Natural Home Remedies to Soothe A Toddler with A Cold

Natural remedies that will relieve your child's cold.

Your sweet toddler has gotten a cold; Did you know that your child will probably get catch a cold up to a dozen times in 1 year? A toddler’s immune system is defenseless against catching a cold. When your toddler is exploring and touching everything, it is easy for them to catch a cold. Your toddler may put their finger in their nose, mouth, or rub their eyes, and they can easily catch a cold.

What are Some Natural Ways to Ease Your Child’s Discomfort?

No one wants to see their child sick. As a parent, ease your child’s discomfort in whatever ways possible and follow these easy natural remedies to help ease the symptoms of the common cold.

What Are the Signs of a Cold?

When your toddler begins to complain of their head hurting, sore throat, you begin to notice a stuffy nose, runny nose, or a cough, these are all signs of a cold.

At the first signs of a cold keep your child home. You do not want to spread more germs around. Children are already getting sick from the adults that are not staying home when sick. You do not want to be the parent that sends your toddler to daycare or preschool with a runny nose or a fever and causes other children to get a cold. This may be a time when you need to enlist help from friends or family members. If you cannot stay home with your child, reach out to a caring family member or a helpful friend and see if they can stay with your child while you are away for the day.

How to Keep your Toddler Hydrated When They Don’t Want to Eat or Drink

 

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Keeping your child hydrated will help ease the cold symptoms and provide comfort for your toddler. You should try to avoid sugary drinks.

Water is easiest. Coconut water is also an option. It gives your toddler some nutrients and will assist in keeping them cool if they happen to be overheated.

Pick out a fun water bottle and fill it up. Encourage your toddler to take small frequent sips. If your toddler doesn’t want to drink water; fruit juices, like apple and grape, can be watered down and given to your toddler to provide hydration. Use roughly a 1:1 ratio of juice and water. Or about half juice and half water. Use caution when giving your child citrus juices like orange juice. Sometimes citrus juices can upset an already sore throat.

Giving your toddler something warm like tea to drink will help soothe their sore throat. Other foods to help your child stay hydrated are fresh fruits, applesauce, and canned fruits over frozen ice cubes.

How to Help Your Toddler Sleep When They Have a Cold

When your toddler has a cold you want them to be as comfortable as possible and get rest. If you make a cozy resting spot that is not their bed they will feel more relaxed and want to rest and watch their favorite movie. Create a comfortable spot on the couch and turn on a favorite video. Your toddler will be able to feel cozy, rest, and hopefully, fall asleep.

Sleep is one of the top remedies for a cold. Rest and fluids. If you can get your child to rest and maybe take nap, their body will work on fighting the cold while they are asleep.

Stuffy or Runny Nose?

When a stuffy or a runny nose is causing your toddler to have trouble breathing, you can clear their nose with saline drops. This is a natural way to clear the congestion in your toddler’s sinuses when they have a cold.

Blowing your toddler’s nose is helpful in clearing the congestion, however, sometimes children have a hard time blowing their nose. To ease the discomfort of a stuffy nose you can use a nasal bulb to suction out the mucus that is building up and preventing your child from breathing through their nose.

How to Help Relieve Pain and Discomfort

Warm water with lemon and honey will soothe your toddler’s sore throat. Honey will boost your toddler’s immune system to help them recover faster.

To relieve your toddler’s cough, use steam. If your child’s cough sounds like they are trying to hack up mucus or it sounds dry and is deep, head to the bathroom and start a steamy and hot shower. Bring your toddler into the bathroom for about 15 minutes. The steam from the hot running water will help reduce airway swelling and open your toddler’s airways to reduce the amount of coughing.

You may want to read your child a story or two or watch a short video while you are both sitting in the bathroom together. It will make the time pass a little quicker for both of you.

A humidifier can help too. If you have one, plug in the humidifier near where your toddler is resting. It is best to have a cool-mist humidifier because the warm-mist humidifiers warm up and could be dangerous for your toddler. By adding moisture to the air around your toddler, you will help ease their congestion in their sinuses and the coughing.

When the Fever Hits

To drop a fever your goals is to cool your child’s body from the inside out. Things like popsicles, chilled foods, ice pops, and fresh fruit will help your child stay hydrated and cool their body temperature from the inside.

Take extra care when trying to cool your toddler with fans, washcloths, or baths. Make your toddler comfortable but not cold or chilled. You do not want your toddler to shiver. When your toddler’s body is shivering it is actually creating heat! So, keep your toddler comfortable and cool.

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Turn on the fan and let it circulate around the room. Avoid pointing the fan directly on your toddler. You’re creating comfort while cooling your toddler’s body temperature from the inside to help lower your toddler’s fever.

Is your toddler fussy because of the cold? How to help you get through it.

Whenever possible, share the responsibilities of a sick toddler with your partner, spouse, family members, or supportive friends. Always rest when your child is resting. You may be up at 3 am with a sick toddler. Take advantage of the resting periods. You can lay down with your toddler and comfort them while they are resting.

Make sure you are taking care of yourself by staying hydrated, keeping your hands clean and away from your face, and eating. It is sometimes easy to forget to care for yourself when you are caring for a sick toddler.

Ways to Avoid your Toddler Catching a Cold

Everyone should be washing their hands. Bar soap is perfectly acceptable. Don’t feel like you have to use the antibacterial soaps. Sometimes they can be irritating to the skin. You are better off making sure your child is using soap and warm water and keeping their hands clean.

Use hand sanitizers as necessary. Tossing a mini hand sanitizer in your purse or bag, and remembering to use it, will help keep the cold germs away.

When you share things with each other, germs are spread. Try your hardest not to share. Yes, sharing is caring. But not when you or your child is sick. Step up your cleaning game. When your child is sick, wipe down everything more often. You should pay extra attention to door handles, counters, the refrigerator door, and chair backs and arms. Little hands go everywhere. You’ll want to keep the germs away and do your best to keep yourself and your family healthy.

Don’t forget, you should not be substituting a doctor’s advice with information found on the internet. If you feel that your child needs to receive medical attention, do not hesitate to call the doctor or bring them to an urgent care facility.