How to give chamomile to a baby for a red throat and cough

How much chamomile should I give to my baby?

Chamomile is a plant that has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and soothing effects.
Essentially, chamomile is a medicine. Its natural origin, combined with its wide spectrum of action, gives most mothers the impression that chamomile can be used for any reason. Is it so? Is it possible to give chamomile to a baby? If yes, in what quantities? Let's look at these questions in more detail. Chamomile infusion for infants can be useful for colds, skin irritations, and tummy problems. At the same time, you need to know that an allergy to chamomile in infants is not uncommon, so before using it, you need to make sure that the child’s body reacts well to the plant. You can start bathing in chamomile as soon as the umbilical wound heals. To begin with, prepare a weak decoction and apply it to a small area of skin; if no redness occurs within a day, you can begin the procedures. Over time, the concentration can be increased.

For colds, chamomile is believed to help relieve a sore throat in infants, being an antimicrobial agent. Of course, the baby is not able to gargle, so you can simply spray the mouth with a syringe. Chamomile can also be used in the form of inhalations for a cold in a baby. The vapors have an anti-inflammatory effect.

It has long been known that chamomile improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, so the use of chamomile is effective for diarrhea in infants, excessive gas formation and constipation. You need to start with tiny doses, if the baby reacts well, you can continue.

How to “cook” chamomile?

Before you start preparing a chamomile decoction for your baby, it is important to be sure that the existing mixture does not contain other herbs that may be dangerous. That is why, when chamomile is intended for a child, you should not save money by buying the herb from hand; it is better to go to the pharmacy and buy a guaranteed high-quality package of chamomile for external or internal use.

As for the question of how to brew chamomile for a baby, there is nothing complicated:

The amount of chamomile allowed for a child

As with any other medicine, dosage is important when using chamomile. Of course, it is better for the doctor to decide how much chamomile to give to the baby, but general rules can still be useful.

A newborn should not be offered herbal infusions at all in the first month of life. After a month, the maximum amount of decoction should not exceed 50 ml, that is, the portions recommended for babies are very small. To improve bowel function, pediatricians usually recommend giving one teaspoon of decoction before meals no more than four times a day. If you use the infusion as a medicine for a cold, then before giving chamomile to your baby, you need to feed him, and then give him a spoonful of chamomile to treat the mucous membrane. Again, you cannot overdo it and exceed the permissible limit so that the treatment is beneficial and not harmful.

Benefits of chamomile for colds

The beneficial qualities of the herb are determined by the high content of essential oil - it is this element that allows you to successfully eliminate the main symptoms of colds. The presence of vitamins, saponins, microelements, and bioflavonoids enhances the effect of the main substance. In the treatment of colds, herbal medicines based on chamomile will bring considerable benefits:

will relieve inflammation;
relieve headaches and general malaise;
will increase the body’s immune strength, protect against viruses and infections;
will reduce body temperature;
will alleviate the condition;
will eliminate painful sensations on the mucous membranes of the throat, soreness.

It is also recommended to use home remedies for the main symptoms of a cold - cough, runny nose. The active components will facilitate expectoration, thin mucus that has clogged the airways, and make breathing easier.

The main advantage of chamomile is that even children are allowed to use herbal medicines. The herb does not contain harmful compounds that are hazardous to health.

The only warning is that it is better to treat colds only with the permission of a specialist; without diagnosis, it is strictly forbidden to start traditional treatment.

How does chamomile tea affect the body of a newborn baby?

Chamomile drink contains various vitamins, acids and microelements. Only chamomile flowers are used for brewing. Chamomile can:

Relieve inflammation.
Have a disinfectant effect.
Remove bile from the body.
Calm your nerves.
Remove excess fluid from the body (diuretic effect).
Stop negative processes in the stomach.

Drinking tea for colds and coughs

With the help of the “Queen of the Fields,” as chamomile is often called, many common colds in infants can be treated. The composition of chamomile is excellent for fighting bacteria and viruses, strengthens the baby’s immunity during epidemics, reduces coughs, treats colds, and relieves sore throat.

Chamomile is great for infants because the tea or decoction does not have a strong taste or smell, and the baby will not resist taking the medicine.

Chamomile tea is used to treat colds. A glass of boiling water is poured into a filter bag or 1 teaspoon of raw material. Can be used immediately after cooling. You can feed your baby from a spoon or pour tea into a bottle.

Reduces gas formation in babies, helps with colic

Newborns often suffer from increased gas production or intestinal colic. Most often this is due to the lack of necessary microflora in the intestines, but pathology cannot be ruled out.

Will help your baby with pain and bloating

Chamomile will help a young mother here too. The recipe is simple: the grass or filter bag is filled with the required amount of boiling water and cooled naturally. Tea for colic is usually used before bedtime.

