The fastest-acting, most effective children's cough, cold, flu, sinus, ear ache, stuffy nose, sore throat, upper respiratory  all-natural remedy I have found so far is a Chinese Herb combination by Kan Herb.  Their children's formulas go by the sub-title "Gentle Warriors" and our go-to formulation is called "Windbreaker".    This is the lightest formulation and then there are four more formulations if the symptoms are more pronounced (see the company web site for info.).  These formulas mix great into juice (100% grape juice seems to cover all herbs the best).  The cheapest place to find them is on e-bay; Tanya from Mom-E-Mineral has prices half of what my acupuncturist was charging.  Shipping isn't the fastest (a week for regular shipping), so keep yourself stocked up!

Personal example:   The first time I used Chinese herbs was with Windbreaker for my 4 year old son, Zach.  He was crying inconsolably about a pain in his right ear.  We happened to be in my Acupuncturist's office at the time and he asked if I wanted to try some Chinese Herbs.  After a quick assessment of my son, I took Windbreaker home.  Zach was crying the whole way and could not be distracted from his hurting ear with a TV program or his lunch.  My husband was rolling his eyes at such an 'unconvential' treatment for an ear ache, so to match his skepticism with optimistic bravado I started the timer on my watch as soon as we had 'forced' the liquid formula into Zach's mouth.  To my surprise and delight, within 60 seconds Zach started talking about his TV program!  Then he kind of remembered he was upset about his ear and cried a bit more.  But by the 3 minute mark, he started to eat his lunch and watch the TV program and never mentioned his ear again!!   As incredible as it sounds, this is a completely true story.  From then on I was sold on Chinese Herbs.

Will you get such a miracle result?  Maybe not.  But it will resolve the ear ache/problem faster than any western medicine could.  We haven't had such an acute situation since but have used the Windbreaker over and over again for all 3 of our kids.  It works expertly every time.

Chinese Herbs/Medicine Tips:  

1. Use it early.   The herbs work best used at the first sign of imbalance/illness.
2. Take it for 3-5 days after your symptoms are gone.  Make sure all the germs are gone!
3. Take it for no longer than 14 days.  Ask your health practioner.
4. After age 7 consider going to half dose of an adult herb. Ask your health practioner.
5. Shelf life is over a year so always have some on-hand.