Believe it or not my kids don't mind using the neti-pot. I was introduced to it when I was hugely pregnant and mightily congested and wasn't allowed to take any real medication (remember those days?). I found it exhilarating, once I'd gotten my head tilted forward at the right angle, to realize how all my inner passages were connected--specifically, how the nostrils connect up top without getting all involved with my mouth and throat. It really is incredible. You mix some (non-iodized or kosher) salt into warm water and then pour the spout into one nostril and watch as everything trickles (or gushes) out of the other nostril. Then you do a lot of messy sputtering and snuffling, and repeat on the other side. I remember that it brought me about ten minutes of clear-headedness--enough so that I could get to sleep. My older two kids can do it, and really don't mind. We usually do it leaning over the bathtub. It's quite a production, but satisfying when it works, and less expensive than scrolling through a zillion different types of cold medicine (cherry? grape? bubble gum? pills? liquids? quick dissolving tongue tabs?). It's a nice non-medicinal approach, and honestly, kind of fascinating to do. RL
Posts
