Written by Tracy Norfleet, MD, MBA, FACP, ABOM | Reviewed by Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH
Published on June 10, 2024
Key takeaways:
People spend $4 billion worldwide on cough remedies. But there are natural ingredients that can help soothe a cough.
Experts don’t recommend cough medicine for children younger than 4 years old. You can use natural ingredients to help instead.
Honey, lemon, agave nectar, and ginger can all help ease a child’s cough. But don’t give honey to children younger than 12 months old.
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Did you know that people spend an estimated $4 billion worldwide on cough medication each year?
That’s a lot of cough medicine. If you’re trying to manage a cough from a cold, you might be wondering if you have to turn to cough medication. But you might not need it. Most coughs go away on their own, and you can use natural ingredients to get relief.
Natural remedies are especially good for young children since experts recommend against giving children younger than 4 years old cough medications. They also recommend speaking with your child’s pediatrician before giving cough medicine to children between 4 and 7 years old.
If your child’s struggling with a cough, here’s how to use natural remedies as a homemade cough syrup for kids.
Can you make cough syrup at home?
Yes, you can make your own cough remedies at home. But there are no standard or expert-advised recipes for making your own homemade cough syrup.
An ideal cough syrup would soothe your throat to relieve pain and moisten your throat and upper airways, which would help reduce the cough reflex. A cough syrup would ideally be sweet and slightly thick. These properties prompt your body to make saliva, which moistens your throat too.
There are four ingredients that combine all these properties:
Fresh lemon juice
Honey
Agave nectar
Ginger
We’ll dive into each ingredient later on, but one way to combine all four is with this homemade cough syrup recipe:
Combine the zest of 2 lemons, ¼ cup peeled ginger (or ½ tsp of ground ginger), and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan.
Bring your mixture to boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain your mixture into a heat-proof measuring cup.
Rinse your saucepan and add 1 cup of honey or agave nectar. Warm the honey or nectar but don’t bring it to boil.
Add your strained lemon-ginger water and ½ cup lemon juice.
Stir the mixture until it forms into a thick syrup.
Pour into a clean jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator once cooled.
You can give your child 1 tsp to 2 tsp every 2 to 4 hours as needed for their cough.
Now that you have your recipe, let’s take a closer look at these four ingredients. We’ll see how they work and learn other ways you can use them.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon is a main feature in cough and cold remedies. Freshly squeezed lemon juice can be safely given to babies older than 3 months and children of all ages.
You don’t need to use too much lemon juice to soothe a cough or sore throat. A teaspoon or two at a time is enough. Of course, most children won’t drink straight lemon juice due to its sour taste.
Fortunately, it’s best to add lemon juice to something else, like the syrup described above. You can also add lemon juice to warm fluids.
Giving your child warm fluids can help thin their mucus and relax their airways. It will also help them stay hydrated, and the vapors act as a mini-humidifier.
You can add 2 tsp of lemon juice to tea, warm water, or even warm apple juice. There’s no limit on how often you can give lemon juice-containing fluids, though it’s probably best to limit it to no more than four times a day, since too much acidic juice may upset your child’s stomach.
You can add sugar to fluids to make it easier for kids to drink. Or you can use honey to sweeten tea and fluids if your child is over 12 months old.
Honey
Honey is nature’s cough remedy. There’s strong evidence that honey can ease coughs and works better than over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines, especially for kids. Honey also contains antioxidants, which can lower inflammation in your throat. Its thick texture coats the back of your throat and eases the cough reflex.
You can give your child 1 tsp to 2 tsp of honey as needed to ease their cough. In studies, 1 tsp of honey helped children sleep better at night when they had a cough.
You can also add honey to warm fluids or tea to give your child the added benefit of extra hydration.
Keep in mind that honey is not safe for babies younger than 1 year old. Giving a baby honey can lead to botulism, which is a serious and sometimes deadly infection.
Agave Nectar
Agave syrup comes from the sap of the agave plant. It contains minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols, which are antioxidants.
Agave nectar is similar to honey in several ways. Both are thick, sweet, and contain antioxidants, so they may ease coughs in similar ways. There’s less evidence about how well agave nectar works to soothe a cough. There’s more evidence supporting honey’s cough-fighting effects, which is why most experts recommend honey for kids.
But unlike honey, pasteurized agave nectar is not linked to botulism illness. So it may be a safe substitute for children between 3 and 12 months old. It’s still a good idea to check with your child’s pediatrician before giving agave to your baby.
Ginger
Ginger root is a widely used spice and is used for medicinal uses by many cultures. Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, which may ease inflammation from colds. You can add ginger along with lemon and honey (or agave) to warm fluids to help a cough. You can also use it in the cough syrup described above. Ginger has a very strong taste so children will not eat it plain.
You can use either fresh ginger or powdered ginger as a cough aid. You only need a small amount of either. For a cup of warm fluids, add ⅛ tsp of powdered ginger or ½ tsp of fresh, peeled, grated ginger.
The bottom line
Most coughs will go away on their own. While there are OTC medications that can help soothe a cough, you can also try natural cough remedies. Lemon, ginger, honey, and agave can all help soothe a cough. You can use them alone or in combination to ease a child’s cough. Experts recommend avoiding OTC cough medications in children younger than 4 years old. A homemade cough syrup containing lemon, ginger, honey, and water can be a safe substitute for children over 12 months old.
References
Abuelgasim, H., et al. (2021). Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
Cohen, H. A., et al. (2012). Effect of honey on nocturnal cough and sleep quality: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Pediatrics.
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