My Whole Family Has a Cold!

I haven't been posting for a while; my daughter, husband and I all came down with a rather nasty cold. It's been many nights of fevers, coughs, runny noses and body aches at my house.

Back in October, the FDA released a statement recommending that OTC cough medicines no longer be given to children under the age of two. Since then, there has been additional research that cough medicines aren't effective for children under six. The dosage is too small to do any real good, and a larger dose could be harmful to a child. With that information, I'm hesitant to give cough syrup to my two year old.

And for myself, I have unpleasant side effects from most cold medicines, so I rarely take anything.

But never fear! In the usual MSG fashion, I revived an old standby solution that my mom taught me. Chances are good you've heard this one, but it never hurts to repeat it.

Mix equal parts honey and lemon juice in a small container (I used an old baby food jar). You can warm it if you like, I usually don't. For a child, give a baby spoonful. For an adult, a teaspoon should do the trick.

*WARNING* DON'T GIVE HONEY TO CHILDREN UNDER ONE! Young children could develop infant botulism from eating honey.

The honey coats the throat, soothing the cough. The lemon juice helps break up the stuff in the back of the throat. As an added benefit, little ones who want "Doctor Mom" to treat them will get the comfort of medicine.

The best part about this is you can use this as often as you like, no waiting 4-6 hours. Plus, it tastes great (much better than artificial cherry).

For the cold I currently have, the honey and lemon works the best for when I wake up in the middle of the night with a dry, scratchy throat. I just love it when the simplest solution turns out to be the best!