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In your quest to have a toxic-free home, I am sure you have come across your dental products and wondered if there is a better alternative. Years ago when I first started making replacements for toothpaste, I started with those that didn't have food dye in them. That was a step in the right direction, right? Of course! Then I started looking for more “natural” options and found that there are LOTS of options on the market. Currently I am loving the Thieves Toothpaste from Young Living.
My husband and I have been big fans of mouthwash for years! Listerine has always made it into our cart at Costco. Not too long ago, I started searching for a better option. There has to be a mouthwash out there that isn't blue and is better for us! After reading through many DIY mouthwash recipes, I realized that making mouthwash is easy and is totally customizable to my family's tastes!
My husband and I LOVE peppermint mouthwash. I just love that minty-ness that lingers after I swish. My kids on the other hand think peppermint mouthwash is too spicy. Since I would like them to use this mouthwash for remineralizing and brightening purposes, I decided to make them a kid approved mouthwash recipe of their very own!
I am amazed at how many uses I have discovered for my Young Living Essential Oils. It seems like I find a new way to use them every day. I am so blessed to have them in my tool box! They have made detoxifying my home so easy! But, does the task seem overwhelming to you? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Check out this awesome PDF that we created just for YOU!
See that awesome bottle right there? That is holding the mouthwash I made! The lovely people at SKS Bottle and Packaging have offered a 10% discount on this great bottle!! Simply use the coupon code SKSCoupon08 when purchasing this clear glass round bottle item #4000-06.
Now you can grab yourself some bottles, make mouthwash (and other things) for your family and have fun detoxifying your home!
Original article and pictures take ohlardy.com site
Keep Baby Safe and Healthy with 5 Simple Natural Parenting Goals
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Help keep your precious baby safe with these 5 simple parenting goals. They cover sleep, feeding and diapering!
If parenting itself has about the biggest and fastest learning curve ever, figuring out how to parent as naturally as possible and keep your babies safe from all the toxins and junk in the world feels just as difficult.
It baffles me how little I knew when I first started this parenting gig and how much I’ve learned and changed my strategies and guidelines for products in our house since baby number one more than a decade ago.
If you’re about to have or are currently in the first six months of parenting your first baby, I have to preface this post by saying:
Don’t try to do it all at once.
And don’t beat yourself up for what you don’t know/didn’t know/can’t accomplish right this second. It’s a journey, one baby step at a time.
I thought I’d wrap up this little series on my own natural intentions for pregnancy, birth and infancy by sharing some of the steps we’ve taken in our home on the non-toxic journey over the years.
Here are the other posts in the series if you’d like to catch up:
If you are a new mom or about to give birth, this post is one that I just re-read myself (and need to prepare for!!!) – Natural Remedies and Products for Postpartum Pain (which can be rough, and no one tells you about this stuff!!).
1. Reducing Toxic Chemicals Touching Baby
Help keep your precious baby safe with these 5 simple parenting goals. They cover sleep, feeding and diapering!
Baths:
I think the first step to natural baths and baby safety is to reduce their number, period. Babies, amazingly, don’t get all that dirty.
Wipe their spit-up out of their neck with a wet washcloth and take care of their diaper area of course, but babies really don’t need daily baths. The water can dry their skin out and even good soap can too. It’s just unnecessary.
When you do want soap, it’s a really easy place to go natural because there are so many artisanal soap makers all around the country. You should recognize all the ingredients, basically.
I had a tube of Desitin even with baby two, which does have zinc oxide (no problem) as its active ingredient but other less-than-natural things going on in the rest of the tube.
I did better for diaper rashes for number three and four, with a few options on hand from Earth Mama Angel Baby and MadeOn.
I cannot tell you how many different laundry soaps we’ve tried over the years!
I started with doing special baby laundry loads with Dreft or All Free and Clear with baby number one (neither of which are much better than your average laundry detergent, but maybe a step up? Maybe not…).
With baby two, I dabbled in some “natural” detergents for baby that ended up being just a step above the normal baby laundry options.
By the time baby three came along, I had been blogging for a few years, tried out a number of options and had taken the natural step in the laundry room. I was using soap nuts for the whole family at that time, so I didn’t have to make any changes at all when baby joined us, and I didn’t have to do special “baby only” loads.
