Home, naturally

My three year old started coughing a couple of nights ago. It was almost unnoticeable during the day yet kept her – and us –up during the night. I was (am) very reluctant to giving her regular cough syrup. A) I don’t think that a regular cold needs any strong medicine. B) I believe that something needs to get out of her system so I really don’t want to suppress it.

After talking to my mom and looking at different approaches in books and online, I came to the conclusion that onion and honey are the two ingredients that are common to treating cough naturally. I try to keep it as simple as possible:

You need:

1 Onion

Honey (1/4-3/4 cup depending on onion size)

1. I cut one onion into little pieces.
2. I put the onion pieces in a small pot.
3. I covered the onion with honey.
4. I brought it to a boil and simmered it for about 30-40 minutes.
5. I filtered the onion pieces out.
6. I stored the honey onion “juice” in a jar in the refrigerator.

Did it help, you might ask? – Yes, yes, yes. I gave Moxie about one teaspoon in the morning and late afternoon as well as before nap and bedtime. During the day the coughing almost completely went away and during the night it got much less. I call it a success!

(* I’m not a medical professional and only share what worked for me and my family. I’m not qualified to consult but only to inspire you.)

P.S. I used the remaining onion to make some onion spread. I added some water and let it simmer for about two more hours until the onions had pretty much fallen apart. Spread on fresh bread. Yummy!

P.P.S. Letting your child help prepare the syrup makes it MUCH easier to get him or her to take it.