Mildew!!!!

[Ymoja]

Greetings Everyone...

I am in desperate need of advice. I am the mother of a fourteen-month-old and a two-week-old, I recently moved to a new location in the more hilly area of the island. Along with the move came a horrible mildew problem because of the cold and moisture. I am based on the island of Jamaica by the way. Now the newborn has constant mucus in her nostrils and there is no cold just congestion which makes her cranky at nights. I have been using a saline solution to help clear the passage and a touch of eucalyptus on the sheets.

The fourteen-month-old has had two similar episodes since we moved. i managed with lots of anise, ginger and licorice to counter it but the mucus doesn't seem far away. From my research online I have come to realize that the children appear to be having an allergic response to the mildew....I am extremely frustrated and scared of the damage this could do. Are there herbs that i can use to build the babies immune systems in order to counter this? Anyone have advice on this topic...

We are planning to move but it won't happen for another month or so, in the meantime what can I do?

[2rubies]

I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you- but I just wanted to let you know we had the exact same problem. When we first moved to this state, we were in a rented house that had some mildew issues. For some reason, only my husband was immune to the problem (but he got to leave for work every day). My 4 and 2 yr old DS (at the time) and I went from one upper respiratory problem to the next for the entire six weeks we were in that house. I managed the best I could with saline solution, soup, and hot lemon and honey tea, but we never got better until we moved. You don't mention if you are BF-expressed milk does wonders for a stuffy nose. Good luck, hope you find better housing soon!

Kristin

[JaneS]

We are fighting this ourselves... unknown leak underneath kitchen faucet. Our environmental doctor thinks this could indeed be a large cause of food and environmental allergies and digestive issues we are facing.

Don't know about herbs but large amounts of probiotics can counter the fungal effect molds and mildew have.

Bifidus for the babe:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...6&postcount=20

Kefir for you and older child:
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

Lots and lots of Vitamin C. Vitamin A and D are excellent immune boosters as well, in food form such as seafoods and organ meats would be best, not sure if you can get high vitamin cod liver oil in Jamaica.

Good luck on the move, it must be really hard to have to face going thru that again.