Mar 12, 2010

The Wonder's of Garlic (part two)

As a mom to five I’ve spent many nights walking the floor with sick kids. Sometimes it seems like you can put them to bed perfectly healthy and two hours later they wake up with a miserable full-blown cold. Whether it’s the middle of the night or during the day, garlic is a quick, simple and effective way to help them to a speedy recovery.

For adults and children able to eat solid food, the best way I’ve found to give garlic is orally. Chop it finely and swallow it like you would a pill with water or juice. For children, mixing it with honey makes it taste better (never give honey to infant under one.) For adults I usually chop a whole clove, but for children one quarter to half a clove seems plenty. Garlic is an emetic (to much will make you vomit) so start with a small amount at first. Make sure to take the garlic several times a day until all the cold symptoms are gone.

Getting a baby to take garlic orally is next to impossible. Thankfully you can get garlic into their system be using a compress, which is super simple and fast.

Start by crushing and chopping one or two garlic cloves finely. Place the chopped garlic between several layers of paper towel and wet the paper towels with warm water. Hold the compress against the baby’s chest or back until the compress cools. Check for redness since garlic can burn their sensitive skin. Rubbing a little oil on their skin before using the compress can help protect it. Repeat with a fresh compress several times a day.

Another way to get garlic into a baby or young children that can’t be persuaded to eat garlic is to make a salve. Mix three tablespoons coconut oil, three tablespoons olive oil and three table spoons chopped fresh garlic. Blend the mixture with a stick blender for two to three minutes and strain. This can be stored in the fridge for one or two weeks. Use by rubbing the oil on the bottom of the child’s feet and covering their feet with old socks. This seems to work well for young children but in my experience needs to be repeated every couple of hours to be effective. Your little ones won’t smell too good but it’s well worth getting rid of that runny nose!

2 comments:

  1. Hey Maria, I'm enjoying your blog - interesting and helpful stuff!

    Another way to have garlic is to chop it up finely and boil in water - then drink it warm like tea. - which you've probably tried. Just adding my two cents here ;)

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  2. Hi, Thanks for the tip on garlic tea. I did try that once and while it wasn't a hit with the kids, it's a great way to clean out your sinuses in a hurry!

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