A Journal of the American Medical Association survey showed that parents use OTC medications 70% of the time, despite evidence that cough and cold medicines are often ineffective and sometimes produce adverse reactions in preschool children.

Herbs are much safer when used in suggested quantities and don’t have the negative effects of OTC medications.

The recommended preparation for babies is to place a small amount of a powdered herb in your baby’s applesauce or offer your baby or child a few sips of weak tea. For older children, an effective preparation is to mix herbal teas with apple juice and freeze it into popsicle-like treats.

• Bed-wetting:  1) avoid liquids prior to bedtime; 2) provide Vitamin E 200 IU, 1,000 mg calcium + 500 mg magnesium (reduces the bladder cramping that forces urination), and multi-mineral sesame seeds (high in calcium – sprinkle on your child’s cereal or spread sesame butter on whole grain bread); and/or 3) to acidify urine, slightly before bedtime offer a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar in juice, or diluted Vitamin C powder, or plain diluted cranberry juice without sweetener.
• Colic: catnip, fennel, peppermint, or any combination of these herbs in a tea.
• Constipation: licorice root tea (it’s sweet and tasty) benefits kid’s bones, while weaning the child from cow’s milk (a recent study showed that 21 of 27 children under age three who had cow’s milk removed from their diet for three days had more frequent bowel movements, less discomfort, and fewer anal fissures).
• • Cough: tilia, anise, ½ ounce of cherry bark or coltsfoot tea.
  • Diarrhea: ½ teaspoon of carob powder or slippery elm in 1 cup of boiled skim milk.
  • Slight Fever: raspberry leaf or peppermint tea, while sponging body with cool water (NOTE: Immediately, see your health care practitioner in high fevers, or slight fevers lasting more than 3 days).
  • Gas: peppermint or ginger tea.
  • Head (headache, head cold): peppermint tea, ½ ounce elder flower tea daily
  • Infection: calendula (can be included in soups) is an antifungal and immune tonic or 1 ounce of astragalus daily (can be used as a tea or broth and has a sweet taste kids like), while avoiding sugars in any form (known immunity suppressant). For ear infections, place 1-2 drops of garlic oil in your child’s ear once a week as a preventive or pain reduction measure.
  • Loss of appetite: chamomile tea.
  • Cold, flu, and digestive distress: 2-4 heaping tablespoons of slippery elm bark made into a paste with water.
  • Nosebleed: sandalwood oil, ice water, alum powder, camphor powder or ginger juice inhaled, sniffed, or dropped in your child’s nose with an eyedropper (NOTE: this is hot – use just 1 drop!).
  • Pinworms: chamomile tea.
  • Teething: calma bambino tea or chamomile tea, or after washing your hands, rub almond oil or prick a Vitamin E tablet and rub the liquid on the affected area.
  • Yeast Infections: place garlic water on the infected area.