Helps with skin problems

To combat diaper rash and irritation of baby skin, use chamomile decoction baths. The bath solution is prepared from 1 tablespoon of herb poured with 1 liter of boiling water. The decoction is infused for 2-3 hours, after which it can be used. However, it is worth remembering about safety. Before use, you need to check your child for an allergic reaction. To do this, apply a decoction to a small area of skin and wait half an hour. If there is no reaction, then you can bathe the child in a chamomile bath.

Provides sound sleep for infants

Chamomile decoction is also used for sleep disorders. Chamomile contains a compound called chamazulene. This substance promotes muscle relaxation.

An infusion of the plant relieves the child’s excitability and normalizes sleep.

A tablespoon of chamomile is poured into a glass of water and boiled over low heat for a quarter of an hour. Then cool, leave for 2 hours and filter. The baby is given ¼ glass before bedtime. After using it for a week, sleep should return to normal.

Chamomile for teething

Chamomile decoction can be used in the first year when the baby's first teeth appear. It will help relieve pain and calm the baby during this difficult time. It is worth noting that chamomile is not able to completely relieve pain - it is still not a pain reliever.

Tea relieves inflammation and reduces itching of gums during teething

Chamomile decoction is used by rubbing into the gums. For gums you need a more concentrated decoction. Can also be consumed as regular tea.

For children's runny nose

Chamomile, due to its antiseptic properties, can be used to combat a runny nose. To do this, the baby’s nose is gently washed with chamomile decoction using a small pear.

However, you need to know that you need to rinse your nose under low pressure. There is also no need to carry out this procedure too often because... this can harm the nasal mucosa.

Chamomile decoction for newborns and pregnant women

In the treatment of infants and pregnant women, the use of concentrated herbal remedies is not recommended - preference should be given to a slightly saturated decoction that is safe for the body.

The herbal medicine is recommended to be used for colds - the active components reduce the temperature, relieve inflammation that affects the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, and facilitate expectoration when coughing.

Article for you:

How to treat varicose veins with burdock

At the same time, the herbal composition improves overall well-being and relieves headaches that often occur during a cold. Step-by-step folk recipe:

Grind the dried flowers of the plant (15 grams) into a fine paste.
Combine the plant mass with boiling water (220 ml).
Stir the mixture and place in a water bath.
Boil the product for a quarter of an hour, remove, cool (cover the brewing container with a lid).
Strain, put in the refrigerator after filtering, and be sure to warm up before drinking - cold liquid can cause discomfort in the throat and provoke additional coughing attacks.

Give infants homemade medicine every 2 hours, dosage – 15 ml. Pregnant women should use the product like regular tea - drink 100-120 ml several times a day. With the permission of a specialist, you can improve the taste of the drink with bee honey, which helps strengthen the immune system and improve overall health.

How to give your baby something to drink

There are no direct contraindications for the use of chamomile tea. The best time to drink tea is before bed. The baby will calm down and sleep soundly.

The child is given tea after feeding, using a spoon or bottle with a pacifier

Most often, the drink is given to the baby after feeding. Chamomile tea has a pleasant, sweetish taste and smell, and therefore the child will not resist drinking it. You can drink from a spoon or pour tea into a feeding bottle.

Chamomile is one of the most harmless plants used in herbal medicine. There are no direct contraindications for the use of chamomile. When using chamomile decoction to bathe a child, you should monitor the allergic reaction of the skin, it turns red.

Possible allergic reaction

A rash, irritation, and less often itching may appear. If the first bath was successful, then most likely further use will not cause problems.

Chamomile tea is as harmless as the decoction, but you still have to follow a few simple rules.

Don't brew tea too strong.
Be sure to strain the tea before drinking.
You should not give your child too much tea.

You need to get used to tea with a small amount and weak brew.
Violation of the described rules can lead to an upset stomach, diarrhea, and bloating. We also shouldn’t forget about allergies. The first use of tea, at one month of age, is necessary only in small quantities with a half-hour wait for a reaction.

It is better to brew the first tea weakly, gradually increasing the concentration to the required level.

Chamomile decoction for bathing cannot be used until the umbilical wound has healed.

See also useful information about herbs during breastfeeding: chamomile, fennel, fireweed, mint, thyme.

Properties

Chamomile has high biological activity due to the essential oils and flavonoids it contains. It has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. Relieves itching and irritation. Promotes healing and tissue restoration. Relaxes smooth muscles, eliminates spasms and relieves pain.

You can make tea, infusion and decoction from chamomile. Tea and infusion are used internally, and the decoction is used externally.

Chamomile will help your baby with skin problems, colds, indigestion, and anxiety.

Application

In what form is chamomile used in children?

Chamomile for bathing babies. The decoction relieves itching and irritation on the skin. Treats diaper rash, reduces inflammation.
Chamomile infusion before meals. Relieves spasms, improves digestion, reduces gas formation, and reduces pain. Increases appetite. Promotes digestion of food. Has a slight laxative effect.
Chamomile infusion after meals. It is used as a remedy for coughs, colds, pain and inflammation in the throat. Has a general strengthening effect and stimulates the immune system.
Chamomile tea before bed. Used as a mild sedative.

