Does the Vaporub on the Feet at Night Work for Kids Too??

Yes it definately does.. I tried that on my 2 1/2 year old daughter and again on my one month old daughter and it worked both times.. Amazing but it does work..

Children are much more sensitive than adults to essential oils. It's probably okay to occasionally put vapo rub on a child's feet, but I certainly would not do it on a regular basis. A pharmacist friend told me about a baby who died from a chemical in the oil after his grandmother had unwittingly put wintergreen on him several times him to calm him down. I also heard about a young woman who overdosed on a Ben Gay type substance and died. I believe she was wearing it constantly. It would be safer to diffuse menthol, camphor, and/or eucalyptus in the air.

I use it on my 6 yr old and my 8yr old and it always seems to help them get to sleep faster. Plus they seem to get over them faster.

:)

I have not tried it with our son, but I am in a club of parents of multiples and there are several who swear by it.

It has always worked for both my kids (ages 6 yrs and 2 yrs).

I just did this last night for my almost 12yo son. He was coughing horribly, and I was really positive about it, telling him I had just read about it online, and it would work. He stopped coughing before he even got his socks on, and told me, "I think it's working already!"

So I don't know if it actually physically helped, or if it was more of a mind game... but he was finally able to go to sleep. He still coughed some, but it calmed down tremendously.

Jossanne

Hi,
My daughter has a cough. She is two. How do you do this. Just rub some on her feet and cover with socks? Thanks A-LoT!

D.

I have not tried this before, but will in the future. Only I'll try it with my herbal foot rub (more natural). The feet are a wonderful portal to health. I would try this with my herbal foot rub on myself and on my kids in the future. Thanks for the tip, K. B!

: ) K.

Yes!!!I just tried it on my 5 year old son and it worked great. I thought it would be worth a try and it worked fabulously. My son slept the whole night through with very little coughing and no trouble breathing.

K.,
Crazy but true. I heard of this from a patient in my office. I tried it on myself when I had a cold and slept through the night without a cold and breathed easier. I have been explained to that the feet are linked with accupressure points some points that lead to your head etc.
I would try it and see if it works, it cant hurt to try.
Good luck! I hope your child feels better.
L.

I was JUST discussing this with my friend who told me about it. My 4 month old had a slight beginning type cough when she told me to try Vapor rub on her feet and nice warm socks over top and it immediately comforted her. She was able to sleep easier and now I do it with all my kids at the first sign of "sniffles" I love it!
The feet are supposed to be related to certain parts of your body, as in, kinetics or something ? Either way, I will continue to do it and recommend it absolutely.
(NOTE: On my baby I used BABY vicks, so it wouldn't be too harsh on her skin)

My mil uses it on her chest everytime she gets sick and swears by it. I have never used it on feet. However hydrotherapy can be helpful. You can take a cotton sock and get it wet with cold water put it on their feet then put a dry wool sock over top of it. It will circulate the blood flow and get things moving.

Hi K.,

It definately worked on my two year old son. He had a really bad cough which got worst at night. After not being able to sleep for two nights, one of my friends told me to try vapor rub on his feet. That night he slept peacefully with no cough. I have also recommended it to other moms who said it worked. Also you can try a teaspoon of honey to soothe her throat if she still has a cough. Good luck:)

My friends have tried it on their 5 year old and it did work.
I say ask your doctor if it would be safe and if she says OK try it.

I tried this on my four year old when he had a terrible cough. I rubbed the vapor rub on his chest and neck as well, just for good measure. I didn't hear a peep out of him all night, and we still keep a monitor in his room, so we definately would have heard him coughing if he had been.

I have never heard of the vaporub method, but it reminds me of another method I used with my daughter. You give them a very hot bath, or soak their feet in very hot water, before bed. With younger kids I think the bath works better. With my daughter, when she was one-year-old, I put her in a normal temperature bath and slowly added warmer water, so that her skin was used to it. When I felt like it was as hot as I could safely do it and she was still comfortable, I took her out and put on ther feet cold, wet, cotton socks. Then I cover them with dry wool socks. I used my own large wool socks and pulled them up to her knees. In the morning both socks were totally dry and her feet were warm and her runny nose has stopped.

I have to say that I was a bit uncomfotable with the hot water idea, but as I did it gradually it was fine. Then, putting the wet, cold socks on her felt very uncomfortable. But in the morning I was relieved to find her warm and dry and with a clear nose. We were travelling that morning and I really didn't want her to be congested on our flight.

Maybe vaporub works just as well, and I'm sure it's much easier. So, my advise would be to try it first, and if it doesn't work, you could try what I did. I heard about it from another mom who swore by it with her 6-year-old daughter.

Good luck. Let us know if vaporub works. I might try that myself next time. -R. Sacks

I haven't tried vaporub, but I have had great results putting a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil in the humidifier. It eases congestion and cough. You can get the oil at Vitamin Cottage for $5-10. Good luck. We've had nasty colds for weeks now, too!

My son (7 months) had croup and my older son (2 1/2) had a cold/cough. We tried it on them and unfortunatly it didn't work. I know lots of people that say it does, though. Give it a try.

We use hot socks. I put cold wet cotton socks on first and then a dry pair of wool socks. It causes blood to go to the feet which helps clear the sinus passages. I've been doing it for my son since he was born and he always asks for it and he is now 9. It's not quite as messy as vics.

It did not work for any of my 3 boys, or for me personally. My boys get the typical fall/winter cough, and one has allergy induced asthma, which gets much worse in winter. I tried Vicks on the feet, with each of them, and even tried it on myself during a bout with a cough. NO results, what-so-ever.
Now, I do SWEAR by the Sudafed Plug Ins. They are menthol and eucalyptus vapors, which you plug in near their bed. These make a HUGE difference for my kids, when dealing with congestion or a persistent cough. I keep boxes of the refills in my house, and even take them when we travel, because they work so well on my family.
Best of luck!

I am not sure about the feet thing but, we bought a vicks humidifer that allows you to put those vapor sticks in it and that works so well. The smell of the vapor filled up our sons room, our living room and kitchen. I was really surprised. I am sure the plugs work just as well too.

No it does not work, in any way! Sorry to blow this myth. I have tried it personally and granted I ended up having bronchitis but my son now has a cold and it did nothing for him at night. However, putting it on his chest and tucking his shirt in at night has helped him rest a lot better.
The Vicks Vapor plugs work fabulous too!

Yes it totally helps - my four year old thinks it' great, my 2 1/2 year old takes off her socks so be careful with that.

I tried it once and my daughter coughed even more that nigh. I just put it on her chest now.

My Mom used to to this to me back in the sixties. I remember asking her once why she put the Vicks on the bottoms of my feet and she stopped, looked pensive, and said "I don't know!" I guess her Mom had used the remedy on her and that was good enough. Mom would put Vicks on the front of my neck if I had a sore throat. She put it on my chest for a cough and if it was really bad, she would add a cloth diaper on top of the Vicks for extra warmth. She always put it on the bottoms of my feet and covered them with socks if I was confined to bed with a cold. All I know is, it works! I used it on my kids as well.