Environmentally-Friendly

You hear a fly buzzing around the lounge room but you don’t want to use a chemical fly spray. What can you do?

Here are some environmentally friendly tips for keeping flies and their friends away from you and your family:

• regularly check and maintain fly screens on your windows - or get some if you don’t have any!
• wipe up any spills straight away so there is less to attract flies in the first place
• keep a screen door shut - it may take a few reminders to the kids for this one, but it works!
• burn citronella candles or oils in the house
• use the old fashioned sticky tapes to catch flies - you can make your own by putting some honey on a length of tape of even an old jar lid and putting it to eh side somewhere. Flies are attracted to it, get stuck and can’t get away
•  leave spiders and cobwebs alone - they will happily catch and eat flies for you!
• rub doorways and window frames with lavender oil or water you boiled onions in
• apparently you can catch flies in a saucer of 1tsp cream, 1 tsp vinegar and 1/2 tsp of black pepper - but I wouldn’t do this on a really hot day!

Do you have any other tips for getting rids of flies around the home?

The term essential oil is used a lot more these days, but not everyone really knows what an essential oil is.

And let me start by saying that perfume oils and scented oils and other similar terms are NOT the same as an essential oil.

An essential oil is the natural oil derived form a plant - leaves, stem, roots, flowers, etc can be used in different types of plants.

The oils may be collected in a number of different ways and some oils are easier to produce than others. Note that this difference is why genuine essential oils vary in price between oils, which is one useful way to pick the less-than-pure oils available.

Essential oils are concentrated and usually too strong to put directly onto your skin. Their beneficial properties are not just the belief of some aromatherapists and the like - research has shown they have qualities that can be of use to humans. For example, eucalyptus and tea tree oils are well known for their antiseptic properties.

You can buy essential oils and products containing these oils for use in the home and for your family’s health.

Fennel Tea

Fennel is a perennial herb that grows to 2.5 metres tall and is actually considered a weed in Australia and the USA because it grows so prolifically and can damage neighbouring plants. The bulb, leaves and seeds of the plant are used for both cooking and medicinal reasons.

There are many parts to fennel (such as rutin, estragole and rosmarinic acid) and most are anti-oxidants. Some of the useful properties of fennel are antispasmodic, carminative (release of internal gases), stomachic (strengthens and tones the stomach), anti-inflammatory, laxative and diuretic (increase flow of urine).

So far, there is no conclusive evidence that fennel tea cures colic. However, many parents have found it successful and an Israeli study of 68 babies showed fennel tea helped babies more than a placebo drink. Another study in 2003 showed that fennel seed oil reduced colic symptoms by 45% and stopped the colic in 65% of the babies.

Seeping chopped fennel leaves or crushed seeds in water to make fennel tea is quite simple. Alternatively, your local health food shops and even supermarkets may stock fennel tea bags.

About ¼ cup of diluted fennel tea is enough for a baby and it can be given before or after a feed. Breastfeeding mothers may find that drinking three cups of fennel tea a day might help their baby’s colic, too, as the benefits of fennel can be found in breastmilk.

You can even make fennel tea by adding crushed fennel seeds to warm milk and letting it sit for 2 – 3 minutes before drinking. This can be done with formula milk and presented to the baby as part of a normal feed.

Fennel has a mild flavour that is similar to aniseed (or liquorice) and is tolerated by most babies. It can be mixed with peppermint for a fresher flavour.

Fennel tea blends:

Other herbs can be used with fennel as a colic treatment.

One study showed that a tea of fennel, chamomile and lemon balm calmed over half of the babies – compared to few babies calming in a group given only water. An Italian study of 33 babies showed that a tea of chamomile, fennel, vervain, liquorice and balm reduced colic in 57% of patients.

All of these herbs can help to relax the digestive system and therefore reduce the symptoms of colic. Chamomile has the additional benefit of relaxing the baby’s nervous system so that any distress is also lessened.

Of course, as always, if your baby’s symptoms don’t subside, please seek medical assistance as soon as possible.

Doctors define colic as a baby who cries for more than 3 hours at least 3 times a week for at least 3 weeks. Parents know it is a heart-rendering time when their baby cries, appears to be in pain and can’t be comforted in the usual ways.

Modern medicine does not have a cause or cure for colic, so it is often a case of waiting until the colic stops. Colic stops in most babies by 3 or 4 months of age, but it can last as long as 6 months.

There are natural remedies for colic that are effective for many children.

The simplest herbal remedies are herbal teas. Like your normal cup of tea, a herbal tea is made by adding boiling water to the leaves of a plant. Herbal remedies are safe to use on babies as long as they are not given too much.

Obviously, a herbal tea is cooled before being given to a baby and you wouldn’t expect a baby to have a full cup.