Turmeric Milkshake | Boosting Your Child's Immunity

Okay, so it's been a couple of weeks since I blogged about my LO's cold and flu symptoms. As suspected her chesty cough is now almost gone, but the bug seems to be working it's way through every member of the family painfully slowly, and I'm now the one with the bug!

Although my LO's chesty cough seems to have subsided, she was still a little under the weather so I decided to take her to the docs last Friday for peace of mind, as she's been ill on and off for quite some time now.

As suspected, the doc told me not to worry and to "come back in a few weeks" if her symptoms seemed to worsen. Apparently children are susceptible to one virus a month at this age (Aaliyah is almost 4 now) - according to my doc. So as usual I left the docs without medication, a response I knew I would get, but peace of mind that she was alright. So the trip to the doc wasn't entirely pointless.

Over the past few weeks though, I've been giving Aaliyah an age old cold and flu family remedy which has seen me through many an illness and I swear by it! So if your LO is feeling under the weather and you know you'll get the same response as I did from the docs, try my family's cold and flu remedy to help soothe symptoms and boost your LO's immunity naturally.

Ingredients

1 cup of milk - warmed in the microwave
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp clear honey

Method

Stir well until the turmeric and honey have completely dissolved and serve warm.

If it helps, tell your LO it's a 'yellow milkshake'. That's what I say to mine and she drinks it all up. I can tell by her face she's not entirely convinced because the turmeric gives the drink a slightly earthy taste, but the honey sweetens it up so that's good enough for her!

Turmeric has been used as a natural cold remedy for generations and is excellent for boosting the immune system for cold and flu protection. Honey is also anti-bacterial and anti-viral so again great for treating cold and flu symptoms.

Whilst I'm aware parents tend to avoid milk and dairy products as they're believed to produce more mucus in the throat - it's simply not true and there's no scientific evidence to back it up. (Similar to the fact that there is no scientific evidence to say you can't feed aromatic spices to babies). You can read more about milk and mucus production in children's colds here.

If you LO has a cow's milk allergy, try using warm water as a substitute. Water is excellent for helping to replace lost fluids from runny noses and feverish sweating. Alternatively you can offer a more traditional warm water, honey and lemon drink.

Offer this remedy to your LO once a day and he/ she should be right as rain in no time.

IMPORTANT: These home remedies should not be offered to children under the age of 12 months. Both the honey and milk are unsuitable.

For babies under 12 months

If your baby is under 12 months of age, you can boost his/ her immunity naturally by including warming aromatic spices in meals. In fact, it helps to do this for older children and the rest of the family too. Here are some warming spices which are great for boosting immunity. Try adding these to everyday meals for more flavour and immune-boosting benefits: