Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor pretend to be one. What I’m going to share with you is what has worked for us but please always check with your doctor before trying any new medication or herbs with your children. If your children are sick, contact your doctor.
I have been blessed with two healthy girls and luckily we haven’t had to deal with major illnesses but the common cold is something that creeps up several times a year.
Most doctors will advice you that there’s not much you can do when your child has a cold but to ride it out. That’s exactly what we do along with giving my children herbal supplements that help their own bodies fight the cold.
I have noticed that if I start giving them these supplements when they have the first symptom, then the cold doesn’t stick around for too long. This also applies for myself, so I follow the tips listed here when my husband or I start feeling sick.
There are also some supplements they can take on a daily basis to boost their immune system and help them fight those nasty germs. We do a combination of preventative measures along with specific supplements once they start having some symptoms.
What I’m sharing here I learned through online research, speaking to other moms as well as our naturopath. If my kids start symptoms linger for more than 3-4 days or they have a fever, I always call our naturopath to check if we should bring them in. I might be a little paranoid but I rather be safe than sorry.
Supplements to boost your child’s immune system and overall health
There are several supplements we take daily, throughout the year, to keep our kids healthy. I have to be honest here, when I say daily, it’s what I strive for but sometimes I forget. So, my kids probably take these supplements 4-5 times a week.
My kids started taking supplements around the age of 2. Please keep in mind that your child needs to be able to chew the gummies without choking, and this is why most brands recommend their products for kids 4 and older. I always keep a close eye on my 2 year old when she’s taking any of these supplements.
Also, between 2 and 4 years old I give them the supplements a few times a week and once they’re over 4 I do my best to remember to give it to them on a daily basis. My reasoning for this is that since my kids are still nursing they don’t need as many supplements but once they stop nursing I start giving them more.
Unfortunately our soils have been overused and a lot of the vegetables and fruits we eat now-a-days lack the amount of nutrients they used to have before. Since my kids are picky eater and don’t eat a lot, I supplement their diet with these vitamins and supplements to make sure their little bodies are getting everything they need.
Multivitamins
I have tried probably most brands of multivitamins for kids and have found it challenging to find something that’s organic, food based, that is chewable and tastes good. My kids really like these brands:
- Suppys: I love these because they contain very little sugar and already have Vitamin D3 so this means I don’t need to get an extra Vitamin D3 supplement.
- Garden of Life Kids Multi: If my kids insist on gummies I’ll get these instead.
- Smarty Pants: I buy these when I’m on a budget.
- MegaFood Kid’s One Daily Multi: I really wish these were chewables since I really trust this brand but since they’re not I have not been able to give them to my kids. Once my kids are older we will switch to these multivitamins. If you want to stick with MegaFood, they do a vitamin powder for kids.
Probiotics
I have tried several probiotics and there is so much different advice when it comes to probiotics. I ended up asking a few doctors and talking directly to different brands and we now only take Regular Girl.
What I love about this probiotic is that it’s actually a prebiotic and probiotic blend, and your body needs the prebiotic in order for the probiotics to bind in your gut and actually work. Plus the prebiotic they use is Sunfiber which has been studied a lot and helps the little ones stay regular.
Plus, Regular Girl has no nasty fillers, it’s organic, non-GMO, gluten-free and it’s recommended by Dr. Sears (I personally really trust his recommendations).
Everyone in my family takes this probiotic, so not only the girls, and since it’s a flavorless powder I just put it in their water bottles and they drink it throughout the day. You can mix it in with their food or smoothies too.
I have a discount code for their product since I have become friends with this company. Click here on my referral link and use code “MAMAINSTINCTS10” at checkout to get 10% off.
Fish oil
This is where it gets tricky. My kids do not like fish nor anything with a fishy flavor so I have found that Nordic Natural gummies are the best supplements for the little ones to take. We have tried several of their gummies and they love them all. They come in different shapes and sizes so we just rotate them.
