Coughing at Nighttime: Thyme, Cinnamon, Lavender and Eucalyptus

This post is written for me, so that the next time I am up at night with a coughing sick child, I will have the presence of mind to look up this post and figure out what to do, in the heat of the moment.

I’m still trying to figure out why Thyme didn’t pop into my head last night at 4:30 am when my son was still coughing. The poor kid had been coughing nonstop most of the night, without an ounce of sleep for either of us yet. Delsym didn’t work.

The first two nights, he refused to put garlic in his socks, my tried and true remedy for getting rid of a cold. By night three, he gave into the garlic. He’s sipped so much apple cider vinegar, that I doubt he will ever be able to tolerate it again.

And still he’s coughing — and the things you can find to worry about at 3:00 am waiting for the coughing to stop — this was a night I can’t wait to forget.

Tonight, as his cough is still lingering…persisting, I remembered Thyme. I remembered the time I was so sick, while pregnant with them, with bronchitis, that on Christmas morning, that I created a warm compress thyme leaves and placed it warm on my chest with a heating paid. By Christmas night, I was breathing free again. But today, I didn’t think he would tolerate the fussiness of a warm compress, so I pulled out my Thyme essential oil, along with Cinnamon essential oil (anti-viral), Eucalyptus  essential oil, and Lavender essential oil (for sleep), and put it in a steam diffuser — a modern day vaporizer, I call it.

Since that winter, I don’t think I have ever let Thyme run low in my pantry, and without even thinking about it, I always add it to every soup I make, (the soups the boys always refuse to eat). I wonder if this is the reason I am able to quickly recover from sniffles and coughs.

So, last night, with the diffuser running, and sips of honey-cinnamon-laced throat comfort tea, I continued my list of go-to cold remedies:

• Sips of Apple Cider Vinegar
• Thyme essential oils (In diffuser, or mixed with a carrier oil. Too strong to touch the skin directly)
• Garlic in the socks — way more powerful than you would ever believe
• Vicks— the old standby that I swear still works
• Capsules of Rhodiola, an immune strengthening herb…
• And because coughs are usually caused by dripping, and most possible allergies, this remedy from my new favorite store: Ohio Allergy. Although I must admit, I wish this was a pill. Liquids are hard for teens.
• Gargle, or ear drops of Hydrogen Peroxide

I may sneak back here and continue adding more cold remedies as they come back to me — and as I continue to learn…