Saturday 13 September 2014

Natural Remedies for Runny Nose & Cough: Cut Raw Onions & Double-Boiled Asian Pear

Recently, I keep hearing of my friends' little ones falling sick and so I thought I'd share a natural remedy which I'd learnt from one of the mummies from the "Healthy Food for my Baby" Facebook group. During CNY, my boy was down with a very strong virus attack. His stuffy & runny nose couldn't stop dripping & he was coughing quite badly too. After 2 visits to his paediatrician & almost completing his course of medication, he didn't show any signs of recovering. 

I then decided to try out some natural remedies & to my relief, they worked! After he had fallen asleep, I cut some raw purple onions & placed them near to him. Believe it or not, he could breathe much better that very night! I continued the treatment the next day during his nap again. Word of caution though: the strong pungent onion fumes will difuse throughout the entire room : / My hubby hated it but tolerated for the sake of our boy. Thank you, my dearie ;*


With the positive results from the onions, I was also encouraged to try a new food therapy for him - double-boiled Asian pear, which actually helps to nourish the lungs.

Ingredients:

1 Asian pear, sliced (was advised by my mum subsequently to peel off the skin).

Directions:

1. Place the sliced pear into a ceramic pot. Put the ceramic pot into a bigger pot of water to double-boil for 2 hours.

2. Feed some pear as well as some of the pear essence that is secreted during the double-boiling.


BB really started getting better & recovered in no time. It even helped to ease the process of feeding medicine to him. He can accept the taste of paracetamol but not for the others & will struggle & keep his mouth shut whenever we try to feed them to him. As a last resort, I added some of the pear essence into his medicine & he drank them up without any resistance. The sweetness probably made it more palatable ~.^

I've since shared this with many of my mummy friends & some of them have remarked to me that it's truly indeed effective. In fact, it has become one of our favourite homemade dessert. Given Singapore's hot weather all year round, I think it helps to cool our bodies down too. Now, I'll prepare it for supper almost fortnightly, with an added Chinese almonds for our "adult" version.

27 comments:

  1. hi mum celine, can i check if the double boil pear can be used for sorethroat/throat infection? thx

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    1. Hihi, Asian pears can help to moisten & soothe sore throats so it may help. Hope ur LO'll gws!

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  2. hi,is this double boil pear suitable with all type of cough including dry cough. my 9 M lo having cought with phlegm . slight wheezing

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    1. Hi, Mummy Durga! Very sorry for the late reply..hope ur LO is feeling better already! Yes, it's suitable for dry cough too :)

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  3. I heard of many natural remedies but I'd like to find one that requires less work! Ahhhhh still need to boil! hahah I'm a lazy mama! Yikes!

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    1. Lolz..can try out the cut onions then..a real easy peasy one!

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  4. This onion remedy I knew but double-boiled pear is a new to me. Thanks for sharing. I agree that instead of running for docs, sometimes we have to try home-remedies.

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    1. Sharing is caring :) I try my best to avoid medications unless really necessary.

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  5. Whoa, i have heard of the onions remedy but i didnt try because i dont exactly know whether they work or not? Lol. But now that u have tried it, i would def consider this when my kids have stuffed noses! I usually diffuse pure eucalyptus essential oil.. works like a charm for us.

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    1. Hope it'll work for your LOs too! I use EOs too but not eucalyptus for my boy as it's not recommended for kids below 10yo.

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  6. Hi Celine, if I put it in ceramics pot n boil on the electric pot, not double boil will it still work? Thank you.

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    1. If the ceramic pot is immersed in water in the electric pot, it's still considered double boil so it shld wk too ;)

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  7. Going to try this with my girls, cough is like their best friend, once every 2-3 months will cough for a few days kind. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Oh, poor gals..hope it'll help to relieve the cough symptoms!

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  8. Something new for me, I will share with the Mrs.

    cheers, Andy
    (SengkangBabies.com)

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  9. Ooh...gonna bookmark this but not sure if I can take the smell of onions... xp

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    1. The smell can be a bit overwhelming for some >.<

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  10. Interesting. I might try the pear method next time!

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  11. Thanks for sharing this recipe. My son catches flu easily from childcare, I might try cooking this for him.

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  12. Is it all yellow color pear can use

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    1. Yes, I use any yellow colour pears which are available :)

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  13. Hi do u need to add water into the pot with the pears? Thanks!

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  14. hi..is this remedies suitable for 8months baby?

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