If you have kids or have ever had a cough that keeps you up at night you know by now that over the counter cough syrup is worthless and can be life threatening!* (see below)
Some of these remedies may seem a little quirky, but you will be blown away by how immediately they work and the whole family gets a good nights rest! If I only had the ingredients for one item, I would shoot for the onion poultice. I always have chopped onions in the freezer. I buy organic ones in sacks when they are in season and on sale. 
I have made several different kinds of cough syrups and have found one that works best for my kids coughs.
Cough Syrup
2 Tablespoons fresh Thyme (1 Tbls dry)
2 Tablespoons fresh Sage ( 1 Tbls dry)
1 Tablespoon dried Chamomile (rip open a tea bag if you don’t have it)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
10 cloves Garlic
1/2 roughly chopped Onion
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (1 teaspoon fresh grated)
4 Cups of distilled H2O
4 Tablespoons Raw LOCAL Honey (to taste)
Sophie Uliano Best Selling author of Gorgeously Green demonstrates the technique below:
In addition to the syrup to really break up heavy congestion I make up an onion poultice. Onion has a special affinity to the lung, the chest. So if we are thinking lung, we often choose onion instead of garlic. The onion absorbs into the skin and kills the bacteria in the lungs!
Onion Poultice
Cut up an onion, throw in frying pan and sweat onion slowly until clear and soft. Don’t cook these too fast and burn them. Then add some water to deglaze the pan, some oatmeal, grits or flour to make a nice pasty spread.
Put paste on a clean cloth and place over lungs. I would do the back first then the front or you could do them at the same time if you had enough paste. You want it to be warm, but do NOT burn your child’s skin. Leave the poultice for 5 minutes on each side.
OR
Take translucent onions and add to room temp EVOO , spread on chest, cover with plastic wrap and cover with towel to keep in heat.
When the mixture becomes cool, dump it back into the pan, add a little water and warm it back up or if child is asleep, just leave it on, they will be fine! When finished compost or throw in trash. Those onions are filled with bacteria now and should be thrown out.
There are several techniques to do this. Below one is demonstrated by Dr. Seth Yates ND in this video:
Garlic Foot Wrap
I take garlic infused oil and apply it liberally to the bottoms of their feet, double sock and send to bed. Or apply a non petroleum-based vapor rub to those feet and double sock.
*Cold and cough medication can cause severe and even life-threatening side effects in children, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA warns parents not to give cough and cold medication to children younger than 2-years-old and to be very careful about giving it to any child younger than 11. Manufacturers of such medications have voluntarily added a label warning to parents not to give such medication to children younger than 4.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/234577-dangers-of-childrens-cough-medicine/#ixzz1lN2MthSH