of the comments (gotta get a boy to shcool!), but Chamomilla is usually a brilliant homeopathic remedy for teething bubbies.
Have a great day everyone!
The homeopathic description is misleading. Great suggestions for kitchen remedies none the less.
My Grandmother always used onion tea for a cough. She would take a small onion and boil in a cup of water. She would and suger (really sweet) drain and cool. I think the onion has a sedating effect and the sugar coats the throat.
Next time I will try the licorice remedy on my kid. Until now, I was giving him fresh figs to eat when I had and it workd well for constipation: the fresh figs should be eaten with their skins. Otherwise, when I don’t have fresh figs, I make a kind of jam with the dried figs: let 4 figs soak in some water all night. Drain them and mash them with a fork. Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with the mashed figs and eat them with whole wheat bread for breakfast.
Just a quick tip from a former chef (I say “former” because I don’t do it professionally anymore)… lemon juice removes blueberry stains from skin in a snap. Just sayin’.
Love the BRAT diet. I use it for when IBS issues decide to flare up. A home remedy I use for burns is steeping tea bags in water then adding ice to cool it down. It works a lot better than just cold water. Not sure why. Oh, and the honey tea is fantastic. For adults, it’s also quite good with a bit of peach brandy added. My dad swears by it as a cure-all.
Nothing suggested here is “homeopathic”! You really need find out what “homeopathic” means, these are all wonerful sugestions, and I have used many of them for years! I am a Registered Nurse and have 10 years experience in Pediatricts. You can call them “natural” or “naturopathic” or even “holistic”, but NOT “homeopathic”!
I guess we used the word all wrong. Good to know.
Put a slice of ginger steep in the lemon honey drink! If your kids don’t understand not to eat it at least try it yourself! It is delicious and really helps you feel better. I was taught to give a slice to each mug and you just keep it in there until the tea is gone.
These are great! Although you might want to add in a side note about the tea. Honey should not be given to children under 12 months!
I have used most of these ideas EXCEPT for #2 and that’s probably the one I have needed to make the kids use the most! Thanks for the tip! I’ll for sure be using it. Suppositories are no fun at all.
Another great thing for ear infections is garlic oil. You can buy it at any health food store. Or even just plain ‘ole olive oil… warm it up a smidge under running water drop it in the ear, put a cotton ball in and put a warm pack over it… or just drop it room temp and put the warm pack over it. It’s a little harder for the little ones, to get them to stay still, but garlic is a natural anti biotic {it’s either antibiotic or anti- inflamitory.. I forget which one}
I add a bit of grated or thinly sliced ginger to the honey lemon tea for a sore throat. It helps with the inflammation, and tastes yummy too! If you add too much it might be too spicy. I usually boil it with the water for a few minutes and they add the lemon and honey.
These methods are not “homeopathic”. Homeopathy is a branch of pseudoscience that involves incredibly diluted ingredients in water. Some great ideas, but a misleading title.
We’ve recently been updated as to what is what.
Thanks for filling us in. Hopefully they are still helpful tips nonetheless. 
My entire family has been into holistic medicine for years. For earaches, an even better cure that I’ve used several times and I use it on my animals, even my vet said it would work, Sweet Oil. You can buy it almost anywhere, just a few drops in any aching ear and it takes it all away.
And the honey tea is great, but adding a shot of whiskey to it makes it even better for people with a severe cough, now I’m not saying to give it to kids, but for adults it’s an excellent remedy. My mom’s doctor even agreed that if it helps then use it.
To get the stains off, use toothpaste! I use it for koolaid all the time! It works for any food/drink that stains the skin!!
These are great! I just got one for you to add to this list. If you have Pink Eye, use milk. There are 3 types of Pink Eye… allergenic, viral, and bacterial. Allergenic is more about getting away from the problem or if there is dander in your eye to wash it out with water. For the viral type, it’s the same as any common cold and will go away after about 5 days or so, the bacterial type is the one that most people use antibiotics for. I have just had this type and didn’t want to use antibiotics so I researched home remedies and I found that if you use milk it really works and it was gone almost completely by the first day of putting milk in it. 4 times a day for about 2 days, drop a drop or two of milk in your eye and the good bacteria in the milk will build up the good bacteria in your eye instead of using antibiotics which destroys all the bacteria in your eye leaving you vulnerable again to getting another dose of Pink eye. Thank you so much for putting these together into one site!
Another one for #2 (though might be used more by brave adults) Sea Salt Flush: 8oz warm water and a tsp of SEA salt (table salt will not work, and it’s disgusting). It’ll clean you right up, plus it flushes toxins from your body – even ones built up over a long period of time. Best part, it works every time, and only within about 30 minutes to an hour (and you’re done in about 2 hours0.
I loved you idea’s. A good one for ear infections is to cut an onion in half and warm it in the microwave, then hold it your childs ear for ten mins or so. The pain will be gone and back to sleep they will go. It works amazing!!!!
I’m a peds nurse and do telephone triage, your tips are great and often what we recommend. A few things to add for constipation is also avoiding the ABCs of constipation – Apples Inot apple juice), bananas, and Carrots. Also, for ear infections as long as they don’t have tubes or drainage from the ear a few drops of olive oil or other cooking oil a few times a day helps provide pain relief!
Really? I guess our son was the exception to that ABC’s of constipation. Apples, bananas and carrots all three would make him have a bowel movement very quickly, especially the carrots. If he ate more than 1 carrot a day, he’d have wonderfully orange loose bowel movements for hours.
I have used Hydrogen Peroxide to cure colds, ear infections. Using a Qtip put a couple of drops in the ear and let it sit for a couple of minutes with your head turned so the ear is up– it feels like it’s tickling your ear. Then drain on a cloth or tissue.
BTW–love these ideas!
At the first sign of a sore throat, I pour a bit of hydrogen peroxide into the ear canal and let it bubble there for awhile. Eliminates most cold. If you do get a cold, suck on Vitamin C/Echinacea drops (not the sugary kind) to sooth throat tickles. I’ve known them to stop coughing fits that nothing else would touch.
For fevers my Grammy would use vinegar on the bottom of our feet. And as for coughing and congestion of chest or head she would put Vicks vapor rub on bottom of feet and place socks on overnight. Works like magic!
I also freeze celery stalks for teething-both my kids loved it!