Natural cold and cough remedy for children

Cold and cough have your kids down? Are you looking for a natural remedy to help kids with their colds and cough? Try this recipe. This is the first thing I do whenever someone is sick in the house and it almost always works!  When I was sick last year with a bad cold and was still nursing I did not have any cough syrup options on the market that I could take (I was out of the country then). My wise father insisted I try this ayurveda recipe as it will help me with my congestion. After some push back I eventually gave in and boy I was fine in 24 hours!

So now whenever my 3.5 year old or even my 1 year old fall sick with a cough or a cold I make this recipe for them. I am really glad I have this recipe in my repertoire as most of the times I forget which over the counter cough syrup is good/safe for the kids, plus you cannot give most of the cough syrup to under 2 year olds. No such restrictions with this recipe.

In Northern India it is known as ‘Kada’ or ‘kara’, it is basically a bunch of spices boiled together for 20 minutes. It smells divine when you are making it and it so tasty to consume. It comforts your sore throat, unblocks your nose, decongests your chest and provides some relief from cough. You can make it once and drink it several times a day. My kids love it and drink it but it has to be sweetened for the kids, so I add honey to what I give my kids. If you are giving this to a kid under the age of 1 DO NOT use honey as a sweetener as honey is NOT recommended for infants due to botulism.

Try it the next time you or someone in your family is sick.

2 cups water

5 whole black pepper pods

4 cloves

2-3 1 inch cinnamon sticks

2 inches ginger

Put everything together in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes at which point the water would have turned black or dark brown and the water quantity has reduced to half the amount.