Vitamin D
So many people are vitamin D deficient, including myself. We spend so much indoors and then when we go outside we are completely covered or wearing sunblock and this prevents our bodies from getting all the Vitamin D we need from the sun.
During the summer months we are outdoors a lot so I don’t give my kids a Vitamin D supplement but when we start spending more time indoors I give them a Vitamin D3 supplement daily.
- If my kids are taking Suppys I don’t give them extra Vitamin D3 since these multivitamins already contain enough of it.
- When they were babies we used the Carlson’s Vitamin D3 drops.
- Now that they’re older they take Nordic Naturals Vitamin D3.
Supplements to take during cold/flu season
Besides all the supplements mentioned above, once we get to fall I make sure my kids have extra supplements to boost their immune system. I will give them these supplements a couple times a week and especially if we go somewhere that will be too crowded or where people are sick.
Elderberry Syrup
If there’s something everyone should have in their pantry is elderberry supplements. At the sign of the first symptoms I start giving my kids elderberry and it works great! Just recently, everyone in my daughter’s class started getting sick so I started giving them more elderberry as a precaution and they didn’t get sick. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened so now I make sure we always have elderberry. It is one of my favorite supplements!
When it comes to elderberry syrup, we use Sambucol because the doses are standardized, which means you know what’s on the label, it’s what’s on the bottle. Plus, they don’t add any weird fillers and it tastes great.
My kids love the gummies, they’re very tasty and also vegetarian. I like them because they have only 1 gram of sugar, and no artificial flavors or colors. We give them the gummies daily during cold/flu season along with their regular vitamins.
We also like to use to use the syrup when they’re sick or about to get sick:
- Kids elderberry syrup: use this one for when they’re actually sick (or about to get sick) since I give them higher doses of elderberry.
- Black elderberry syrup: this is the one my husband and I take when we get sick or when the kids are sick. Every since we started doing this about 3 years ago, we don’t get when the kids get sick!
Immune Fortifier
I really love this supplement and I feel it has helped gone through this winter season without catching a cold. I just follow the instructions on the bottle and give it to my kids along with the Echinacea.
Supplements to take once the kids are sick
Ok, so your kid wakes up coughing and with a runny nose. Now what do you do? In this case I follow my naturopath’s advice, which is to give them all the immune boosting herbs throughout the day so their little bodies have more soldier to fight off the germs.
Now, this is no magic potion, your kids have already caught a virus and will be sick but in my experience the herbal supplements for kids help them fight off the cold faster and make the symptoms milder.
Once the kids are sick I give them the following supplements:
- Elderberry: I follow the quantities on the bottle and give it to them 2-3 times a day for the first 2 days they’re sick. Then I just keep on following the dose recommended on the bottle.
- Herb Pharm Immune Avenger: I just follow the dose recommended on the bottle and give them this one in the morning.
- Khroma Little Warrior: I follow the dose recommended on the bottle and give them this one at night.
- Vitamin C Spray: Most of the multivitamins contain Vitamin C so I only give them extra when they’re with a cold. I follow the dose recommended on the bottle.
If the kids have a sore throat and/or are coughing I’ll also add these to the mix:
When they’re sick I spread all these out throughout the day, so they’re taking something approximately every 2 hours. If your kids go to school, spread them out between morning, afternoon and night.
The supplements mentioned here are organic because you need a lot of herbs to make these syrups and I want to make sure my kids are not getting a concoction of pesticides along with the herbs that are supposed to be helping them get better. They’re also pretty affordable and with the exception of the elderberry (because I use this one regularly), all these supplements last me throughout an entire winter and sometimes even more.
I know it sounds like a lot but keep in mind that they’re not taking all of this every day. I have a stash of all of these herbs in my medicine cabinet and once one of the kids shows any symptoms of getting sick I start giving it to them.
So, is there something you use that I did not mention? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to try it out!
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