Now I use soap nuts, soap nut liquid (because it’s just easier, read my review here), Molly’s Suds, and a few other brands of natural laundry soap. I know what to look for on the ingredients now and only source fragrance-free or naturally scented soaps, for starters. I can’t stand the smell of scented laundry nowadays because my body just isn’t used to it (a good thing, until you’re in a room with someone with stronggggg fabric softener smell filling the space).
2. Safer Clothing and Fabrics for Baby
With baby number one, my clothing standards were simple:
Cheap
Easy to Wash
In my House
If an item of clothing fit those descriptions, I’d put it on baby without a second thought.
It took a few years, but I’ve finally convinced all the gift-givers in our family that I will not allow my kids to wear PJs with flame retardants, so they know to look for tags that warn “not flame resistant.” I just put some more flame retardant PJs in our give away box, and I’m working on safe sleep all around – we have some organic crib sheets and organic waterproof crib mattress pads that weren’t too expensive (and some that are not organic), and I got a nice safe-material crib mattress for number three (while number two slept on an old, torn, hand-me-down mattress made of who-knows-what, gah!! I can’t do everything at once either…)
This series I posted about how to get healthy sleep details my hours and hours of safe sleep research (many of which have happened through bleary eyes) as I looked into options for using old mattresses and avoiding off-gassing junk, new mattresses for big kid beds and what to use to keep kid puddles from hurting the mattresses we already have.
While you’re looking into safe materials for sleep, which is important because an infant can spend 2/3 of its entire first year in a crib (not mine, ha! We have terrible sleepers…), it’s a good idea to check into flame retardant chemicals and other toxins that are used in the production of and sprayed onto infant carseats. Here are the best choices from a few years ago and I’ll need to update that research someday.
I also have some organic clothing for the kids and babies, although I admit I’m far from 100% on that, even though in an ideal world, I’d love all my kids covered in organic cotton all the time. I just have a few token pieces and put them on the babies every single time they’re clean!!
3. No Baby Cereal
Parenting has about the biggest and fastest learning curve ever, and figuring out how to parent as naturally as possible and keep your babies safe from all the toxins and junk in the world feels just as difficult.
As with everything else, our babes have had quite a progression as far as what they’ve been fed the first year of life, from quite standard baby cereal beginnings to no grains until 12 months and no gluten until 18+ months.
With John, number three, I don’t know that I ever made a blended puree for him. I don’t remember freezing anything in ice cube trays, which was the hallmark of baby feeding for child number one. Big change!
His first foods included:
egg yolk, usually soft-fried from my plate, sometimes hard-boiled and mashed
We did stick to no grains for the first 12 months, because grains are very hard (if not impossible) for them to digest at that age because they are not yet producing the proper enzymes. Although I do believe that food is mostly for the experience the first 12 months and not exactly for nourishment, I’m still not going to give baby something that will purposely pass right through, potentially doing some damage to the lining of the gut on the way.
The no gluten thing was a personal choice for our family since my husband has some sort of gluten intolerance along with his Crohn’s Disease. Many sources say that babies’ guts are “sealed” until about 18 months and that things like gluten can sneak into the bloodstream and contribute to allergies and sensitivities.
Whether any of it is true or malarky, honestly, I don’t care. In our “gluten light” household, it was exceedingly simple to keep a baby gluten-free and I was happy to do it, even if it was a longshot “just in case.” Even up until age two, he probably only had gluten five times total, and he’s definitely the most “gluten-light” person in our entire family now at age three.
Parenting has about the biggest and fastest learning curve ever, and figuring out how to parent as naturally as possible and keep your babies safe from all the toxins and junk in the world feels just as difficult.
Okay, if you just look at the photo, clearly we still had some plastic. But not as much!
My first two babies used plastic sippy cups, bowls, spoons, everything. Number three got to test out a bunch of safer sippy options in stainless steel, and we worked harder to get his food into stainless steel bowls, glass bowls, or even small teacups with supervision or parental feeding.
