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We all had stuffy noses, including my little baby, this past winter. After spending something like $7 on a bottle of Vicks Vaposteam to add to the humidifier, I was getting ready to order prenatals online anyway, so I thought I’d look at what the active ingredients were in the Vicks stuff and then try to make my own.
I ordered Camphor and Eucalyptus essential oil (keep out of reach of children! I’m pretty sure the camphor is pretty toxic when ingested in large enough quantities) and add quite a bit, about 40 drops of each, to the water in our warm mist humidifier. The Vicks also has cedar leaf oil, and nutmeg oil, but I didn’t want to buy all of those in case my trial was a dud. But it worked, and I’ll stick with just the camphor and eucalyptus.
Each bottle of essential oil was about $4 and after being used at least a dozen times I still have 3/4 of each bottle left, making it a worthwhile purchase.
I’m big on prevention, and when stuffy noses are going around I try to remember to use the humidifier at nap time to keep those mucous membranes moist so everyone’s less likely to catch the sickies.
More help for winter sickies:
Ginger Tea with Honey for Sore Throats
Eat to Stay Healthy This Winter
My humidifier doesn't have one of those little "cups" to put the oils/vaposteam in, so would I add it directly to the water in the tank? I have a Honeywell warm-mist humidifier and I would love to keep using it instead of buying a new one!
That's what I do- I put it directly into the tank
Great advice and good common sense. You can learn something from anyone that you encounter – good, bad, or indifferent. Everyone brings something different to the table.