When my son was just few months old, he suffered from chest congestion and it was really hard to make him sleep in the night. He will be crying throughout the night and he won't take his feed too. I am sure many of you must have experienced this with your baby, if they have excess accumulation of mucus. If the babies are given cows milk, when they suffer from chest congestion, it will worsen the condition even more. There are good home remedies for chest congestion and particularly this home remedy made with garlic is very effective for treating chest congestion in infants. Garlic has been used world over for centuries to treat cold, phlegm and chest congestion. It has been proven not only to help in treating congestion but also in preventing further occurrences. We don't use raw garlic for babies. We first roast the garlic directly in the fire without peeling the outer skin. The roasting prevents the spiciness that is usually there in the raw garlic. We use breast milk to grind the garlic, as cows milk will worsen the condition even more. To make this remedy, first take a garlic and roast it directly on the fire using tongs without peeling the outer skin. Make sure that it is roasted completely. If the garlic is not roasted well, the inside fleshy part will be still raw. Once it is cool, peel the outer skin completely. There should not be any outer burnt skin remaining on the garlic. Now pump the breast milk using a breast pump and grind the garlic in a clean mortar and pestle along with the breast milk. Once it is completely ground, thin it down with breast milk and strain it. We always use a feeding cup called "Paladai feeding cup" to feed the medicines to young babies (the one that you see in the picture). To feed the medicine to the infants, make the baby lie down on the lap with the head slightly elevated and then holding their hands down gently, feed them through the corner of the mouth slowly with paladai feeding cup. This treatment is very effective, but make sure to use garlic, depending on the age of the baby. For babies under 6 months, half a small garlic pod will be enough. For babies above 6 months old, 1 small garlic pod can be used.
METHOD:
1. Take a small garlic pod and roast it directly in the flame. If you use tongs, you can roast a single garlic pod, instead of a whole garlic like I did.
2. The garlic pods should be roasted well like this.
3. Remove the outer skin completely of the roasted garlic pod. Take a half the garlic pod and grind it along with little breast milk. I used regular milk for demonstration.
4. It should be ground very finely, else it will have small garlic pieces in it.
5. Thin it down with some more breast milk. Strain it using a fine strainer and pour it into paladai feeding cup and feed the baby.
NOTES:
- If you don't have paladai feeding cup at home, you can use a small spoon to feed the medicine to the child.
- If the garlic is roasted well, it will be soft to the touch.
- Give this medicine once a day for two to three days.
- The paladai feeding cup should not be filled to the brim, else it will spill all over the baby.
