It stinks to be a sick mom. There’s no way around that. Housework still needs to be done, dinner cooked, children cared for – even if you feel as if you just want to down a shot of Nyquil and crawl under the covers for about a week.

When you’re a nursing mother – whether your baby is newborn, close to a year, or older – you don’t even have the option of downing Nyquil due to concerns about alcohol and breastfeeding. It can be pure torture. What can you do?

When I came down with a cold last week – at the same time my nine-month-old was battling a double ear infection – I devised a few coping strategies.

Napping

Sleep when baby sleeps. Remember what they used to tell you in those first few weeks after childbirth? That’s right … take advantage of naptime to catch some ZZZs yourself. If you have to, lie down with your nursing baby in the middle of the day. Whatever it takes, get your rest.

Medication

Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl and Chlor-trimeton are approved for use while breastfeeding. Be aware that Benadryl may reduce your milk supply and also may make the baby drowsy. (I know it’s politically incorrect, but if you’re sick, is this really so horrible?)

Keep in mind that most antihistamines and decongestants, including Dimetapp and Sudafed, are not recommended while breastfeeding, as they may substantially decrease your milk supply. Any products with menthol, including menthol cough drops, may also decrease your milk supply. Find out more information on medicine and nursing mothers.

Vaporizers

Research shows that putting Vicks or other menthol products in a vaporizer can be harmful to an infant’s lungs. However, a humidifier with plain filtered water can do wonders to clear and moisten your nasal passages.

Vitamins

This is one of my favorite natural cold remedies, and most doctors say it’s safe if you’re breastfeeding a baby. Every two hours, I alternate a vitamin C drop with a zinc-gluconate drop, such as Cold-eeze. Oddly, vitamin C blocks the positive effects of zinc, so make sure to wait an hour between each drop. Do not drink any citrus for an hour before or after taking zinc, either.

Neti Pot

Highly recommended for people with recurring allergies or sinus problems, a neti pot works well to clear the nasal passages during the common cold, as well. Since it’s all natural and you’re not actually ingesting anything, it’s 100% safe for a nursing mom. It’s not the aforementioned Nyquil, but hey, we’ll take what we can get, right?

Drink Water

If you’re sick and run down, and possibly stressed out as a result, your milk supply may drop. To maintain your supply, make sure you get plenty of rest, drink water, and take in enough calories. A nursing mom needs about 500 more calories per day to compensate for the extra work the body does to produce milk. Since you’re probably not very active if you’re sick, you may get away with eating a little bit less than usual since you’re not burning as many calories. Still, remember to follow the old adage and “feed a cold.” Drink water, tea, juices – anything you can in order to stay hydrated and keep your milk supply up.

The good news, as a breastfeeding mom, is that your body is producing antibodies to fight your cold, and passing those antibodies onto your little one. That’s not to say your breastfed baby won’t get sick if you’re sick, but there’s a good chance she won’t. If your baby does get your cold, it might be a milder version.

I’ve had three colds in the past nine months – my most recent bout passed my daughter by, although she did catch the two colds prior. As she gets older, her immune system is getting stronger and I’m sure the fact that I’m still nursing her has helped a lot.

Our whole family seems to have come down with a cold. It started with the toddler, who ran a fever one afternoon. Then I caught it, and passed it on to my nursing son. My husband didn’t take long to follow, and before we knew it, we were all sick.

Having a sick household is no fun, to say the least. Between all the coughing and sneezing and fevers, we are all miserable. But it gave us a chance to try some natural ways to soothe our colds – without side effects. Here are the ones that worked best for us.

• Steam for congestion. A humidifier in the bedroom can provide some much needed humidity to the dry indoor air – use a cool mist humidifier in kids’ rooms. If you don’t have a humidifier or need quicker relief, a steamy hot shower can work wonders. Adults can take a hot shower, or you can just close the bathroom door and turn on the hot shower, letting the steam collect in the room. Be careful not to let little ones overheat.

• Honey and lemon for sore throats. Combine equal parts lemon juice and honey, then microwave for about 10 seconds on high power. Stir and serve, one teaspoon at a time. The honey helps to soothe and coat the throat, and reduces the urge to cough. The lemon dries up congestion and mitigates some of the scratchy, rough feeling throat. Note: Honey is not safe for babies under 1 year of age.

