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Health

10th Jan 2019

This mum reckons THIS is the perfect home remedy for a baby’s cold

An old wives' tale that may actually work!

Anna O'Rourke

Ever heard of this one?

Sometimes the simpler the cure, the better.

We’ll try anything to avoid another trip to the GP or dose of medicine, especially since antibiotics don’t work for colds and flu.

One mum online reckons that the secret to beating a common winter ailment is actually sitting in your kitchen right now.

This mum reckons THIS is the perfect home remedy for a baby's cold

Debbie Vigan came across an article recommending using potato to cure a baby’s cold and decided to give it a go with her son Deairres.

“I put potatoes in his socks last night around 8-9pm,” she wrote on Facebook.

“He didn’t cough through the night… nose isn’t running… isn’t as congested and he slept for 12 hrs.”

She shared a photo of the potatoes she used to show how they’d changed colour overnight.

“The potatoes out of his sock were black. Now before people mention ‘oxidation’, I left the other parts of the potato on the counter to see the difference.”

The pieces of potato that weren’t put in the baby’s socks are a very different colour to the ones that were used.

This mum reckons THIS is the perfect home remedy for a baby's cold

But why? It’s a bit of an old wives’ tale – some believe that the potatoes draw toxins from the body, helping to aid recovery.

There’s not much scientific evidence out there to back this up but that’s not really an issue, according to pediatrician Jarret Patton.

“Many home remedies are not harmful to your child. Putting potatoes into the socks at night falls into this category,” he told CafeMom.

All in all, it’s a pretty harmless cure to try out to relieve your sick baby. Let us know if you’ve given it a go yourself!