Despite the rich assortment of drugs on the modern pharmaceutical market, their effectiveness, speed of action, we often resort to folk recipes. Because a drug is still a chemical. And for the preparation of folk remedies, natural products are used. This is especially true for those who have children. And many parents prefer natural ones. Folk remedies have been tested for centuries. In addition, home remedies are sometimes just as effective as pharmaceuticals. In the season of colds, you can use a home remedy for coughing children from coughs - a lozenge.
This tool will be new to most readers. But in preparation it is quite simple, and in use it is effective. In this article, we will tell you about the most common, effective and safe recipes for making cough lozenges for babies.
Read on for all the secrets of this wonderful tool.
What is a cough lozenge for children?
This is a therapeutic agent with a warming effect, used in children as an additional procedure for diseases of the respiratory tract, accompanied by such an unpleasant symptom as cough.
In fact, it is a compress, but with a softer and longer lasting effect.
In addition to the warming effect, it has a number of other beneficial properties, in accordance with the ingredients it contains.
In the recipe for a healing cough cake for children, the following products are most often used: honey, potatoes, mustard, salt, flour. All ingredients are usually at hand.
There are recipe options where menthol, vodka, pepper, vinegar are used, but due to the aggressiveness of the active ingredients, they should not be used in children's practice.
The effect of treating a cough with such therapeutic compresses is akin to paraffin - or ozokeritotherapy, setting cans or mustard plasters.
Rules for the use of cakes
- Flatbreads are placed on the child's chest and back in the projection of the bronchi and lungs. They cannot be installed on the left side of the chest, that is, above the heart. On the back, they are placed between the shoulder blades, bypassing the spine.
- The cake should be warm. In the process of its preparation, any of the ingredients or the entire finished mixture is heated in a water bath. You can also heat the finished cake in the microwave and on the stove in a frying pan.
- The compress is not applied directly to the body. Lubricate the baby's chest and back with baby cream or vegetable oil. Wrap the cake in gauze, laid in 2 - 3 layers, and carefully place it on the treatment area. Secure first with a cotton swaddle or scarf, and wrap it over with a warm scarf. Lay the baby on the crib and cover with a blanket.
- Periodically ask your baby about any discomfort.
- After the end of the procedure, the cake is removed, the rest of the compress is washed off the skin with warm water. The child is put on clean cotton pajamas, covered with a warm blanket and put to bed.
The used cake should always be thrown away. Prepare a fresh compress for each new session.
Cough cake for children with honey
Products for making honey cakes can be found in the kitchen of any housewife.
The first is honey. It should not be very liquid, of moderate density, with a good shelf life.
If you only have sugared honey on hand, melt it in a water bath, but do not bring it to a boil. It is known that with excessive heating, honey loses all its medicinal properties.
- You can use exclusively honey in the amount of one tablespoon for the compress, but due to the viscous consistency, the shape will not be preserved and the honey will spread. It is recommended to cover the applied mass with a cut of cling film for a longer preservation of heat, and so that the child does not elementarily smear with sticky honey. The procedure can take up to 8 hours, so it is convenient to start treatment before bedtime.
- The most commonly used honey cake with vegetable oil and flour. Flour acts as a thickener, and oil gives elasticity, and it will be easy to give the dough the desired shape. All ingredients are taken in one tablespoon. To enrich the cake with warmth, heat the oil in a water bath. Knead the dough and make a flat cake. Such a compress is kept for about 3 hours.
- Another equally effective recipe for a honey cough cake for children is with the addition of salt. It is necessary to mix honey and salt in equal proportions until smooth and warm in a water bath. A flat cake made from a mixture of honey and salt can be left overnight.
Honey is a unique natural product. It contains a large number of nutrients: carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids, trace elements, enzymes, phytoncides. The honey cake gently warms up the tissues, as a result of which the blood vessels expand, all useful substances easily penetrate the irritated respiratory tract, optimizing the healing processes.
You can use honey cake from 6 months of age.