We have about 8 of our favorite lunchtime stainless steel yogurt containers now, so when baby’s food needs to travel, that will be my first choice of container. (These are pricey but seriously worth the bucks if you send anything like yogurt, applesauce, etc. in a packable fashion regularly. We’ve had one for over four years and it’s in GREAT shape. I love love love them!)
I also grabbed some non-lidded stainless bowls and have about 4 stainless tumblers now because although I’m a huge proponent of kids using real glass glasses at an early age, there’s still a little span of time when the child is still in a high chair and really needs a non-breakable drinking option.
5. Cloth Diapers
Cloth diapers make him happy!
This was the one HUGE change we made with baby number three – he was about 5 months old when we started cloth since I was living with my in-laws (between houses) when he was born. I’d never cloth diapered a newborn before baby number four, so I had some learning to do when he came around!
Cloth diapering is good…good for the environment, good for our budget, and hopefully easier on the little bum.
What changes have you made in your “green” parenting strategies as your kiddos or family has grown?
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post from which I will earn some commission if you make a purchase. See my full disclosure statement here.
Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site
I shall begin by boring you to death with a history lesson. Yes, the history of me. (Someone thinks highly of oneself, doesn’t someone?)
1. I was born in 1973. Blah, blah, blah childhood memories, middle school drama, high school graduation, college life, tall blond soccer player catches my eye. Nobody needs to hear all the in between stuff about burning barns and stealing candy bars.
2. Matt and I got married in 1994. After a few months he said, “Do you think maybe we could try another vegetable besides canned green beans?” Another vegetable? I’d only read about them in books. I gave steamed broccoli a try. It was so-so.
3. Baby boy #1 was born in 1997. Baby boy #2 came in 2000. I became a coupon queen, buying poptarts and spaghettios for next to nothing. Baby boy #3 came in 2002. Baby boy #4 was born in 2004. Life was a blur. Sometimes we all shared a peach. I’d only ever had the canned kind before. Did you know these actually grow on trees? (Peaches. Not baby boys.)
4. Life took a dramatic turn when Baby Boy #4 was two months old and broke out in eczema from head to toe. One doctor visit, some cortizone and a steroid later – he looked great! Two days after the medicine wore off, he was back to where we started. We had a decision to make. Keep baby on steroids, or no? Even with our zero knowledge of natural alternatives, we just couldn’t choose for our tiny little baby to be on either of these medications.
5. We began to learn about clean eating, clean cleaning (wha?), natural doctors who get to the root of a problem, vitamins, chiropractic, and the evils of margarine. The information overwhelmed my mommy brain, but I desperately wanted my baby to be healthy. Therefore…
6. I freaked out on everyone and tried to change everything at once. Out with the poison (non-organic everything) and in with the soaked grains, fermented vegetables, and kombucha. My family loved all of these abrupt changes and speak so fondly of this time in our lives. {bangs forehead with palm}
7. Months later, Baby boy #4 is still miserable. I’m going crazy. We all hate my sourdough. I get mad at all of America and the government and pharmaceutical companies. I drink Pepsi for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner because it makes perfect sense to avoid conventional apples but down a liter of Pepsi every day.
8. None of us can live with Psycho Mom – not even (especially not) me. I decide to try a few baby steps instead of taking 817 giant leaps at once. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
9. We continue to learn more about how to help Baby boy #4, who, as it turns out, has kidney and liver issues. We learn that eczema is not a skin issue, but a gut issue. We brace ourselves for the long haul (and we pray like never before). We don’t sleep much. The Pepsi tries to help keep me awake.
10. I learn that food isn’t something to be feared. I learn that food is nourishment. This makes so much sense. I learn that food is still fun. We buy a grass-fed cow (of the frozen variety).
11. I drink Pepsi with my grass fed cow.
12. We start getting fresh raw milk from local farming friends. It is yummy (unless it is the first few weeks of Spring when it tastes like drinking fresh grass, and then we make a lot of milkshakes).
13. I keep getting sick because of my asthma. My natural doctor tells me to stop drinking Pepsi. I stick my (imaginary) tongue out at my doctor. She writes “No more Pepsi” on a prescription pad. I put the paper on the fridge at home. I sadly put down my two liter. I begin to grieve Pepsi. I decide that I have to do this. I want to be healthy, and I need to take care of my four baby boys. I pray for strength and sniff my friend’s Pepsi cans when I get a chance. I have compassionate friends.