• Chicken soup. Nothing is more comforting for a cold than a warm bowl of chicken soup. Try chicken or other broths for young children – float goldfish crackers on top to get them interested in eating.

• Rest and TLC. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do but rest. When you can, take a nap or just lie down on the couch – cuddle up with the kids to help them to rest as well. Take care of yourself and your kids – give them a little extra love and relax the rules a bit. In our household, we let our daughter watch a little more Sesame Street, usually curled up with one of us on the couch. It helps her to settle down and is nice to have some down time together.

A sick household is never fun, but there are natural ways to help everyone feel better.

It’s awful when our little ones get sick. Then, once we have cuddled them and soothed them and worried about them and stayed up with a coughing baby, and sent our husbands out to buy Motrin at 4 a.m., they get better, and we get sick with the same thing.

It’s winter, which means coughs, colds, the flu, and there’s some kind of stomach virus going around where I live right now. We seemed to have lucked out, until last week when my kids turned into poor little miserable snotty things. I kept praying that I wouldn’t get it too… but come Friday, both Daycare Baby and Toddler are gleeful bundles of energy again and I’m feeling like the Grateful Dead are playing a gig in my head. My legs are taking three seconds to respond to commands from my brain and if my teeth didn’t hurt, I’d hurl if I wanted to try to eat anything.

I have eight hours of daycare Baby, and everyone – Daycare Baby’s parents, my boyfriend, me – we all need to go to work, no break for anyone in these cash-strapped times, so there’s nothing to be done but to get on with it. At least I’m not going to make the kids sick, since they gave whatever it is to me.

The plan, if it can be called such a thing, is to lie on the floor and let the usual rules go. Safety rules, such as absolutely no whacking Daycare Baby with a saucepan, and no playing with the stove, stay. Things that make the house untidy meet feeble resistance from me, but I figure if they are happy and occupied I can rest and clean up when I feel better.

Toddler removes all the paper from the printer. Daycare Baby removes all the Tupperware from the kitchen cupboard. Toddler starts doing art. Daycare Baby empties a basket of clean laundry and rolls around in it and drools. Toddler experiments with which Tupperware containers he can stand in. He’s disappointed that I don’t have any Tupperware that Daycare Baby will fit into.

I’m glad I live in a little apartment in which if I lie in a strategic place I can see just about everywhere at once and keep an eye on both of them. I haul myself up and change diapers, and with that herculean task done, lie down again.

Toddler takes all the cushions on the couch and jumps around on them. Daycare baby finds the printer paper and starts shredding it. Toddler starts singing Hannah Montana song. “Singing” means that he knows one line from one Hannah Montana song, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Daycare baby is delighted by the entertainment and there’s nothing that can make my head hurt any more so whatever.

It’s Daycare Baby’s nap time. I get her to sleep, and deploy the ultimate toddler distraction: TV. We have Cars on DVD. I cuddle up with Toddler in the heap of couch cushions, he watches and I snooze for an hour.

More tea for me, more Motrin, I feel slightly less subhuman, at least just enough to make lunch for the kids. Only a couple of hours to go.

I know most of Toddler’s books by heart, so we spend some time reading, which I can do with my eyes closed. The rest of the afternoon passes in somewhat of a blur, then Daycare Baby’s mom comes to pick her up, and then Toddler does some painting, mostly on himself, and then I feed him dinner, wipe him down, watch the rest of Cars, and mercifully it’s bedtime for both of us.

Saturday morning, I still feel like I’ve been whacked in the head with a saucepan but at least I can function with the aid of maximum dose of Motrin allowed and about a gallon of tea. By Saturday afternoon I’m just about fine again. Whatever it was made the kids feel sick for a couple of days, and hit me harder but was much shorter-lived.

So what should you do when you get sick? The best thing to do is to find someone to watch your kids while you sleep and get better, but often that’s not an option. I think that the next-best thing is to have things that are usually not allowed and let the kids play with those when you are sick. My toddler rarely watches TV so Cars was a big treat.

I think what I’ll do to prepare for next time, since sickness is inevitable, is organize a box of new and interesting toys, to be gotten down only in a sick mom emergency, as something to entertain the kids and keep them happy and I won’t need to do much except try not to hurl.  99c stores, the dollar section at Target, sale items, safe but usually forbidden household items, new art supplies, are all good and fairly inexpensive resources for things to put in the kit.

