Natural Remedies for Lowering a Fever

(Note: You can read this article on Lowering a Fever on my new blog, dkMommy Spot.)


I recently blogged about how to reduce a fever for your child after vaccinations, but what if your child has a fever due to a cold or flu? There are some great natural remedies to safely lower fevers in those cases too. One of the easiest ways is with herbal tea.

There are several you can try, but one of the most effective would be catnip tea. It's a little bitter, so if your baby is over a year old you can add a little honey. Or make the tea with catnip and lemon balm to make it more palatable. If you're nursing, you can drink the tea yourself and the benefits will pass through the breastmilk shortly after drinking it. I usually steep about a teaspoon of tea in a mug of hot but not boiling water for about 10 - 15 minutes. You can administer a dropperful every 15 minutes until the fever starts to come down, then increase the dosage to 1/4 cup every one to two hours. After the temperature is normal, continue giving 1/4 cup of tea 3 - 4 times a day for a few more days to help support recuperation.

Remember, though, that having a fever is not always a bad thing. It's the body's natural defense against viruses, so you don't always need to fight it. If the fever is 103 degrees or higher, call your doctor right away. But if it's 101 or less, it can often be managed with plenty of fluids. (Warm fluids help to encourage sweating, which also lowers a temperature. Older children may enjoy ginger tea, which although spicy, has a wonderful warming effect.) As always, if anything at all raises the alarm in your parental radar, call your doctor regardless. Don't be afraid of sounding silly or of asking too many questions. A good pediatrician will be more than willing to help you.

Natural Remedies for Clearing the Stuffy Nose

If there's one thing that will keep a child of any age awake, it's the stuffy nose. And if they're awake, you're awake! With over-the-counter medicines being called into question, you're probably wondering how to deal with things like a stuffy nose in a natural and safe way. I've got a few tricks to share with you - some perfect solutions for newborns, and some perfect even for you.

One of the most helpful remedies for the stuffy nose is salt water. This can be used for any age, and it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. For older children and adults, a weak solution of about a cup of warm water and a teaspoon of sea salt can be gently sniffed from an eyedropper into each nostril. For infants and toddlers, you can try a product called Baby Simply Saline. As the name implies, it is simply water and salt in a container that makes it easy to spray into baby's nostrils. No preservatives, no stinging.

If you're nursing a newborn, an unusual but effective technique is to put a few drops of breastmilk into each nostril with an eyedropper. Sounds weird? Well, since the breastmilk has bacteria fighting properties, it's actually a great natural choice. And it's free! I've found this unique remedy in many books on natural baby care.

If you didn't get a chance to read my post Natural Remedy for Baby's Cough, hop on over to it. Using a humidifier with essential oil can also help a stuffy nose. I give instructions on that post to help you out.

Got any of your own remedies you find helpful? Raw onion slices near the bed? A special tea? Share them with us in the Comments section - I'd love to hear more!

Natural Remedy for Baby's Cough

(Note: You can now read Natural Remedy for Baby's Cough at the new dkMommy Spot!)

I'd like to try and share as many natural cold and flu remedies for babies and young children that I can this season. With parents becoming more reluctant to use over-the-counter medications, the search is on for natural alternatives, and I've got a slew of them up my all-natural sleeves!

If you have a baby, owning a humidifier is essential when living in the cooler climates. I'd suggest a humidifier with a small reservoir for inhalants. If you already own one and there isn't an inhalant reservoir, that's alright. I'll show you how to use essential oils in either case.

Probably the most common essential oil that comes to most minds for coughs and stuffy noses is eucalyptus, but that's pretty potent stuff for babies, in particular babies under a year old. If it's all you have, you can use a few drops in the humidifier, but stay in the room with your baby while the humidifier is running, and keep the door open a crack. An oil I prefer is rosemary. A good quality rosemary oil requires only a couple of drops in the inhalant reservoir, and the fragrance is calming and pleasant. If you plan on putting your baby to bed while using rosemary in the humidifier, try running the humidifier for a good 30 minutes before bedtime. That way you can check the room for vapor intensity. Keep in mind your baby's sense of smell is much more acute than yours; less is more. After you put your baby to bed, keep the door open a crack just for a little extra ventilation.

If your humidifier doesn't have the inhalant reservoir, put a few drops of the oil on a cotton ball and place the cotton ball near the steam vent. But make sure you don't block it, or no humidity will get through.

Always get the highest quality oils you can afford, because there is a difference between them. If you can, give a whiff of the oil before you buy it. It should definitely smell like what's written on the label!

One last piece of advice: I've seen humidifier cleaning solutions out there, as well as additives to put in the water tank to avoid mineral buildups. I'd definitely steer clear of these. We've used humidifiers in our home for years, and if you clean them regularly with water and vinegar, and if they're rinsed out very well, you'll have no problem with buildups. It's important to take apart the entire unit on a regular basis as well, scrubbing out any mineral buildup with an old toothbrush.

Check back for more cold and flu natural remedies for your babies and young children. The wonderful thing about natural remedies is you can use several at once without worries. And that's important because when your little one is sick, nothing is better for mom and dad than peace of mind about cold and flu care.

(Note: Two other possible oils to use would be thyme or lavender. Follow same precautions.)