An onion for relief
January 5th, 2009
Over the holidays we went to visit our family, and of course my toddler son (who was already severely covered in chicken pox) got the worst cold attack. A blocked nose and nasty cough kept him from sleeping, the poor little guy. Of course I didn’t have any cold medicine handy –shame on me– and all the shops were closed over Christmas! Thankfully my sister-in-law knew of an old, tested-and-true home cold remedy: just put an onion cut in pieces in the corner of the bed or on the night table! The sulphury fumes will relieve head congestion; breathing will become easier and a blocked nose begins to clear.
Effective, cheap, and always readily available!
xxx Esther
P.S. The smell is not that bad…
Entry Filed under: Baby, Earth Friendly, Health
10 Comments Add your own
1. babalisme | January 5th, 2009 at 6:36 am
That’s why we always cry when chopping an onion!
Thank you for the tips!
2. Steph Bond | January 5th, 2009 at 10:24 am
This sounds really gross – my Mum always used to chop up garlic and bind it to the bottom of our feet with a sock on top. My sister still swears by it to cure her colds!
Steph
Bondville
3. Sara from Bruxelles | January 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I’m ALL about home remedies! Whenever I feel a chest cold coming on I crush one clove of garlic into a mug, add hot water, slice of lemon and a teaspoon of honey. They say to drink that at least three times a day but I do it more. You get some STRONG garlic breath but it REALLY works and kicks the bug in the bum!
Thank you for another great natural home remedy!
4. Christine V | January 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
This comes just in time – the whole family has a nasty head cold! We also use ginger tea – peel/cut a 2 inch piece of ginger in 4 c. water, boil, reduce to simmer for 15-20 minutes and add honey and lemon if you like. It’s also fairly effective, but of course, my toddler wants none of it!
5. Esther | January 5th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I heard about the ginger tea! And yes, garlic seems to work too… Maybe the two should be combined? Ginger/garlic tea with honey and lemon??
Of course elderberry cordial is the best ward against colds to start with!
6. Emilie | January 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I actually love the ginger, lemon and honey mix, it tastes really nice…. my mother in law adds garlic into it which kind of ruins the taste but is much more effective!
7. Courtney | January 9th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I’ve never heard of this, but now that you say it, it makes total sense!
Chopping onions always makes my whole face wet with tears!
8. Natalie | January 25th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Little C has had a cold for the past couple of days. I had to pick him up from child care on Wednesday when he had a fever. He hasn’t been sleeping well because he’s been so congested and then last night I suddenly remembered – the onion!!! So at 1am I put it on his night stand and he eventually fell asleep again. Thanks Esther!
9. Esther | January 25th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I know, it really works! Hopefully little C will be doing better soon – it’s the drag with starting childcare – they seem to get all the diseases at once!
10. Gena | October 19th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
For my 2 youngest children they both suffer form allergies. They were always coughing and sneezing I thought for the longest time they just had a on going cold. A friend of mine told me I should try Flonase over the counter. A dosage lasted them approximately 12 hours. So there was no more trying to down that nasty cough syrup every 4-6 hours making it much more convenient to take.
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed