NOW CLOSED: Share your tips for soothing colds and flu this winter with Kleenex Balsam and you could win JL vouchers!

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by the team at Kleenex to help them build the ultimate resource for flu sufferers (or heavy colds) - bursting with tips to help soothe sufferers across the UK and Ireland back to health this winter!

So please share with us, on this thread, how you soothe your poorly children, comfort relatives with colds, deal with the dreaded man flu or even tips that have been passed on to you by your mum. Everyone who posts will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky winner will win £100 of John Lewis vouchers and two runners up will get £50 vouchers

For example, do you give your children certain food or drink which helps them feel better? Is there a classic film that you always let them watch to take their mind off their symptoms? When your DP/DH has "flu", are you sympathetic or do you find that a bit of tough love works best? Or are there any weird and wonderful things that your own mum used to do to soothe you, which you now absolutely swear by?

Please note - if you add your comments or tips on this thread - Kleenex may use your tips in other media - (for example: print (magazines/ newspapers) and online). They won't use your MN name. Tips may also be featured on the Kleenex pages on Mumsnet, coming soon.

For more information on the Kleenex Balsam range please visit: www.kleenex.co.uk/Balsam

and good luck!

Frequent application of vaseline on the nose and upper lip to stop it getting sore from constantly being wiped. Although presumably Kleenex Balsam is meant to make this redundant?

One end of the cot raised by putting a couple of thick books under its legs to help small DD2 sleep with a blocked nose, by raising her head a little bit higher than her feet.

Fleecy blanket and a pillow on the sofa - all the comfort of being in bed but not quite the boredom feeling of being there all day!

And in the Cervix household flu doesn't exist and a cold doesn't stop you doing anything. ever. unless it's me and it's really bad in which case i go to bed with the laptop, a book and the contents of the fridge.

ALso has anyone said

'Feed a cold, starve a fever'.

sleep and hot drinks are my cure. Also a stack of soft, nose comfy tissues, some vaseline to rub on your nose, just incase the tissues are 'rough' and peppermint oil for tissues under pillows.

Homemade vegetable soup is perfect for the children but a good dose of ginger and lemongrass in a stirfry/curry works wonders for the grown ups.

Always used to swear by Lemsip, but recently I had a bad cold and got some Beechams with menthol, honey and lemon and they really helped clear my head.

Lots of hot drinks (whatever the sufferer fancies - hot chocolate for me, hot squash for ds's usually) here with lots of cuddles and sympathy. Favourite fleecy socks and blankets while snuggling on the sofa with cbeebies / favourite DVD for ds's or daytime TV / MN for me. If DH is that ill he stays in bed where there's no TV or computer!

I only give paracetamol if the ill one is struggling with their temperature, otherwise I'm a firm believer that it helps kill of the germs more quickly.

Disposable hankies must be used for all nasal ablutions and flushed down the loo (I do this for ds's but nag expect DH to do his own!), while I try to clean all door handles, light switches etc frequently with antibacterial spray to cut down on transmission.

I'm sounding a bit mad now so will stop!

BTW I have had my 'flu jab this week so will be very if I'm laid low this year!

Hot lemon and honey is a favourite in our house, infused with Ginger for adults. DH swears by turmeric when he has a cold - mixed with ginger, milk and honey.

I always like to eat boiled eggs when I have a cold. DH recommends rice porridge!:)

A cold Capri-Sun, from the fridge, makes a great cold pack for fevered brows.

If DH gets manflu he likes me to ask him every other minute if he is in need of anything. He takes full advantage of 'medicinal' hot toddies ( which I have to make, as Im Scottish, and that is important to the whiskey, seemingly). Football is also a major ingredient in his recovery. He would love to have a bell to call for me. Home cooked food including potatoes is often called for (ie cottage pie). Brows need soothed regularly. He has not thought of medicinal intercourse yet... but give him time.

If I get 'a cold' (as Mums are immune to flu), I get a hanky, and if Im really lucky, a lemsip.... only not if Im pregnant, or breastfeeding, as then I can only have the hanky.... and only if Ds2 hasnt pulled them all out the box and eaten or blocked the loo with them.

Dh - Lemsip, whiskey and man tv.

Kids - Olbas oil, Heinz Tomato soup and dd loves those Soothers throat sweets.

Me - First response works well and can kill it before it starts. If not, I have to have the balsam tissues, lots of sweet tea, a duvet and daytime tv.

We have a "poorly blanket" too. It's a huge quilted thing in pale green with pretty pink flowers all over it that I had as a child and managed to pinch from my Mum when my first child was born. It is applied to the sick person on the sofa while they watch cartoons/soppy movies/the F1 depending upon who is ill.

I use lots of hot baths and Olbas Oil to try and clear the nose and a bit of pain relief - Calpol for the children but I've never found anything to beat Beechams Flu Plus for adults. Lots and lots of fluids too. Hot water with Honey and Lemon for the grown ups and warm juice for the children. Everyone but me gets lots of sleep and TLC on the sofa. I always seem to just have to get on with it. I don't usually go for gimmicks but the balsam tissues do seem to be kinder to much-blown noses.

DH always takes Lemsip or similar at the first sign of a cold, and he's never really been one for "manflu". He did get a really bad flu 10 years ago and was bedded for 10 days.

