15 Natural Home Remedies For Kids That Every Parent Should Learn In Case Their Kid Gets Sick

Honey is an amazing substance! In addition to being flat-out delicious, honey can also be used in your home remedies when your child has a sore throat. Honey will provide a thick coating on your kid's throat, which will in turn help them out while they try to relax. A sore throat can be exhausting for everyone at home, so it's definitely a good idea to keep your kitchen stocked with honey.

Of course, keep in mind that honey is not safe for children who are under 1.

Lemon juice is another ingredient that can be mixed in with another substance or given by itself. Lemon juice goes a long way toward drying up congestion and can even be mixed with honey to help symptoms of the common cold. You just mix together a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of honey, microwave for 20 seconds, and give to your child 1 teaspoon at a time.

It might sound like one of the more far-out home remedies, but generations of parents (and grandparents) absolutely swear by this trick! If your child is sick, have them sit down in a chair with a bucket of hot water on the floor in front of them. Rub VapoRub on the soles of their feet, then submerge their feet into the water.

An alternative: Fill a bucket or basin with hot water and add a teaspoon of VapoRub. Wet a dish towel in the bucket, put the towel over the top of the bucket, and then put your child's face onto the towel. Have your child breathe in and out for at least five minutes in this position.

It's probably always a good idea to keep baking soda in your home since it has so many uses — including treating bug bites! Simply mix a teaspoon or so of baking soda with just enough water to make a thick enough paste that you can scoop it out and apply to all those itchy spots your kids have come back inside with.

Oatmeal baths are definitely a go-to for kids who have itchy spots or even have a full-blown outbreak of chicken pox. You can buy premade oatmeal baths at most grocery stores, but you can also make your own: You just need a cup of oats, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and 1/8 cup of dried lavender.

Prunes are pretty amazing for anyone who is dealing with constipation, but they are especially wonderful for kids. If your baby is old enough for solids, make sure you pick up a jar of prunes (or even prune juice) the next time you're at the store. You'll be glad you did later!

A lot of people know that a lukewarm bath (not too hot, not too cold) is a great cure for a fever, but did you know adding a cup of apple cider vinegar to your child's bathwater will do even more for you? You can also add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to a compress or washcloth and lay that over your child's head.

Warm liquids always make a sore throat feel nice, and thyme tea has the extra effect of actually helping to heal, too. Actually, both thyme and sage contain antiseptic, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. If your kids are open to it, brewing up a cup at bedtime will help them rest easy.

This is a really interesting home remedy: If your child has a cough, cut up an onion into quarters and place it close to their bed to help ease the cough overnight. The practice is particularly popular in Spain and France.

You can also apply cut onion to a wasp sting to help relieve pain.

Here's another trick for a constipated baby: Geranium leaf or parsley stalk gently inserted into the rectum will relieve the problem almost immediately! It's definitely a pretty amazing alternative to medicine or suppositories, and the method is particularly popular in southern Italy.

It turns out that ginger has a whole host of pretty incredible powers! You can buy ginger chews or ginger lollipops to help combat nausea (this was amazing when I was pregnant years ago), and since ginger has antimicrobial properties, it also helps treat coughs and even helps with warming the body.

Gargling with warm salt water is another home remedy that many people swear by. This will help soothe sore, scratchy throats almost every time. You can mix 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 4 to 8 ounces of warm water, stir until the mixture is dissolved, and then have your kiddo gargle away!

There are a lot of home remedies you can use to treat a headache. For example, lavender and snowdrops will usually do the trick. You can also whip up your own homemade headache relief balm with cocoa butter, coconut oil, tea tree oil, peppermint, eucalyptus, and frankincense.

If your kiddo is plagued by ear pain, you can try applying a rice or salt sock to the ear to see if it helps! You simply fill a sock with rice or very coarse sea salt, add a few drops of lavender oil, and heat it up a little in the microwave. Have your child hold the sock to the hurting ear, and behold the magic.

A lot of people are familiar with nose spray that you can buy at the store, but did you know it's pretty easy to make your own at home? And unlike the store-bought variety, you can use a DIY mixture for more than three days in a row. You only need to combine 2 to 3 teaspoons of salt (noniodized) with 1 pint of water and use a syringe or another tool to squirt the mixture into your child's nose (after they've blown it, one side at a time).