14. Years go by. Canola oil and margarine are exchanged for Coconut oil and butter. I slowly begin putting new fruits and veggies into our cart (and sometimes they are not even organic because I learned to do what I could with what I had and let God take care of us).
15. It is 2012 and after 7 years of the journey, I still love sugar. I justify my sweet tooth knowing that I’m eating it in the form of honey, real maple syrup, and sucanat – and hey, at least it’s not Pepsi. My body is like, “Whatever. It’s all sugar to me. Bring it.” My migraine headaches get worse. I add exercise to my healthy lifestyle choices. I eat brownies after I work out.
16. I hate migraines and I discover a new natural doctor in a nearby city. She helps me begin to detox all my previous 39 years of…we’ll just call it “stuff.” I feel crummy sometimes because detox is not glamorous. Then I start to feel better. Then sometimes worse. And then a little bit better. I add even more fruits and veggies to my diet, because I am starting to love and crave them so very much.
17. My detoxing body can’t handle sugary foods. Feeling sick after eating a cookie helps break my sugar addiction. I can take no credit for this.
18. I continue to go (and take our family to) our natural doctor. We continue to learn more. Baby boy #4 is now ten years old and has skin that is so soft none of us (even his teenage brothers) can keep ourselves from touching his silky cheeks.
I’ve been on this journey for ten and a half years. The journey never ends, friends, because every day we all have to make choices and work to care for the bodies we’ve been given. I wanted to share that timeline with you as encouragement for you on your healthy living journey.
Do you want to make healthy changes in your life, but you feel afraid? Are you feeling like you should change everything at once? Are you overwhelmed?
Take a deep breath and…
Just take the next step.
Let me tell you something profound (oh, just humor me):
The healthier you get, the healthier you will get.
See? Profound.
But it is true, because in my experience – one healthy step leads to another. Once you’ve tackled one healthy change, then your body is ready for another healthy change (with no specific one-size-fits-all-plan). After that, you will be confident to do the next thing. Your body will begin to crave healthiness. It is a natural response to being awakened to the good stuff.
So start with one thing – and it doesn’t even have to be the one thing someone else is choosing. It needs to be your next thing. Maybe you can take a walk a few times each week. Maybe you can get rid of margarine and get butter instead (please do this). Maybe you can focus on drinking more water to stay hydrated. Maybe you can discover a new fruit you love.
Whatever you decide to do, just take one step. And then another.
I will continue to strive, but I will never reach perfection and my kids will sometimes still eat Twizzlers at youth group. But each step I have taken toward better health has led me to the next one.
It’s good to look back on ten years and see how God has brought us to this point. You will (and already) have a story too.
So one step. Which one can you take next?
Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site
Just Released! Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Dirty Dozen for 2016! Just Released! Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Dirty Dozen for 2016!
For the first time in 5 years, apples have been ousted from the most contaminated position on the Dirty Dozen from Environmental Working Group (EWG)!
Apples have many different pesticides applied to them if they are not grown organically. Find out which fruit is actually worse than apples this year.
Did you pick the correct one? It’s strawberries. According to the EWG, the worst part of growing conventional strawberries is the fact that before the seeds are planted, the fields are sprayed with what is essentially nerve gas, in order to wipe out every single potential pest to the plant.
Strawberries are Number 1 on the Dirty Dozen List
According to the EWG,
… some [nerve gases are] developed for chemical warfare but now banned by the Geneva Conventions. (source)
Is it that really necessary to use chemical warfare to grow strawberries?
Of course not! For just a little bit more money, organic growers have been successfully raising strawberries for years.
Additionally, according to a new EWG analysis, testing by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2009 and 2014 revealed an average of 5.75 different pesticides per sample, compared to 1.74 pesticides per sample for all other produce.