You need to be careful with children who have plant pollen intolerance, as there is a risk of developing cross-allergies.
If there are contraindications to the use of honey-based compresses, you can resort to using other ingredients.
Mustard cough lozenge for children
The list of effective methods for warming up the airways and improving blood circulation in them includes mustard cake. To prepare it, you need to take one tablespoon of dry mustard, vegetable oil and flour. Combine all the ingredients, get a homogeneous mass and mold the cake.
It is not allowed to use ready-made store mustard, as it contains a lot of auxiliary substances (salt, pepper, seasonings) that can harm the delicate skin of the baby.
There is a recipe for a combined tortilla, where, in addition to mustard powder, butter and flour, you will need a spoonful of honey. The effect of such a compress will be double. First, the heating of tissues, an increase in the lumen of blood vessels and an acceleration of blood flow in them. Secondly, the supply of nutrients contained in honey to the affected organs and their restoration.
It is recommended to cover the cake with plastic wrap to retain heat. The procedure takes approximately two hours. You can make a heat compress from mustard powder for children from 1 year old.
Some quick moms, in order to quickly cure their child from a cold and cough, increase the volume of products used in the recipe. For example, take 2 or even 3 tablespoons of mustard instead of one. Or leave the compress throughout the night. You need to know that if the rules for use are violated, mustard can cause skin burns. Therefore, check the baby's feelings during the procedure. You can look under the compress yourself several times and make sure that everything is fine. For the same reason, children under one year old are not recommended to use mustard cakes, since infant skin is thin, has an abundant blood supply and, as a result, is overly sensitive to irritations of any type.
But at the same time, it is assumed that after a session with mustard cakes, the baby's skin is somewhat redder than usual. This is considered a normal reaction.
Treatment with mustard cakes has the same effects on the body as mustard plasters, but in a milder form. This is precisely related to the fact that mustard cakes are applied up to 2 hours, and mustard plasters are removed after 15 - 20 minutes.
Potato cough cake
Everyone knows that you can cure a cough with potatoes using inhalation - sit over a saucepan with a cooked product and breathe scalding steam for 10-15 minutes. Not every kid can be persuaded to spend time this way. You can use an alternative healing method. Potatoes can be used to make an equally healing cake.
The classic recipe for such a medical compress is as follows. You will need 3 to 4 medium potatoes. Choose good, clean tubers with smooth skin and no dark or green spots or rot. Boil them in their uniform, allow to cool quite a bit and, without peeling, knead with a crush. Make a cake and attach it to the body of a sick baby for at least two hours, or it is possible for the whole night. It is used in children from six months.
There are also different variations of potato compresses:
- after cooking the crushed potatoes, as described above, add a teaspoon of baking soda and honey. The use of such a cake is also possible in infants from 6 months and throughout the night;
- another combination lozenge for the treatment of infant cough. Mix a tablespoon of honey, dry mustard and vegetable oil, add to the classic recipe potatoes. Due to the potent component - mustard, the holding time of the cake is reduced to 2 hours. It can be used in babies from 1 year old.
Contraindications
Despite the relative safety and natural components in the composition of the cake, there are contraindications for its use:
- the presence of an increased body temperature in a child;
- rashes, violation of the integrity of the skin, the presence of large moles in the chest and back;
- individual intolerance to the ingredients used.
How to find out if there is an intolerance to the ingredient used? To do this, apply a small amount of the substance to a small area of the baby's skin and wait about 30 to 40 minutes. If the skin remains intact, start making a lozenge. If redness or itching appears, then this substance should not be used.
Even in the absence of allergies to the products used (especially for babies), the first session should be carried out for a short time - about 30 minutes.
Lozenges are used for lingering or residual cough, tracheitis, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. But it is best not to self-medicate, since heat compresses are sometimes indicated, and in some cases (depending on the stage of the disease and the severity of its course), on the contrary, it is strictly prohibited. If your baby is coughing, you should definitely see a doctor.