OK, now I need to go and do that basket of laundry again and wash the tupperware. I wish you and your babies a healthy winter, and a speedy recover to any of you who are sick!

All parents know that it is just no fun when your child is sick. It is particularly difficult when your infant is sick as they cannot communicate with you what is bothering them.  Sometimes you just wish that they could talk so that you could help solve their problems.

My four month old little guy has been suffering a cold that his 3 1/2 year old sister kindly passed along to him with love, of course! I also have contacted this lovely bug. It’s just no fun. The worst part is that my little guy cannot breath properly while he is feeding which makes him frustrated and it breaks my heart.

Here are some suggestions of things that I have done when my children have a cold:

• run a humidifier in or near their bedroom
• boil water in a kettle and pour it into a bowl with a large surface area, place on the floor in their room with a few drops of eucalyptus oil (this obviously isn’t safe if other children are roaming around)
• spray their nose with saline spray (ensure you buy the kind made for infants with an ultra gentle spray)
• wipe their nose with saline spray on a kleenex or with a product like Boogie Wipes so that their skin doesn’t dry out from the mucous or the wiping
• put them to sleep in a semi-upright position in order to allow them to breathe easier, e.g. in a bouncy chair, swing, car seat etc.
• put them in the bathroom with you while you shower, with the door closed, to allow the steam from your shower to loosen up their mucous

I have also found sleeping a major issue with my 4 month old since he has had this cold and he is also teething, which adds another challenge. He basically wants to sleep in our arms 24/7, which is completely understandable. I don’t want to deny him of this, but at the same time I don’t want him to get too used to it as this cannot go on forever. It’s amazing how routines can simply go out the window when a baby is sick or not feeling well.

At the end of the day, being sick sucks. It truly does. We are really looking forward to the spring when there are typically fewer colds floating around. Enough of someone always being sick in our house!

Cold and flu season has attacked with a vengeance. Kids everywhere have runny noses or worse, those awful boogers caked beneath their noses. On a normal day, I wipe or pull at least two of those out of Ashley’s nose. Running the heat in the house also dries up sinuses and can cause congestion. A humidifier helps a lot, but how do you get rid of those boogies?

Mom-preneurs Mindee and Julie of Little Busy Bodies, LLC, came up with the answer in Boogie Wipes. These gentle wipes contain saline that loosens caked on mucus, permitting you to wipe it easily from little noses. Boogie Wipes are available in “Natural Fresh Scent” and “Grape” and also contain aloe to moisturize the skin.

I used to keep about four aspirators (aka snot-suckers) in my house so one was always at hand. I’m happy to say I haven’t had to use one at all since I got a pack of Boogie Wipes. I always despised using the nasal saline solution and the aspirator on Ashley. I could tell she hated it. I don’t like having anything squirted up my nose, either! I was always afraid I would push the aspirator up to far, or she would move at the wrong moment, and I would hurt her. Q-tips were no better in that regard.

The saline in the boogie wipes loosens the mucous, letting you wipe it away easily. Tough boogies sometimes take a while, but they always come out. With the pleasant grape or “fresh” scent (which smells like fresh-washed laundry hung out to dry on a spring day!), Ashley doesn’t mind if I spend a minute or two wiping her nose. But most of the time, it only takes a second! That’s why the inventors created the wipes: To catch and clean little noses on the go.

Ashley smiles whenever I pull out a Boogie Wipe. She also opens her mouth to try to eat the grape wipe. (I will have to keep them out of reach when she’s a bit older!)

Boogie Wipes cost about $4 for a package of 30 wipes, and they come in a convenient pop-up package, which allow you to pull out one wipe at a time. They fit easily in your diaper bag or on the changing table. Four dollars isn’t exactly cheap for only 30 wipes, but the convenience and quality is worth it. Since you are helping to support a U.S.-based small business, it is money well spent. I’d like to see a re-usable package and then “refills” that sell for less money in bulk, just like baby wipes.

My only complaint is that the wipes are a bit bigger than they need to be; they are the size of actual baby wipes. Look at the size of a butt, then look at a nose (even an adult nose!) and you’ll see what I mean! The wipes could easily be half the size and still do the trick, and then you could get more per package. I’ve tried ripping them in half, but they’re too strong to tear easily. You’d have to cut them, and who has time to do that when you have a kid with a dripping nose?