USDA tests found that strawberries are the fresh produce items most likely to be contaminated with pesticide residues, even after they are picked, rinsed in the field and washed before eating. (source)
Fumigants the Most Dangerous
An older strawberry fumigant is methyl bromide that was banned by an international treaty in 1987 because it destroys the earth’s protective ozone layer. However, its use has continued for almost 40 years, with “critical use exemptions” from the EPA, which will end this year.
Twenty years ago, EWG and other groups campaigned against methyl bromide in California’s Central Coast region – the area where strawberries are mainly grown. The campaign forced the state to establish protective buffer zones near the growing urban areas around the farms, such as, schools and neighborhoods and to restrict methyl bromide injection during school hours. These rules helped to reduced Californians’ exposure to methyl bromide but still allowed its use.
Now, twenty years later, methyl bromide use on strawberries is in decline. However, the new soil fumigants that are replacing it are also hazardous. These are, chloropicrin, the active ingredient in tear gas, and 1,3-dichloropropene, a carcinogen sold by Dow Chemical Company as Telone. Not surprisingly, both are banned in the European Union.
Fumigation by these toxic gases is performed by people in hazmat suits, covering the newly sprayed fields to keep the gas underground and away from people and animals. But these fumigant gases can leak during application and tarps can tear. The leaking fumes endanger farm workers and people who live nearby.
Would you like to live next door to a strawberry farm? I certainly wouldn’t.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) Works for You!
The EWG is a non profit foundation that is primarily funded through individual donations and grants. You can see where they get their dollars from here. This allows them to research and in turn, help fund projects with other non-profit groups that are concerned about our toxic environment, such as, Organic Voices Action Fund (OVAF). This project seeks to emphasize the benefits of eating organic food and works towards the labeling of genetically modified foods.
I really love this organization. They offer the consumer several very helpful guides for a tiny donation which, in turn, helps support their work.
Check out the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen (these are free) to help you make good choices when shopping for food. I use these lists all the time because I cannot always source organic produce. There are also some types of produce that do not really require you to buy organic. For instance, I usually buy conventional avocados, asparagus, cantaloupe and mangoes.
On the other hand, I always buy organic apples, strawberries, raspberries, grapes and peaches. I am grateful to have these fruit and vegetable selections properly tested each year.
Buying organic supports organic farmers, many of whom are small family farms. Buying organic also is an investment in your health.
What do you do when it comes to produce? Leave a comment and let me know!
Original article and pictures take realfoodforager.com site
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Original article and pictures take www.bodyrock.tv site
Join our Family Summer Reading Party (for a chance to win prizes like a $50 Amazon Gift Card!)
Is it just me, or does a library have a certain smell? This statement is not to be compared with how I describe my front closet during soccer season, which also has a certain smell. We won’t discuss it.
But the library smells pleasant. Very…I don’t know…bookish? And in the summer, it smells ten times better like…what? Like air-conditioned books. Yes. I love this smell. Someone should make a candle with this scent. You know I’m right (and also a bit strange).
At our house, we’ve just hung up, put away, and close the door on all of our “assigned reading” for the school year. Who cares that we actually loved almost every book we read this year? Summer is coming and that means we can read…
Just For Fun.
Why does it feel different to read in the summer compared to reading during the school year? I have no idea. There’s just something about the freedom of it all, with its “I can read whatever I want and walk leisurely down all the library aisles while inhaling all the air-conditioned book smells…”
We always check out huge stacks. We can sit in the sun and read. Or we can sit in the air conditioning and read. We might lay on the trampoline and read. I will definitely sip iced coffee and read. The kids can drink sweet tea and read. Ahhhh, summer reading, how I love you.
Reading as a Family
A few summers ago, after our oldest boys headed to counsel at church camp, I picked All of a Kind Family off our shelf and read through it with Malachi during the hottest parts of the day. We finished that one and ran to the library to get the next in the series. We loved the books so much we read every book in the series and cried at the end because the series had ended. (To be fair, Malachi didn’t actually cry. I did though, because I always cry at the end of a good book. You already know this about me.)
Who wants to smell the library with me this summer?
What I mean is, let’s all read together all summer long. Want to? Whether it’s library books or books you already have on your shelf, or books you might order to add to your collection, let’s read. Whether it’s Mom taking some glorious time to read for relaxation on her own (do this) or families taking time to read a book or series together in front of an air conditioner or under a shade tree (do this too), or everyone in the family sitting and reading silently to themselves while simply enjoying the comfort of togetherness (most definitely do this)…
Join our Summer Reading Party!
