product review: gaia kids herbal warming chest rub

Recently, Laila caught a cold virus and it hit her hard. She was stuffy and congested, coughing and had a higher temperature, (not a fever according to the doc- check out my post on how to know if your little one has a fever).  It was just so hard to see her sick this way for the first time.

We were doing everything we did last time, (here’s my post on it), when she was just a little congested from the cold weather during our New York trip. But I wanted to rub the Baby Vicks on her chest and not just her heels, since she was having so much trouble breathing this time around. I read up on it before doing so and with what I read about some of the adverse effects it can have on respiratory depression in infants, (although a lot of the studies were with regular Vicks Vapo Rub which has menthol), I still didn’t want to take a chance and opted to do something all natural.

I went out to buy beeswax and make my own version of “Vicks” with essential oils, but the store was out of wax and because she was sick, I needed something fast. The woman working at our local natural health store recommended the Gaia Kids Herbal Warming Chest Rub. I read the ingredients and was really happy to see it was truly all natural. Here’s what is in it:

• Cocoa Butter
• Coconut Oil
• Wax
• Shea Butter
• Lavender Essential Oil
• Pine Essential Oil
• Thyme Essential Oil
• Peppermint Essential Oil
• Yarrow Essential Oil

Plus, the ingredients are certified organic and ecologically harvested. It was pricey, at 17 dollars, but to me, totally worth it because  I would have spent a whole lot more on each oil that I only needed a few drops of, and this has all the other good butters in it besides just wax.

When I used it all week, the little 2 oz. bottle, (good size for traveling!), hardly had a dent in it, which makes me believe that it will last us a long time. The best part of it all was when I rubbed it on Laila’s chest, (I had mixed it in with a little jojoba oil), she looked at me and smiled. It really made her feel better!

Since with something like a cold virus we had to just let her ride it out, it was great that this chest rub gave her some sort of relief on her little congested body without the worry of side effects. In the season of snots and sniffles right now, I totally reccommend it if you are looking for an herbal alternative to Vicks for your little ones or even for yourself, (especially if you are a breastfeeding momma!) 🙂

-Puja