Natural Cold Treatments

When using herbs with children you can usually find a product made specifically for infants and children. If you can't here's how to determine the dosage. You take the child's weight and
divide it by 150. The resulting fraction is the portion of the adult dose to administer.
The first thing you'll want to do is boost your body's immune system.
Echinacea, 2 capsules 3 times per day, and Colloidal Silver are great immune system boosters.

Boost your intake of vitamin C, up to 500mg 4 times per day, and eat foods with plenty of fresh garlic.

Anise and Mullein, in tea form and taken as needed, are both natural expectorants.

Elderberry, 2 tsp 2 times per day, is the best antiviral product on the market, natural or otherwise. It is most effective in fighting the flu virus, but is also very effective against cold viruses.

Aromatherapy can be a great tool as well. Lavender and Clary Sage in your bath are what you'll want to use. Lavender works to relax muscles and can help soothe coughs and Clary Sage helps alleviate the grumpiness that tends to accompany colds.

What you'll need to look for is an essential oil. It is the oils of these plants that work, so something that merely contains a fragrance is going to be useless.

Bath for colds and flu

Take some unscented liquid soap and add five drops Clary Sage oil and ten drops Lavender oil
and use your finger to mix the oil with the soap. This emulsifies the oils so that they mix with your bath water.

Nettle, 1/2 tsp  2-5 times per day, is a natural antihistamine. Nettle is also wonderful for treating seasonal allergies. It's a great alternative to artificial antihistamines that can affect milk supply.

Some recipes:

Vapor Rub

1/2 teaspoon eucalyptus essential oil
1/8 teaspoon peppermint essential oil
1/8 teaspoon rosemary essential oil
1/8 teaspoon clary sage essential oil
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix ingredients together in a glass bottle (not plastic as the essential
oils will bleed into it making the rub less effective) and shake well.
Massage onto chest as often as needed.

Cough Syrup

1 tablespoon anise
1 tablespoon mullein leaves
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon rose hips
1 tablespoon slippery elm bark
1 tablespoon lemongrass leaves
1 quart water
½ cup rice syrup

Place herbs and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered.
Remove from heat, cover and let herbs steep for 45 minutes. Strain out
the herbs. Return liquid, uncovered, to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and slowly stir in syrup. Let cool completely. Store in a glass
container in the refrigerator for up to 12 months.

Dosage: Up to 20 lbs.=1/4 teaspoon, 21-40lbs.=1/ 2 teaspoon, 41-60lbs.=1
teaspoon, 61 lbs. and over= 2 teaspoons, taken every 4 hours.

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Cold and Flu Tea

3 slices fresh ginger
5 - 10 leaves chopped fresh sage or 2 tsp dried sage
2 - 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp raw honey
juice of half a lemon
dash of cayenne pepper

Brew, steep herbs for a few minutes, discard herbs and add the lemon, honey and pepper.