What to do for a Cold?

"My nosy!  My nosy!  My little nosy hurts!"  So cries my two-year-old, now that we have all come down with a cold.  This is the first time since we began daily elderberry that the girls have been sick.  Normally, a cold would trigger a high fever in my older child and an even higher fever in my younger child.  Fortunately, they are fever-free.

But what to do about those stuffy, runny noses and the corresponding chapped faces?  How to help them breathe?

Traditionally, our medical advice has been to try children's cold medicines and antihistamines.  We have discovered, however, that with our younger daughter--the one with the acid-induced asthma--the use of antihistamines triggers stridor.  (This appears to be the case with both diphenhydramine, commonly known as Benadryl and loratadine, commonly known as Claritin.)  Plus, with the recent scandal of cold medicines and antihistamines not being suitable for children under the age of 4 or 6, I wanted to find something I could rely upon with confidence for children in their age group.  But having GERD is tricky, and several of the herbal remedies for cold and flu that are on the market specifically say avoid use in a child with acid reflux.

So what to do?

Today we switched from straight elderberry to Nature's Way Sambucus (Elderberry) for Kids.  In addition to the elderberry syrup, it also contains echinacea and propolis, products which boost the immune system and enable the body to fight viral infections more successfully.  While the straight elderberry is great for daily maintenance, the Sambucus for Kids is designed for more intense treatment during a period of illness.  So far, so good.  The girls like the flavor (of course) and are currently sleeping.  The ever-flowing fountains that were their noses seem to be slowing down.

Of course, I am also using beeswax chapstick and lavender/rosemary baby chest rub, and I would have been using a humidifier if it hadn't broken.  The truth of the matter is having a cold is miserable, particularly for small children whose sinuses are so tiny to begin with.  And my girls typically get knocked down with a cold for 8-14 days.  No fun for anyone!  Whatever I can do to help make them feel better is worth a try, and anything I can do to cut the duration of the cold in two is even better.  We'll see how the Sambucus for Kids works.  It may just turn out to be a Best Pick after all...

Elderberry and the GERD Baby

I was recently introduced to elderberry juice by some friends of mine after my daughter struggled with back-to-back viral infections with severe nausea and high fever.  Since she tested negative for flu both times, our pediatrician could not prescribe Tamiflu.  But with swine flu still making its rounds in our area, we were concerned.

The discovery of elderberry has been a lifesaver to us--or at least, a sanity saver.  Last year (during the 2008-2009 fall/winter season) both my girls were sick for four months straight of nonstop viral illness.  Not fun!  And when my daughter became so ill this past fall, I was determined to  do whatever I could to prevent her from repeating last year's experience!

A weakened immune system can be a symptom of GERD as well as a side effect of long-term PPI use such as Prevacid, so I can not say if one or the other (or a combination) was the reason my girls typically got sick so drastically or remained sick for so long.  I do know there was a period of time where I simply had to keep them away from other children.  While I was glad they had each other, I longed for a time when I could get them "out of the house" and introduce them to a more normal toddler social life.

For the past six weeks, I have given my girls elderberry juice every day, and amazingly, they have not had a single illness despite being exposed to children in preschool and Bible study with runny noses, fevers, and even strep throat.  What's more, my younger daughter had suffered from chronic croup and recurring stridor since she was an infant.  She was being evaluated for acid-induced asthma when we began the elderberry.  Recently, however, her croup has completely disappeared.  The only thing I can attribute this remarkable recovery to is the introduction of elderberry juice, which reportedly is a natural remedy for asthma and bronchial irritation.

There is a variety of elderberry juices and syrups on the market.  Syrups, which usually include some form of sugar, are typically sweeter and can be administered in higher doses.  Juices or extracts, which typically do not contain sugar, are often mildly bitter and should be administered in smaller doses.    I prefer the juice because you can begin giving it to a GERD baby as soon as he or she is old enough to drink juice, whereas the syrups with added sugars may cause diarrhea if administered too early.  I mix 1/4 teaspoon of straight elderberry juice into a small cup of apple juice for my girls at breakfast.  They love drinking their "purple juice!"

I am including a link to Wyldewood Cellars' recent newsletter, discussing the use of elderberry to prevent the swine flu.  Wyldewood is a winery located in Kansas which sells elderberry juices (as well as wines).  Their juice is my personal favorite (a Best Pick!), as it contains no added sugar and is very cost affordable.  However, it is a local cellar, so I had to stock up the last time I visited my family in Missouri.