Children familiar with problems such as allergies should be given any herbs with extreme caution, having first consulted with a doctor and found out the procedure for use.

What throat diseases can be treated with chamomile?

Chamomile has been used for a long time to treat almost all common throat diseases. The chemical composition of the plant is incredibly rich and diverse. Due to its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, the medicinal herb is considered an effective and safe natural remedy against oral infections.

Chamomile solution can be used by both adults and children without harm to health. If you start gargling with infusion at the initial stage of the disease, then pharmaceutical drugs most likely will not be needed. Today, chamomile is rightfully the most popular and widely used natural remedy for most seasonal viral infections that cause sore throat and inflammation of the mouth. The following are successfully treated with the plant:

angina;
laryngitis;
pharyngitis;
tonsillitis;
throat allergies;
Throat candidiasis.

Infusion treatment

Chamomile infusion is prepared from crushed raw materials. To prepare an infusion for a child, herbal powder must be purchased at a pharmacy. It can be purchased in the form of ready-made tea bags. Doctors usually recommend brewing 1 packet per 200-250 ml of water. Pour boiling water over the herb and leave for 20 minutes. The resulting solution is brought to the initial volume.

Depending on the problem in children of the first year of life, the infusion is used as follows:

For digestive problems, bloating, colic, constipation. 1 teaspoon 20 minutes before feeding. 4-5 times a day.
For redness in the throat, to treat cough. 1 teaspoon after feeding. 3-4 times a day.
With a runny nose. Rinse the nose with infusion 2-3 times a day.

For digestive disorders, chamomile can be given for about a week. After the condition improves, you can stop taking it.

For inflammation in the throat, chamomile should be given after meals, as a throat treatment instead of gargling.

For coughs, chamomile is used for infants only as an auxiliary remedy, but not the main one. Cough treatment must be carried out under the supervision of a doctor who will monitor the condition of the bronchi.

A child under one year old will not be able to take inhalations with herbal infusion. The traditional method of “breathing over the pan” is not suitable for infants. It is impossible to use water infusions in a nebulizer, since these devices are designed to deliver drugs directly to the bronchi . Allowing water to enter the bronchi is dangerous to health. For nebulizers, only special medicinal mixtures are used.

If you have a runny nose, chamomile will provide your baby with a quick recovery. You can either rinse the nose with infusion or clean the nose with moistened cotton wool.

Allergy may also occur to chamomile infusion. Therefore, as a test, the child should be given the first spoonful of the solution in the morning, and during the day, observe the behavior and make sure there is no reaction.

How to prepare the solution?

Chamomile infusion is a highly effective and irreplaceable medicine against a sore throat, but only if it is prepared correctly. A solution that is too weak is not able to cope with inflammation, and a solution that is too strong dries out the mucous surface of the mouth and pharynx.

For small children, it is advisable to make the infusion not as rich as for adults. The solution is prepared quite simply, it is universal, that is, it is used for all infectious diseases of the throat. Two tablespoons of dried flowers are poured into a deep container and 250 ml of boiling water is poured.

The medicine is infused for an hour in a warm place, then filtered. The resulting infusion has a bitter taste; taking it into the mouth is not very pleasant, especially for a small child. Therefore, you can add a little honey to the medicine, but in no case sugar. Rinsing should be done daily until the symptoms of the disease disappear.

If a sore throat is accompanied by severe pain, then you can make a more effective medicine by adding eucalyptus to chamomile. Plant materials for infusion are sold at any pharmacy. Two tablespoons of chamomile flowers and one tablespoon of eucalyptus leaves are mixed and 500 ml of water is added.
The solution is placed on the fire, brought to a boil, then cooked for no more than three minutes. The resulting broth is infused until it cools and is carefully filtered.

If it is necessary to cure thrush in the throat, then honey should not be added to the chamomile infusion, but a teaspoon of boric acid should be poured into the glass with the medicine. If the inflammatory process in the throat is very strong, then a more saturated solution is prepared, not two, but four tablespoons of flowers are taken. But such a concentrated medicine is prohibited for use by children.

Drink for every day

Chamomile tea serves as a general strengthening and immunostimulating agent. It can be prepared from infusion. Dilute 3-4 tablespoons of infusion in 200 ml of water. You can buy ready-made baby tea and dilute it according to the instructions.

Tea has a good calming effect. It can be given to children as a drink before bed. It is better to brew it shortly before taking it. Give the cooled drink to the child from a spoon or bottle. Tea is a diluted infusion with a low concentration of active substances, but sensitive children may be allergic to it.

Chamomile is a natural, effective remedy. With its help, you can solve pressing problems in children in the first year of life. It helps infants with coughs, runny noses, digestive problems, skin inflammations, makes it easier to fall asleep and stimulates the immune system.

However, if the child is allergic, any remedy should be used with extreme caution. You should consult your doctor about the advisability of treatment. The doctor will help you choose a dosage regimen and advise how many times and for how long to take the chamomile infusion.