We want to encourage the beauty of family reading this summer!
Malachi and I look back on the summer of reading All of a Kind Family series as if it was the summer of perfection. All my boys and I can look back with joy on summers of reading together back in the days they were littler (and actually home). On the days they are home this summer, we will definitely spend time reading. I just got a few books delivered a few days ago that the boys had requested. Perfect timing!
Let’s all do this together and make great memories with our families!
Tell me about this Summer Reading Party!
Well, you can make this whatever you want for your family, but to get you motivated…
First we have a huge packet of free printables for every family who signs up for our Summer Reading Party. Use these however you wish – for incentives for your kids, for activities for your kids, for a challenge for everyone in your family – however you want. They are free for you and you can use them in whatever ways you like!
Included in this printables packet is a suggested Bible reading check-list for you to use with your family. Read these passages with your family during breakfast. Or read them at night before bed. Or read them at whatever time of the day works best for you. Because reading the Bible with your family is more important than any other reading you can do.
This Summer Bible Reading Guide is included in the Summer Reading Printables Packet. Get yours here.
Prizes!!
Can’t have a party without prizes, right?
We’re getting our party started with a fun giveaway! Then watch for more great giveaways as the summer goes on. Today’s giveaway? A $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com so you can grab great new books to fill your shelves!
We’ll be offering more prizes all summer long. So join the Summer Reading Party, get your free printables packet, and start reading! Watch for more great giveaways and reading incentives throughout the summer!
I’ll draw a random winner for the Amazon Gift Card giveaway on Friday, May 26.
Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site
Toddler Moose (my reluctant model here) can spend hours "flying" around the house. I asked him if he's like some assistance in flight. He lifted his shirt, pointed to his bellybutton and said, "I put the gas in here, Mommy." Then he turned around and pointed to his bum. Then he giggled "It falls out here!"
Well, if that isn't a conundrum I don't know what is. So, I developed this jet pack to help him with his leaky gas issues.
Step 1: Spray plastic bottles with plastic primer (I used Krylon Fusion). Let dry.
Step 2: Spray bottles with your favorite silver spray paint (doesn't have to be plastic specific.) Let dry.
Step 3: Adhere bottles to a piece of cardboard, approximately the width of the bottles next to each other. Let dry.
Step 4: Use ribbon to create backpack-like straps. Adhere. (I used duct tape. That shiz works for everything!)
Step 5: Cut crepe paper strips to create flames. Glue the tops of the strips to another piece of crepe paper. Let dry.
Step 6: Accordion fold the top strip of the flames. Glue to the inside of the bottle tops (which are actually the bottom of the jetpack.) Let Dry.
Step 7: Run around the house making flying sounds with your mouth (or let your kid handle this step)
Moose Tracks:
I used the 1.25 liter bottles of Coke products that can be found for about a buck at most big box stores. They have a cool shape, if you ask me. the straight cylinders of 2liter bottles work just as well.
I cut the tips of the crepe paper to make it look more like flames. Toddler Moose doesn't really appreciate that touch, but it makes me feel better about it.
Original article and pictures take pinnedit.blogspot.com site
Insulated lunchbox with 6 reusable meal prep containers, 1 shaker cup, 1 large non-toxic ice pack, and 1 pill/vitamin holder
6 portion control containers include: (4) 2 cup containers and (2) 1 cups
1 vitamin pocket pack has 5 compartments that fits up to 60 pills/supplements
Meal prep bag zips closed in the front. Bag measures 8.5" wide x 6.5" deep, and 8" tall
The Jaxx FitPak has all of the essentials to fuel your day. Meal management set allows you to prep and pack your favorite foods all inside an insulated, easy-to-carry bag! Pack a protein shake, a whole days worth of portion controlled meals and even your daily doses of vitamins/supplements all in one conveniently sized bag. The insulated meal prep bag has a grey PEVA lining that is easy to clean and PVC free, the bag has a full zipper closure and interior mesh pocket. Containers and lids are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher free. All components are BPA free, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe (do not microwave agitator, do not dishwash or microwave ice pack). *Fitness equipment not included
Original article and pictures take www.fit-fresh.com site
It’s Scary When Your Child Can’t Breathe (Natural Remedies for Croup) Croup in kids and babies is awful - HUGE list of natural cures and home remedies including essential oils, homeopathic treatments, and other ways to heal (or at least alleviate) the symptoms of croup without prescriptions or hospitals.
