How would you care for a child with a sore throat?

Little One (who wonders about things like the Easter Bunny and turtles) isn't feeling well today and on Sundays our stores are closed. (Really!) I know some tried and true family remedies/activities, but would very much appreciate more ideas.

We have children's Motrin, etc., and fever seems under control.

I'm just wondering if there are better ideas than my standard "blankies and books" approach.

I would recommend a visit to the doctor and some REAL medication as maybe needed/prescribed (e.g. antibiotics, antiseptic spray, anti-inflammation, time-released Vitamin C, etc.) The doctor may decide to send out for a throat culture as well to rule out the potential of strep throat, etc. However, since you apparently have access to neither a doctor nor a pharmacy today, and you say the fever is under control with the few medications you have at home, then please try the following as palliative treatments for the lil' one till you can get her to see the doctor:

(1) Gargling with baking soda + salt mixed in warm water;
(2) Garlic Tea (you can easily make your own) sweetened with honey and a few drops of natural lime or lemon juice (She may drink this as often as she likes, so make plenty. Add the honey and the lemon/lime drops prior to serving.);
(3) In general make sure she gets plenty of liquids (e.g. juices, water, etc.);
(4) A nice homemade chicken soup would be great, if you can, otherwise the ready-made stuff would do;
(5) Plenty of good ol' motherly love, attention, quality time and reassurance;
(6) Lots of rest/sleep;
(7) Take her temperature periodically to make sure that it is under control.

Do all that and she'll be good as new and ready to drive you up the walls in no time! ;-)

This is good advice and I will consider using some of this advice if I have a sore throat and cannot seek medical attention right away. Report It

Sootherbs zinc pills from CVS Pharmacy(open on Sundays)... children's Triminic strips in grape flavor...

Ask friends and family 2 borrow medicine 2 treat it!

give him medication, sweethart!

give it some cough mixture. preferably calpol as this works the best. don't worry and keep a cool head!

Have them drink water - a hot liquid with lemon and honey. The cough syrups work temporarily. Gargle with a mouthwash.

Usually the pediatrician has an answering service that can page an on-call doctor after hours. Just call the regular number for the pediatrician and it'll ring to the answering service, or it will give you a number to call. I would call that to get a doctor's recommendations.

Take him/her to the Doc.

run a vaporizer.
Gargle with warm salt water.
give her some herbal teas with honey. Actually, speaking of tea...the tannic acid in regular tea is soothing on a sore throat.
Popsicles can cool the heat down, too...and little kids like 'em.

If it burns, ice, or halls, the red one! Maybe even strepsils...

They are suppose to gargle with baking soda water. And drink some lemon/honey tea.

try a cup of hot milk with honey or tea with honey,it will work just fine

my mom always gave me some honey to coat my throat . it works and tasted good too.

Do you have a vaporizer? Those help. You could give her/him something warm to drink, preferably tea with honey and lemon. I keep some little suckers on hand just for emergencies like this. They're called Runny Rhinos and they're for cold/cough symptoms for kids. They have zinc in them and they taste good.

I am not surprised that your stores are closed on Sundays - they ought to be.

Give your little one lots of water. It'll flush the germs out of his system.

give them childrens moltrin

You just give thecough medicine and ifit is getting worse go to the pediatrician ( child's doctor)

How old is the child? drink plenty of warm water, old enough to gargle with a pich of salt and warm water ?, drink warm Chicken soup, no ice cream, nothing cold to drink or eat.Good sleep/Rest. Throat pain is pilot illness to cold or flu normally. If it stays more than a week or 4 days get medical help.

chloreseptic spray. you can get it any pharmacy.i use that with my daughter..it works great for numbing the pain of sore throat,i swear by it...hope they feel better soon..it sucks when your kids are sick,theyre so helpless,poor things

If you have lemons, that works well, try putting a dab in some kool aide. honey is soothing as well, especially in warm tea if you can get him/her to drink it. ummm...gargling with salt water...but that's hard to get a kid to do. ice pops!! if you don't have any then make your own with your ice cube tray, juice, and then put in sticks of some sort when half frozen. Or even just a slushie if you have a blender, since the freezer pops will take awhile. good luck!!

there is a Homeopathic product, Laney, called "Cold-Eeze" which are over the counter cold/cough drops that are fruit flavored and taste pretty good. They contain Zinc, Gluconate and Glycine. They work well at the very first signs of a cold and soothe a sore throat additionally. They are avaiable at many pharmacys and some major grocery stores. I always keep a bag of these at home. Although I don't get colds very often, when I do they're lu-lu's! I just read the back of the package on dosage and there is no non reccomendation for small children.

give him or her a glass of salt water, then u wipe some eucalyptus oil to their throat and neck.

Time-Tested Remedies, like, 1)Make the kid gargle, with luke-warm, salt-water.2)Give the Kid Panadol Syrup. 3)Keep warm,& enforce Rest.4) A hot boiled egg, Plus honey, in hot milk.5) A visit to the Doctor, when possible.
6) Lots of loving care.

There are some very helpful suggestions here and some less so (folks, the stores are closed, get it?). But I would like to reiterate something I know you already know. Even with the better meds you'll have for her when the stores open tomorrow, until Little One is feeling better, she's going to require a lot of extra attention. I am in NO doubt you are providing this, Lane, just as I am in no doubt you are a terrific mum. I just want to emphasize why it is so significant that she receive constant attention (except when she's able to sleep and you can take five).

Even as your comment on my E.B. story suggests, young children CAN have their attention diverted a bit away from their suffering by other, more pleasant things. Reading her stories, putting her favourite TV shows or films or music on, playing her favourite board games, anything and everything to keep her mind focused on more positive things and less time to focus on how poorly she's feeling. The other added benefit of this is that it will likely make her a tad more tired and thus more likely to sleep, which she really needs (along with plenty of clear liquids, of course).

But again, I know you know all this already. I guess I'm just trying to support and reinforce mum as well as Little One. I do hope she's feeling much, much better soon. In fact, I KNOW she will be! (Yeah, positive thinking and good vibrations help too.) Godspeed, Little One! :)

You could go to a yellow pages or at the Yellow Pages website listed below and find the phone numbers of local pharmacies and to see if any of them are open.

my mother would make us gargle warm water with salt, not iodized salt but rock salt.
If the kid can tolerate the taste of mouth antiseptics like Bactidol then better.
Do this before start giving them some antibiotics.