When sickness is not an option

For the last week or so, Ellie has been snotty. Not the contagious type of snotty, just the uncomfortable stage where we've had to get out the snot sucker before feeding and bed, and we're going through Euky Bearub like it's going out of fashion.

I knew when we put her in daycare, that we'd better brace ourselves for everything that was going around and that was soon the case, with Mr Fork getting snotty and sneezy himself.  I did my usual immune boosting techniques: I dosed myself to the gills on Armaforce tablets, vitamin C and zinc, and if I have to look at another olive leaf extract drink anytime soon, I'll puke.  Breastfeeding pretty much rules out all the good stuff, sadly.

To no avail, as I got whatever my baby and husband had, only it seemed to hit me harder (guess it mutated and got stronger passing through them first!). I hate being sick. Even worse when you've got a little person relying on you to nurture them and can't afford to bury yourself in bed the way you could pre-baby. Here's a photo I sent to Mr Fork of myself feeling sad and sorry while working from home so as not to spread anything around the office. Note the stylish pink Hello Kitty pyjamas. Don't judge me.

However, now that I'm on the mend, I threw it open to friends and the social media-verse, for their best "I'm breastfeeding and can't get sick with what the snotty baby and sneezing husband have" cure all remedies, so I know what else to do next time. Here's the top tips with some of my input added after:

• Sleep - hard when you have a baby, but do your best
• Know when enough is enough - when you need to throw in the towel, take to bed, and ask for help
• Super hot shower. A little extra tip I'd like to add here is add a few drops of tea tree or eucalyptus oil into the bottom of the shower so you can inhale it while you're in there.
• Sore throat? Gargle warm salty water
• Congested? Steam inhalation (I stole Ellie's humidifier so I could sleep better, laced with Eukybear inhalation oil)
• Tea. My favourite immune boosting one is YEP tea - Yarrow, Elm and Peppermint. It's good for clearing mucus, helping to sweat out the toxins, calming sore throats and helping you to relax and sleep better. Some people recommend adding honey, but I don't care for it myself. 
• Vitamin C. No brainer. However you can get it, fresh juice or tablets
• Echinacea and Olive Leaf. I get these via the Armaforce but I drink olive leaf separately with water as well
• Probiotics. A healthy tummy totally helps keep the rest of the system healthy too
• Garlic. I'll point out that it's better raw so make sure you take that into account when you're chomping into it!
• Soup. Add lots of chili, garlic and ginger. Mr Fork swears by chicken and corn and I make myself something similar minus the chicken of course.
• Coconut oil. I'm going to add a plug for this wonder product here. Great multitasking product, but in this case, I smear it around my nose to stop it going red and sore from the constant blowing of

Finally, for no good reason other than my pins looking hot and to balance out the heinous picture of my face above, here is a gratuitous picture of my legs. The photo is my entry for a competition about how people style their clogs in Winter. 

Do you have a favourite remedy for when you're feeling a little run down? Any cure all that works for you? I'd love to hear it!