I swear by sudafed medicine when i get bunged up, and also those nasal strips are good (not for the clear snot part of a cold, more the green stuff) (yuck) for wearing at night I find they really do help with breathing and stopping that bunged up feeling, along with the old faithful, Olbas oil!.
Also Karvol, my DSes get a rub of vicks on their chest and karvol sprinkled on the duvet and it really helps.
When they are too ill to go to school they have a duvet day ont eh sofa and we usually watch a DVD of their choice (with Ds2 this usually involves Harry potter) and they have heinz chicken soup and lucozade.
This is what my parents used to give me when i was a child

When I was pregnant DP devised a drug-free drink of lemon juice, hot water, fresh ginger, cloves and honey. It is so lovelhy I would still use it, it definitely makes you feel better.

You can't beat gargling with salt water for a sore throat either.

when the kids have colds I use a few drops of olbas oil in hot water, when its man flu I find going out and leaving him to it much more effective.

DH: junk food and as much sleep as he can get away with, plus honey and ginger tea (home made). And brandy.

DS: follow around with tissues, box of tissues in every room, Vicks on his chest at night, honey and lemon cough mixture. Biscuits. Toy cars and dinosaurs, either in toy or DVD form.

Me: paracetamol, lemon sorbet, vegetable samosas, haribo and a grim determination to survive DH's inevitable simultaneous man flu. Sudafed when not pregnant. Shouting.

DC: Sniffy noses and tickly coughs - keep them warm but soldier on as much as poss. Keep them in the warm and dry, and pander a bit if they're feeling down. Calpol/profen at night if running a temperature. Olbas oil on a tissue near the bed. Fruit & veg at every meal, lots of fresh air and exercise all year round to try to bolster their immune system.
DH: Self medicates, & provides a running commentary ;)

Lots of hot drinks like honey and lemon, as they get steam up your nose to dislodge all the gunk up there. Hot baths for the same reason. Go to bed and get much more sleep as your body needs rest and energy to fight the cold.

Dont give my husband much sympathy when he has a cold as he can sit still in on a lovely comfy chair most of the day sipping hot drinks. He does not have to tend to three small children and get exhausted.
In fact once he had a very bad cold when our twins were 1 and eldest as 4. He was told by his colleagues to go home as looked so ill, but he said no way he would as it was much more restful at work !

Tomato soup, hot water bottles, blankets and whatever mindless rubbish floats your boat on the telly.

Firstly I tell myself that Sickness is NOT an option however the following strategy has seen me through 8 colds this year (thank you nursery)
Nights - freshly made bed, cold bedroom with open windows, a teaspoon of honey last thing and a generous dab of 'happynose', also have to sit up more as I sleep so an extra pillow
Days -paracetamol, hot lemon and honey, vicks inhaler and lots of water
Last resort - pj's, duvet, crappy telly
DS - we roll out the vicks chest and back, olbas oil on the plug vaporiser, try and offer more water, steamy bathroom just before bed, fresh ait to help it all come out....cuddles and calpol
DH - hot lemon & honey with a wee dram, sinutab, Heinz cream of tomato soup, tea and chocolate biscuits

For a horribly blocked nose: menthol crystals melted in hot water - head under a towel - wow it has a kick, but works!

My (slightly dull) tips are based on warding off colds:
wash your hands frequently especially after travelling by public transport eg on arrival at the office
go to bed very early as soon as you get a hint of a cold on the way.

I like that forehead rub stuff if you have a headache.

My tips for a cold, keep warm drink lots of fluids, hot ribena prefereably. Vitamin C. Kleenex balsam tissues. Suck Halls extra strong mentholycalyptus lozengers. Olbas oil under pillow and bowl of water by the radiator to increase the humidity.
Steam head regularly over boiling water with a few menthol crystals. If you feel like eating lots of chilli, garlic and ginger, ideally in chicken soup. For real flu the only answer is bed, paracetamol and lots of fluids. Man flu offer lots of sympathy and hot drinks at regular intervals. For a baby with a stuffy nose sterimar nasal spray( it just saline), and bowl of water by radiator.

Plenty of warm drinks and I also smother my nose and underneath it with vaseline every night so that it doesn't become red and dry.

I always put a couple of clean tissues under each childs pillow before bedtime, when they're a bit sniffy, so that they can find one easily in the night, without having to get out of bed.

I put a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil into a hot bath for myself and dh - it beats breathing over a bowl of hot water with a tea-towel draped over my head! I do the same with a drop of olbas oil for the dcs when they are really bunged up.

Massaging Vicks into the dcs fronts and backs is great before bedtime. For adults, I find massaging tiger balm into the temples and around the forehead is amazing for blocked sinusses before bedtime.

Unlimited hot ribena during the day (massive treat in our house), boiled eggs with soldiers for dipping and tv-watching bundled up in my 'special blanket' on the sofa. With hot water bottles for adults and microwavable 'giraffes' (thank you Lakeland) for the dcs. If the illness continues for a few days then I usually buy a Beano (DS), Waybuloo (DD) or Grazia (DH!) mag for the patient :)

Although I mostly take the view that if you're too ill to go to work/school/nursery then you should be in bed sleeping for most of the day, not watching tv.

A hot honey and lemon drink made with freshly squeezed lemons works wonders, I much prefer this to a lemsip etc. If dd is poorly its cuddles on the sofa under a snuggly throw with a dvd. Chocolate works a treat for me.