Quick Question: Lemon/Ginger/Honey for 1yo's cough

[capsgirl08]

I am thinking of skipping the honey altogether -- DS just turned 1 last week.

What about the ginger, though? I looked in Joneja's book and didn't see it listed on the allergenicity scale. Anyone have any experiences with pos/neg reactions?

Any other ideas on what to give FA baby for cough? We are trying to go back to avoiding all dairy, eggs, gluten and some nightshades. (I started dairy & gluten again 2 weeks ago due to pedi GI pressure, and am still having a hard time cutting it out...Come to think of it, I wonder if that is where the cough is coming from---the dairy? It sounds phlegmy)

Thank you!

[kjbrown92]

Do you have allergies or intolerances? Because I thought the Joneja scale was only for allergies, not intolerances. Ginger sounds benign to me (probably because both my kids can actually have it!). On our informal poll here, only 1 person out of 60 respondents was intolerant to ginger, so on that scale it's low.

[tanyalynn]

google for Aviva Romm's spicy lemonade, it's water, garlic, lemon juice and honey, it helps us with coughs.

Kids with food allergies/intolerances seem to get more susceptible to illness when they get their bad foods. A girl at our old daycare always got raging colds when she got dairy, which was fairly frequently since her family didn't cut it out altogether and didn't do a great job keeping her away from it.

[capsgirl08]

Thanks for the input.

To be honest, I don't know if DS has intolerance or if it is allergies. We had the RAST done when he was 4 months and everything came back negative. The nurses told us to go ahead and eat whatever -- I was/am still nursing.

I suspect dairy intolerance because I have that. I suspect gluten issues because DH's mom has Celiac. I suspect egg issues because he had projectile every time I ate lots of eggs. Also, we vaxed DS at 2mo, 4mo and 6mo --- each time, he got eczema and progressively worse. It is embarrassing that I never made the connection and frustrating that no one else I speak to takes it as mor ethan "coincidence".

Anyway, that was a digression...but thank you again -- I'll check out the spicy lemonade. Sounds like a winner -- never would have thought to throw in garlic!

[capsgirl08]

Two days later, the cough has gotten worse and it sounds like there's more drainage --- I'm wondering if it is turning into allergic bronchitis.

I really do *not* want to resort to antibiotics, which I know the pediatrician will recommend -- not even Tylenol or over the cough meds, which they already advised after calling their office.

Would you try Benadryl? (I have never given it to DS, but we have it on hand in case of emergencies). What other Whole-Foods type cough medicines would you recommend?

I did not give him honey since he just turned 1, but I did try the lemon, ginger, garlic and have been putting ginger and garlic into his chicken.

Just getting a little desperate and concerned. He has never been sick before, so I guess I'm lucky in that respect, but also completely inexperienced.

Any extra tips would be great. Thank you.

[kjbrown92]

I would take him in so the doctor could listen to his lungs, at that age. I brought DS in on Tuesday for a listen (and he's almost 9yo). I've been giving him raw honey on a spoon. I also gave him beef broth with lots of garlic in it. He can't have lemon (or any citrus) so that was out. And I tried a ginger honey tea but he wouldn't drink it. His cough is really phlegmy but it seems to be not getting any worse. When he had the fever on Tuesday the doctor said to give him something for it (it was 101.5 at its worst) and I didn't. I got some ibuprofin that looked like it had the least amount of corn in it in case I did need it but so far have held off.

I would eliminate the foods you suspect from your diet and his for the time being at least and see if you can "empty his bucket" a little more to ease the stress on his system.

[capsgirl08]

Went to the doctor. As expected, she prescribed Keflex. I asked if there was anything else she'd rec besides antibiotics, and she said, "Sure -- you could try Mucinex."

Not excited about either of those. Went to WF and picked up Mullein Garlic ear drops (she said his right ear looked red and was concerned an ear infection would brew), and children's Cold & Flu, a Homepathic med.

I'm still weary of those two things and have yet to give them to DS. Any feedback? I'm going to search online about them too.

The eardrops contain the following: Calendula, St. John's Wort, Meullein flower, Garlic bulb.

I don't understand the homeopathic system of labeling stuff...but the main things I picked up are the following:
Aconite, Cone Flower, Red Onion, Eyebright, Yellow Jessamine, Blood Root, Lung Wort, Citric Acid, Glycerin, Purified Water, Sodium Benzoate.

We're not avoiding corn, but I don't lik ethe thought of mold when it comes to citric acid...



Also, we got back home and DS had his first green, frothy, vinegary diaper in about 3 months.



Any other thoughts? Thanks a lot for the help so far!

[capsgirl08]

The children's Cold & Flu relief is from NatraBio, if anyone's familiar with it.