If you do not have a health store near you that sells elderberry (also known as sambucol or sambucus,) you can order online at Amazon.com.  I have listed a few varieties in my GERD Mama store for you to peruse if you cannot find a provider near you.

To Read About Elderberry and H1N1 Swine Flu Protection (page 3 of the attached newsletter)
http://www.wyldewoodcellars.com/PDFs/NL%2009-09.pdf

Mrs. Rabbit's Night-Night Tea

If your toddlers are like mine and struggle with "shutting down" for the night and going to sleep, or if they continue to have tummy troubles that keep them awake, here is an (almost) sure-fire way to calm and soothe them.


1/3 cup chamomile tea*
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. Colic-Ease Gripe Water


Tips on making the tea:
1-Use straight chamomile tea with no other added herbs.  (As for brands, Celestial Seasonings Chamomile is my favorite because it is simple, affordable, and easy to find.)
2-Make sure the tea leaves steep for at least 10 minutes
3-Serve it lukewarm during a calming night-time routine (reading books, listening to music, etc.)
4-You may substitute juice for children who don't like milk
5-If a new food has unsettled the child's stomach, you may increase the dosage of Colic-Ease gripe water according to the child's age and the label directions
*6-I vary the amount of tea according to age: 18 months use 1/4 cup; ages 2-4 use 1/3 cup; ages 5 and up use 1/2 cup, etc.


My girls love their night-night tea...and the story of naughty little Peter Rabbit whose mother loves him so much she sends him to bed with chamomile tea for his tummy ache!!

Colic-Ease Gripe Water: a GERD Mama Best Pick

Being new to the public world of mom-blogging, let me say I am a mom of action, who firmly believes the least invasive method of treatment is best.  Because my girls' symptoms were so severe, I tried almost everything to help them--including prescription medication--and learned that sometimes it's the simple things that make the most difference.  Therefore, I am devoting this blog post to one of my favorite products for soothing pediatric acid reflux: Colic-Ease Gripe Water.


Let me confess that I did not originally start the girls on Colic-Ease, but I wish I had.  When my first daughter was born, she could not suck or swallow properly and began to dehydrate and lose weight within days.  By the end of her second week, she had dropped from almost the 90th percentile in weight to the 50th percentile.  Because GERD was new to me and I was so busy keeping her alive both day and night, I didn't have time then to research all my options for treatment.  I purchased our doctor's prescription for Prevacid, and medically speaking, it saved her life.  The same thing happened with my second daughter, who was born only 15 months after my first.  It was only after both girls had been on Prevacid long-term that I began to see the negative side effects that were cause for concern.  (But more on that in another post.)


For now, let me share with you why I love Colic-Ease Gripe Water.


My children started taking Colic-Ease Gripe Water since they were 24 months and 9 months old, respectively.  That was when I first learned about it myself.  I began giving it to them in conjunction with a strictly controlled diet, and the difference has been like night and day in reducing and eliminating their GERD symptoms.  Even now that they are 2 and 3 years old, I keep a bottle on hand for those occasions when they eat a new food that might upset their stomachs, and it does the trick to settle their systems. 


But what is gripe water, you may ask?  "Gripe waters" are homeopathic remedies composed of natural ingredients that are typically used to treat colic.  Some recipes have been used for hundreds of years in Eastern, middle-Eastern, and European cultures.  They are over-the-counter, so you don't need a prescription, but they are often sold exclusively in natural health stores rather than regular pharmacies or grocery stores.  


What separates Colic-Ease Gripe Water from other gripe waters is what it does not contain: alcohol, sodium bicarbonate, charcoal, parabens, sucrose or sorbitol, or artificial sweeteners, flavors, or colors.  Most gripe waters I researched and saw in the stores contained these ingredients, the most common being sodium bicarbonate and charcoal, neither of which I wanted to pour into my girls' systems.


In addition, Colic-Ease Gripe Water contains a mixture of what I would consider "normal" essential oils--in other words, herbal oils I recognize or oils that would pass from a nursing mother into her breastmilk while eating an average diet--dill, cinnamon, caraway, clove, and cardamum.   Together, these oils work to combat gas, indigestion, vomiting, and diarrhea.  They also help to kill harmful microorganisms, viruses, bacteria and fungi.


You can administer Colic-Ease directly through an infant medicine dropper or you can mix a little with breastmilk or  formula (or juice for older babies/toddlers).  It is safe to use for newborns as well as older children.


Because it is not sold widely in health stores, you may have difficulty locating it near you.  You may always go to the official Colic-Ease website for more information as well as to find a store near you or to order online. http://www.colicease.com/