I'm a mum and there is nothing more frustrating as a mum to watch your baby struggle with ill health, there is so little you can do for them, it makes you feel so powerless. My daughter currently has an almighty cold and at night, she'll cough so much that she'll make herself sick. There isn't much I can give her because there just aren't many meds that are safe for tiny people to take. Anyway, I don't like pumping my body full of chemicals so why should I think it's ok to do so with my child?
That got me thinking, in all my training from way back when, there had to be something I could give her that would be safe and would help, even just a tiny bit. Then it hit me, onion syrup! Onion syrup is really simple to make, it's a really good expectorant and anti-inflammatory and it's perfectly safe for my baby girl. As I have many friends who currently have babies with colds ('t is winter after all!), I thought I'd post a pictorial on how to make onion syrup.
All you need is 2 large onions, light brown sugar (which you could swap for caster sugar or dark brown sugar, whatever you have to hand) and a Kilner type airtight jar.
1. Chop your onions roughly.
2. Put a layer of onion in the jar, then put thick layer of sugar on top, press it tightly. Repeat until the jar is full.
3. Your jar should resemble something like this. Leave it to sit on the countertop for a whole day or a whole night.
4. At then end of the day/night, the sugar will have melted, absorbing all the qualities of the onion. It will look something like this:
5. Using a metal sieve, drain the syrup from the onions. Press and stir with a spoon to get as much syrup out as you can.
6. You should end up with a thick syrup looking something like this:
7. Store it in a clean airtight jar and keep it in the fridge, it will keep for up to a week.
The recommended posology for a child is 1 teaspoon every 4 hours.
Good luck to all you mamas with a poorly baby out there!
Wow! Will have to give that a try next time, thanks!
ReplyDeleteApparently, my parents used to do something similar with me (I had terrible allergies as a child triggering whooping cough like all night barking and barfing) but they used black radish. I think onions are milder but a lot easier to find!
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