When children get sick and are coughing, parents are often at their wits end especially at night. It’s beyond difficult when everyone in the house is up because of a persistent cough. Parents are understandably reluctant to give medications that may not work well and have side effects.
A few years ago studies found that something as simple as honey could quiet a cough and help children get back to sleep.
Now a new study of 300 children has found that not only does honey quiet children’s coughs and help them sleep, using it also helped parents sleep. Honey is soothing and coats the back of the throat. The soothing action might be how it stops the cough, though there’s probably some other ways that it works that we aren’t 100% sure about. My medicine cabinet is stocked with honey because it’s been my “go to” remedy for the whole family whenever there’s a cough.
- Never give honey to children under the age of 1 because of concerns about botulism, and
- If the cough is persistent or leads to wheezing or difficulty breathing, contact your health care provider.