“My kids always get a croup-y cough this time of year…”
“Every cold has turned into croup lately…”
“I always recognize that ‘croup cough’ and know things are getting worse…”
Since a fearful midnight scene a year ago as we watched a fireman carry the limp figure of our preschool-aged neighbor at the time across a well-lit picture window, I’ve been curious about how a cold becomes croup. We had no idea what was wrong when we saw the flashing lights and the commotion, but we prayed in earnest for whatever the child and parents needed, trusting in God’s Providence to provide.
We found out later that the child had been hospitalized – again – for croup that nearly stopped his breathing that night.
Although one of my children battled pneumonia a few years ago, thankfully, none of them have experienced croup symptoms before. It seems to be a really common occurrence among children and babies these days, though. I posed a question about it on Facebook during Natural Health Month (which is spilling over into April here, as do most of my daily and weekly to-do lists of any kind…tell me I’m not alone in that!) and I got enough advice that I wanted to share it in the form of a post. (top photo source)
“Croup is an infection of the upper airway, generally in children, which obstructs breathing and causes a characteristic barking cough.”
What is, I think, confusing to some people is that croup isn’t a “germ” in itself. You can’t “catch croup” exactly, because croup isn’t contagious – similar to when I wrote about symptoms of pneumonia, croup is going to start as some sort of virus, including the common cold (sometimes but not often a bacterial infection), and if the vocal chords, windpipe, and bronchial tubes become infected and inflamed (swollen), they cause a cough that sounds like a seal barking.
Croup is often also marked by a high-pitched whistling sound on the breath, called “stridor.” It is more common in children and babies than adults, and most outgrow the tendency toward croup as they reach middle elementary.
Natural Croup Treatments and Remedies for Children and Babies
Even that Mayo Clinic snippet says that most croup symptoms are mild enough to be treated at home.
By far the most common natural remedy for croup is to go outside and breathe very cold air (in warm climates, open the freezer and stand in front). Parents with experience say to just bundle them up and sit outside for as long as you can stand it, or drive with the windows open.
Second runner up for home remedies is the steam treatment, much like the home remedy for pneumonia I explained a few weeks back. Many said that any steam needs to be followed by the shock of the cold air or it won’t be as effective (or at all).
Here is an amazing round up of reader ideas for treating croup in children and babies naturally from the KS community (remember to take any advice as you would from a friend or acquaintance, not as from an expert! There is certainly a time and place for steroid treatments, as many readers echoed in the thread, and you need to be ready before your baby is starting to turn blue because they can’t breathe…)
Warm compress on chest (with oils if available, eucalyptus and peppermint are important for opening airways, mixed with a carrier oil) (Note from a reader: peppermint EO should not be used in children under two six, and eucalyptus not good under 10…”Fir Needle (or any spruce or pine EO aside from Ponderosa or Huon Pine) and Spearmint are much safer alternatives.”)
Humidifier/vaporizer in room (cool air style recommended, sometimes two in one room)
Popsicles to cool the throat directly (here are some homemade popsicles with zero sugar)
Children’s Ibuprofen to reduce swelling at night, not natural but probably preferable to steroid treatment or a hospital stay
Cinnamon, thyme, and clove essentials oils in a steam tent (a towel over a parent and the child while running hot water in the sink with the oils) Check with a professional about whether these oils would be safe for your age child or not. See my post about kid-safe essential oils and find out what “kid-safe essential oils” means.
Did you know that essential oils have a shelf life?
Katie here, popping in to tell you that those essential oils that have been sitting in your cabinet for a couple years and are still half full may have expired. Read more about what I learned when researching this topic, and you can even have the handy printable I made to help me remember how long which oils last.