Pulling out a package of boogie wipes at the local park will spark questions, so beyond their practical use, they’re a great conversation piece if you’re looking to meet other moms. I am definitely what social media expert Seth Godin would call an “early adopter” so I love being the first to have an innovative new product and telling my friends about it.

If you have a tot with a runny or stuffed up nose (and really, this winter, who doesn’t?) I definitely recommend you pick up a pack of Boogie Wipes. They are available at Wal-mart, Rite-Aid and grocery stores across the U.S.

If you’re like me – a mom who has one or more children who are more prone to get sick because of a medical condition – then you’re cringing that the weather has cooled and people are preparing to take their fun activities indoors where germs run rampant. My son is prone to get sick because of a condition he has, but each year he gets better and better until one day it’s supposed to disappear completely. We’re two or three years away from when that’s supposed to happen, so now I’m bracing myself for the colder weather.

He has already started his trademark wheezing that makes people ask me, “Is he okay? Can he breathe?” I’ve become more vigilant about using hand sanitizer and we’re getting a little choosier about which social invitations we accept and which ones we decline because I don’t want him assaulted with everyone else’s germs. When we drop him off at Sunday school we cringe if we hear another kid there sniffling because we can be fairly certain that the next day, our son will probably be sniffing too.

Before I had kids I would welcome the cooler weather. I’ve never been too fond of hot climates and there’s nothing like hot cocoa and watching the leaves turn different colors. Now that I have kids all I can think is, “Uh-oh, here comes all the colds. I better stock up on tissues.”

I’ll be very careful this year to make sure that my kids are as healthy as they can be, but seeing as my son is already on his way to his first cold of the season I can be fairly certain that we’ll see many more sicknesses as the weather gets colder and colder. Of course, he gets colds any time of the year, but when the colder weather rolls around the colds come fast and furious with few breaks. His older sister is a lot heartier, and I hope that someday he will be too.

So prepare yourselves for going to the pumpkin patch and for the year’s first snow. I’ll be busy preparing our house for the onslaught of illness.

When both my kids had colds recently, their symptoms seemed to linger- to start to get better after a few days, then worsen again. We ended up seeing our pediatrician, who recommended giving them honey to treat their sore throats and coughs.

I later found out that honey has been rated the best cough remedy by a Pennsylvania State University?s College of Medicine doctor, Ian Paul, M.D. It coats the throat, fights irritants, is rich in anti-oxidants and causes salivation, which prevents dry coughs. While not recommended for infants, honey can safely be given to kids aged 1 year and up.

Give ? teaspoon to kids who are 1-5 years old and one teaspoon to older kids, ages 6-11.

Other natural cold remedies include steam via a vaporizer or from a hot shower and elevating children?s heads while they sleep, by putting rolled up towels or stuffed animals under their mattresses. We all know to drink plenty of liquids for colds and other ailments. Frozen liquids, or frozen juice pops, help hydrate kids and feel good on sore throats. You can always make your own popsicles with an inexpensive plastic popsicle tray, juice or other beverage, and popsicle sticks.

For stomach aches and nausea, real ginger will help (vs. store-bought ginger-ale, which does not contain real ginger!). You can make your own ginger ale with real ginger, lemon rind, honey, boiling water and seltzer to taste. Slices of ginger may also be steeped in hot water to make ?ginger tea?.

Young children, including my own, often have toilet ?issues?, especially when potty-training. Mineral oil worked when my 2 ? year old son was painfully?umm?backed-up. Fresh fruit, particularly apricots, pears, peaches and dried fruit will likely bring relief to this problem. For young babies without teeth, boil a prune in water and then puree it.

Check with your doctor about recommended amounts of flax-seed to relieve constipation, but this can work well for kids ages 2 and up, sprinkled and mixed into foods like yogurt.

For teething pain, frozen foods are a great idea. A frozen stalk of celery or asparagus can reach to the back teeth. A frozen bagel works well for front teeth.

It starts with the pink cheeks. Then come the bright eyes, the hoarse whisper and your shirt being used as a tissue. Last fall, the FDA recommended that children under the age of two not take any cough or cold medicines as they have not been proven to be effective and may have adverse effects. So how do you help a tiny nose?

