Cough

here is another amma's remedy for cough. Amma has this great knowledge of medicinal plants. This one is using 'sambarballi' or 'ajwain ka patta'. The thick pulpy leaves of this medicinal plant are known to be of great medicinal value. The following remedy is very effective.

Take a couple of medium sized leaves of sambarballi and dry roast it on a tawa. As you see the leaves starting to give out moisture (small droplets start forming on the top side) take it off the tawa and squeeze it with the fingers to get a little juice (approx 1-2 tsp). Now mix this with an equal measure of honey and give it to the kid.
Adu was first given this when he was around 8 months old.
The dosage was once in the morning.

Cold

Another home remedy for cold, which we had forgotten from adu's time is 'Jaiphal'. I am not sure what it is called in english (if anyone knows please let me know).

There are two methods of using jaiphal. The first for infants (we remember giving to to adu when he was almost a month old) is to rub it on a stone (sterilized of course)and get the 'lep' or paste. Mix it with a little expressed mothers milk and give it to the infant around one teaspoon at a time, once a day.

NOTE: WE DONT KNOW WHY BUT WE WERE TOLD THAT APPARENTLY THIS IS NOT GIVEN TO BABY GIRLS.

The second option for those who dont want to try giving it orally is to rub it on the stone and get the paste and put it on the infants chest and sole of the feet. This option we have not tried personally but is said to be effective.

A similar option was given to us by Swathi who said that vicks vaporub can also be applied to the sole of the feet (taking into consideration that the skin on the chest and face will be sensitive and one would not like to apply the vicks there) and putting on socks. Once again this has not been tried by us.

Dry Cough

For the dry sort of cough

Badi Elaichi (Big Cardamom) 1
Honey - 1 tsp

Peel and remove the elaichi seeds and powder it. Mix this powder in 1 tsp honey and have it twice a day.

Cough

This is a very good remedy for the dry sort of cough -

Badam (almonds) 100 gms
Sugar Candy - 50 gms (if you can get the palm candy it is even better)
Pepper - 20 gms
Haldi Powder (turmeric) 10 gms

Powder all the ingredients together and store. Have 1 tsp twice a day.

Another good daily remedy for cough esp for kids is this one
Heat a glass of milk with a tbsp of Turmeric (haldi). Add sugar to taste and have at bedtime.

Stomach upsets

Ever since i have had jaundice as a kid i have been suffering from a very sensitive stomach. So this particular remedy is one to sooth the stomach and stabilize an upset stomach. It is not for a stomach infection, but yes it does act fast in case of loose motions. There are many additions and alterations to this remedy. I will list them one by one-

I - Ajwain, Hing, Paan (beetle leaf) kashaya

Take 1 Tsp Ajwain roast it on a tawa till light brown (without oil)add 1 pinch of Hing (Asfoetida) and roast for about half a minute. Take a cup of water in a saucepan and add the roasted ajwain and hing and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, cut the beetle leaf (1 leaf) and boil till the quantity reduces to half. Take this remaining kashaya in two servings of a qtr cup each with a gap of 4 hours in between.

II - Ajwain only - In case of an emergency when you dont have the luxury of home to go through this process i have found having a tbsp of ajwain and swallowing it with a glass of water almost as effective in stopping a bad bout of loose motions.

Cold

The other day Raghav started sniffling and was about to catch a cold. It isnt fun when a 2 and a half month old baby starts sniffling and has a running nose. So the alarm bells were rung to prevent it from getting worse and amma came up with this simple remedy which could be used without fear on an infant -
In a thin muslin cloth, make a bundle (potli) of ajwain (1 tbsp) and 2-3 cloves of med size garlic crushed coarsely. Keep the bundle near the infants head so that the fumes are inhaled by the infant.
The very next day there was improvement and it only got better from there on.