Hey hey Reader,

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. It's time for another short and sweet wellness strategy. Today it's all about ONE simple action to make a cold (yours or your kiddos) go away faster and decrease the chances that the rest of the family will get sick.

If you have already noticed an uptick in colds and flus - this one is for you!

Today's Wellness Sunday Tip

Wouldn't it be great if there was something practical you could do to shorten the length of a cold?

Researchers in the UK have found a low-tech intervention that does just that.

SALINE DROPS.

This is perfect for pregnant moms (who can't take a lot of other over-the-counter options)

And it's great for moms with little ones (especially as you return to work and baby is exposed to all the other kids at daycare)

So basically EVERYONE on my mailing list!!

Ok ... back to the research...

In the study, they looked at kids ages 6 and under who had a cold.

Half the parents were instructed to give their kids saltwater nasal drops or saline drops for the duration of the cold.

They were instructed to do 3 drops per nostril at least 4 times a day.

The other group was instructed to just do what they normally did, which didn't include saline drops.

And what they found is PRETTY AWESOME.

They found that the kids with the saline drops actually got better faster! Their colds were on average about 2 days shorter than the kids who didn't get the saline drops.

The other thing they found could be EVEN more interesting.

They found that the kids who were treated with the saline drops were less likely to pass the cold on to the rest of the family!!

Even though a young child is likely to get between 8-12 colds a year, perhaps with this simple action, you won't catch all of them!

Yay!

There are a lot of good options for over-the-counter saline drops.

Here are my favorites!

​Saline drops (good for babies, toddlers (if they agree) older kids & adults

​Saline mist/spray (good for toddler, older kids, and adults, but not great for babies as their nostrils are too small for the spray)

​Over the Mouth and Nose Saline mist for babies and toddlers

And I know at least one of you is thinking ok - great now how in the world am I going to get my toddler to let me put drops in her nose?

• Let her hold the bottle – or squeeze the mister - toddlers love doing it themselves.
• Show her you doing it too – toddlers love to imitate - so they might be more interested if they see you doing it too.
• Use an over-the-nose and mouth mister – this way all your little one has to do is breathe in. I like this one.​
• Wrap them up like a burrito - to keep their arms at their side - helpful for babies under 18 months who are hard to reason with.
• Call it "nose tickles" – somehow the fun branding seems to help! 🤣

And for those of you who would like to check out the study. Here's the link.

​https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1056546​

And for my science geeks - here's the mechanism the study authors believe makes this work.

“Salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Chloride is used by the cells lining the nose and windpipes to produce hypochlorous acid within cells, which they use to defend against virus infection. By giving extra chloride to the lining cells this helps the cells produce more hypochlorous acid, which helps suppress viral replication, reducing the length of the virus infection, and therefore the duration of symptoms.”

Pretty cool - right?!
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Until next time, with hugs,

PS. If you want more tools

• Grab saline drops for you, and the over-the-nose-and-mouth saline mister for your little one.
• Check out my courses, ebooks, tools, and templates here.
• Bought a course previously? Access it here.
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