Bea Kunz of Sage Hill Farms in Petersburg, TN, suggests taking a more natural route to better health through teas and herbs that are easily added to your diet.

“If we focus on prevention when children are small and treat the everyday and minor ills with herbal and natural means, more than likely they will never have to deal with many of the issues that seem to follow from childhood into adulthood,” Bea said, “asthma and eczema being two of the biggest culprits.” She adds, “The herb world abounds with gentle and effective plants that can help respiratory problems and leave your child stronger and healthier in the end results. Wild Cherry Bark, Horehound, Hyssop and Coltsfoot are a few to think seriously about getting acquainted with.”

So how do you incorporate these great herbs in your meals? Bea shared with us on of her family’s favorite recipes:

Herbi Egg Bake
2 Tbsp real butter
1/2 tsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp dried parsley
dash of dried tarragon
dash of dried thyme
4 eggs
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 325F degrees

Combine butter with dried herbs and divide into the cups.

Place cups in a shallow baking pan

Place in oven until butter is melted

Break an egg into each cup

Top with 1 TBSP cream and 1 TBSP cheese per cup

Bake 12 to 15 minutes just until the eggs are done.

Serve these alongside your child’s favorite fruit and toast with a wee bit of honey or jam.

When illness does invade your home, a soft cuddle, a warm kiss and plenty of love are the best cold remedies. Heck, you don’t even need to struggle with the childproof cap…

Last week my kids both came down with bad colds. Having both kids sick at once was a first for us and it was, unfortunately, also my 7-month-old daughter’s first cold. Needless to say, it was a rough week at our house!

One night I was up ALL night (literally). My two-year-old son would wake up coughing and I’d go to his room and get him calmed down and back to sleep. No sooner had I gotten back into bed than my daughter would wake up, so I would go and get her settled down and back to sleep. This continued all night long. I don’t think I need to elaborate on the fact that I was a zombie for the entire day after this. (I didn’t think there were worse nights than those first ones back from the hospital – boy was I wrong!)

My kids are finally starting to get better now, thank goodness. Having two kids sick at their ages at the same time was a whole new experience for me and I hope I never experience my kids and me sick all at once (although, I’m sure at some point I will). This time was definitely enough of a challenge!

The thing I realized during their colds was that Moms may not be Olympic athletes or world leaders, but we are strong in our own right. Moms wipe runny noses, are up in the middle of the night consoling sick babies, and we dispense medicine to unwilling children (this is no easy task, as I’m sure you well know!). It takes a tough and selfless person to take care of a sick child and the more children you have, the harder it gets. So, to all of you Moms out there who are fighting a sickness with your child or children – I salute you. We’ve all been there and we know that battle is a tough one – may you come out better for worse or wear.

Is it just me, or do children usually come down with some sort of illness around the holidays? Perhaps it’s the change in weather, the stress, or just the amount of activity and changes in the schedule, but I seem to remember more “sick” holidays than “well” holidays. Then again, I suppose a Christmas spent with Tylenol is more memorable than one without.

I wasn’t surprised when yesterday, our 9 month old started with a “cold”. Today, it’s turned into a full blown virus. No fever, but stomach distress, and a slight rash in addition to the sniffles. Yup, we’re on our way to another sick Christmas.

In fact, this is a memorable event in many ways. Firstly, it is my baby’s first “real” illness. He’s made it 9 months without any sort of sniffle or anything. Isn’t that awesome? And, this is my first time without being able to use that great infant decongestant stuff since it was taken off the shelves a few months ago.

My oldest is 14, and I always used those drops! I swear they worked when you used them correctly, unlike what the medical professionals claim. When I called the product hotline, the rep on the other end of the phone claimed that they were taking the product off the shelf because it had come to their attention that some parents were using their product incorrectly and overdosing their children so they would sleep. This leads me to a bunch of thoughts. Firstly, just now you realize this? This product has been out for decades and just NOW you figure this out? Secondly, again, why do we all suffer because a few people choose to do the wrong thing?

I digress…..so this cold, my son will use the old stand by. He’ll get the salt water drops and have the mucous aspirated out of his nose. He loves that! I have the vaporizer running, and I have the Vicks Rub for Infants which has helped him. And, when he is really uncomfortable, I’ll give him some tylenol.

I’m sure we’ll make it thru this first cold. Hopefully, he’ll even be well enough to celebrate his first Christmas.