Elderberry syrup (one homemade version here) is said to be really good for both general immunity boosting and upper respiratory support.
“Mustard plaster (1 tsp dry mustard powder, ¼ cup any flour, enough melted coconut oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) to make a paste) spread on a bandana and tied around the throat gently. (Tie the mustard plaster within the fabric so the paste doesn’t touch the skin!) Remove if the skin becomes bright red, some redness and warmth is normal.
Homeopathic Aconitum 30 every hour (which is usually enough to do it) followed by Spongia Tosta if needed.
Bone broth only for meals unless the child is very hungry as overeating can bring on an attack.”
Croup symptoms tend to get worse at night and are nearly gone during the day, but they may come back at night – keep up your guard and your natural treatments…
“Lobelia extract is supposedly the number one herb for asthma and breathing issues and mullein is also good as a tea or to breathe the steam.”
TriLight Health’s Lungs Plus includes many helpful herbs and has been a helpful tool for at least one reader.
Keep the child calm; crying increases the coughing. If you have a regular natural remedy for calm, including homeopathics or even just sitting on the couch watching TV to distract the child, try it!
One method is to use an extra pillow to slightly prop the child up and instruct them to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth slowly. “Apparently, this helps ease the spasms that keep the cough going…”
Water, chamomile tea, honey and lemon juice would all be helpful, too. (Some kids drink a lot more tea if there’s a bendy straw involved, apparently…)
Sleeping with a window cracked a bit (when it’s cold outside).
Here’s a great post from Simple Life, Abundant Life on natural remedies for croup that I stumbled across.
Kali Mur, the homeopathic remedy, worked every time (according to one reader). It didn’t cure the cold, but it stopped the croup.
Always important reminders from someone who’s been there:
“Just be careful about assuming its simply a virus that has to run its course. That might be the case for some, but not all. Before we realized our dd had severe allergies as well as significant asthma, she tended to come down with croup on a fairly regular basis. We always started with moist air, cold air (outside at night for short amounts of time), but would take her in if there were changes in breathing (more strider), color (pale, grey/blue), etc. At one point her lung function was down to 24%, not something you want to mess around with at home. There’s definitely a time and place for natural remedies, but I sincerely believe that goes for medical care as well.”
The consensus seems to be that when you hear the “stridor” of really high-pitched, labored breathing or see any change in skin color (blue), beat a path to the ER right away. “Kids crash fast,” says one RN and mom of a “crouper” – so be proactive and ready even if they’re acting well.
But Why so Much Croup?
That was my initial question, because croup wasn’t a common problem that I remember from my own childhood. I didn’t really get an answer, but apparently some kids are just prone to croup symptoms. If they’ve had a serious respiratory infection in the past, like RSV as an infant for one example, they may just be more prone to infection settling in when they get a cold.
Asthma or allergies may be other exacerbating or causal symptoms.
Harnessing Your Natural Health
Keep in mind that as with any natural solution to an illness, certain remedies may work wonders for some and not at all for others, especially when you start talking essential oils and homeopathics. That’s one reason you’ll often see a list of possible options, and you may need to try a few to see what fits your child’s physiology.
It’s important to know enough about essential oils to be safe with them! I learned a TON at this very helpful post and you should read it, too, especially about eucalyptus, cinnamon, and peppermint for children.
I’ve also recently learned not to use homeopathy and EOs at the same time, for example, which is something desperate parents need to know when presented with a huge list of remedies like this post. Just be sure not to use a remedy (or multiple remedies at once) and forget to treat them like medicine just because they’re “natural” and you read about them on some blog somewhere.
Have you conquered the symptoms of croup naturally in your children?
Other Natural Health Posts:
Croup in kids and babies is awful - HUGE list of natural cures and home remedies including essential oils, homeopathic treatments, and other ways to heal (or at least alleviate) the symptoms of croup without prescriptions or hospitals.
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post from which I will earn some commission if you make a purchase. Mighty Nest is a sponsor of KS receiving their monthly complementary mention. Trilight Health is a former KS sponsor, but this mention was organic, coming directly from a reader. I don’t have any experience with Lungs Plus. See my full disclosure statement here.
Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site
