Kid Remedies

Most kids have a great health restorative force within.  To fully appreciate the implications of this read Basic Principles #3.   A vigorous restorative force means that their healing symptoms arise quickly are intense and short-lived.

One common-sense general comment about children’s remedies – have the remedies on hand. Their symptoms can manifest quickly and get intense in the middle of the night.  Knowing what to do and having your remedies on hand saves parents a lot of unnecessary grief and expense.

THE number 1 thing you can do to have healthy kids is to be calm parents.  No panicked looks or facial expressions.  No screaming, out-of-control behavior or arguments in front of them.  Act like a kid someplace else but be a calm adult when they are around.  Out-of-control adults create insecurity and fears in children…and…when kids are stressed….they break out in symptoms just like adults.

The second thing is to keep them calm and help them address their little fears with calm assurances.  Don’t ignore or downplay their fears or poke fun at them. Listen to them and explain things to them. You are interpreting the world to them. When a child gets sick often you can point to an event within the last 3-4 days that was very upsetting to them (oh yeah, or a vaccination).  When they become sick, don’t show your alarm.  Remain calm around them and assure them that their body is working hard and they will feel better soon.

THE number 1 remedy to have on hand if you have kids is Distress Remedy (#8778-3).

It should be applied topically to any booboo immediately (including cuts and burns) and then at 10 minutes intervals until problem resolves.  You will be amazed.  Also put a few drops under the tongue to calm distressed babies of all ages.  Soon they will learn to come and ask for it because it helps with pain AND distress.

Also I have found that NSP’s Vita Wave (#3332-3) is an excellent and safe liquid multi for children.  It contains no synthetics or “FDA approved” toxic colorings or flavorings or other chemicals.    Many babies have tested for it to resolve a health concern.  Infants can take this (10 drops).  Toddlers to school-aged children can take 1/2 tsp.  The 32 oz bottle lasts a long time.  Store in the refrigerator.

Please DO NOT give children OTC pain relievers like Tylenol – children have died from taking this.  See Pharmaceutical Phactoids below regarding children’s OTC cold remedies.

Fever

As other reactions of the body, one can consider a fever as an intelligent response.  Healthy infants usually have a vigorous restorative response and thus can push a fever over 105.  It seems every parent has to go through this.  I remember when our first pushed past 105.  I called the doc, who was not able to be disturbed so the nurse said to put him in a bath of cool water.  As my little son hit the warmish water (cool seemed too cruel so I thought I’d let him play in warm water until it naturally got cool) he looked alarmed and just wanted to be held.  He wouldn’t let go of me to even sit in the warm water.  I thought, “Something is very wrong about this [cool bath advice].”  So following my instincts and his lead, I dried him, dressed him warmly and he slept on my chest all night in the recliner.

“Give me a fever, and I can cure any illness.” — Hippocrates

His intelligent body was expending a lot of energy raising his temp for a good reason.  I learned subsequently that the white blood cells double their speed (chemotaxis) for every degree increase in body temperature.  So helping him conserve that heat enabled the body to accomplish more quickly what it was trying to do.  Lowering the temp drags out the illness.   I asked the doc.  He said it [cool bath] was standard practice.

Some fever seizure factoids

•     Seizures generally occur from 3 months to 5 years; peak incidence is 8-20 months.
•     In most instances, the seizure lasts only a few minutes and stops on its own.
•     About 2-5% of all children will experience a febrile seizure (that means it is rare).
•     Of those who have had a febrile seizure, 30-40% will experience more seizures.
•     About 25% have a first-degree relative with a history of febrile seizure.
•     The seizure itself is almost always harmless. It does not cause brain damage or lead to epilepsy.

What to do?
Often we try to figure out the cause (teeth, vaccine, exposure) but it doesn’t matter.  Follow the body’s lead.

1. Kids want to be held because they feel cold and want your body heat.  Even though their skin feels hot, they are losing heat that is needed to accomplish an intelligent task.  So dress them more warmly than would be comfortable for you and see if they require as much holding.  If so, add more clothes.  When it is too much or they feel too hot, they will sweat or, if older, pull clothes off.  This may be a back and forth process as the fever waxes and wanes until they are better.
2.  Most their energy goes into building this temp so they will naturally be lethargic.  Don’t put them in a situation where they need to expend energy (walking/shopping, school).  They need couch time.
3. Digestion requires energy so often appetite goes away.  Don’t force foods.  Do soup broths or vegetable soups to quench thirst.  See the Easy Broth Drink for ideas.
4. Give them Distress Remedy (#8778-3).  Rub it on their gums if they are teething.  (Give it to mom and dad too).  Rub it on the back of their neck if they have a (rare) seizure.
5. Other remedies to have on hand are liquid Blue Vervain (#3160-8) and liquid CC-A(#3165-0).  Follow the bottle recommendations.  Other remedies below.

Digestive/Bowel Issues

The key to a happy baby is good poops and good burps (see colic below).  Sometimes parents don’t pay attention here, especially to slow stubborn bowels.  A pooping baby is a happy baby.  Tummy aches, spitting up, acid reflux, vomiting and fevers are bowel problems!! (not a Prilosec deficiency).  Most childhood ailments are resolved right here.  And in Traditional Chinese Medicine, if the bowels are stressed, reclining stresses them more which means poor sleep habits.  Translating: Children won’t sleep well or very long if you try to lay them down.  You may have better luck holding them to sleep, or, placing them in a car seat.  OK with that motivation, give due diligence to keeping the bowels regular and you can keep them well and any illness will not be severe and resolve quickly.  So if your child’s bowels tend to be sluggish, a.k.a. constipated or not regular, you can …

1. Add apple cider vinegar (ACV) or lemon juice to their food.  These aid in digestion – which is stalled.  (If nursing, mom can add 2 tsp ACV to a small glass of water and drink with each meal)  This is especially good if the child has no appetite.  D.C. Jarvis, MD who wrote Folk Medicine, A New England Almanac of Natural Health Care showed that 1-2 days prior to getting ill the urine pH goes alkaline AND the way to avoid or quickly recover from illness is to acidify the urine AND the way to do that was by the use of acidic drinks – like ACV, lemon juice, kefir, cranberry juice, etc.
2. Massage their tummy.   In a shallow bowl put about 2 tsp of massage oil or olive oil.  Add one drop of Lemon Essential Oil (#3908-2) (optional).  With baby lying belly up, dip two fingers into the oil and with gentle slow motion and moderate pressure, make circles on baby’s tummy.  Watch baby’s face for distress.  Make sure to circle over the 4 corners of the abdomen.  The Abdominal Massage will give ideas on massage strokes for the tummy.
3. Sometimes doing a rectal temp will stimulate bowel function.  Put olive oil on the thermometer tip first, and be prepared for the result.
4. With fever or ‘tummy aches’, give a warm water enema.  Fill a baby syringe with warm water and coat the tip with olive oil.  Sit next to a toilet with a towel and baby on your lap belly up and butt aiming at the bowl.  Do not make this traumatic for baby.  (Both of you can take  Distress Remedy first).   Make sure baby is comfortable.  If baby seems distressed about the whole thing give Distress Remedy ahead of time or during.  Gently insert the syringe about ½ inch, watch baby’s face, and slowly inject water allowing baby to eject bowels if baby looks alarmed or distressed (starts kicking feet).   This can help resolve a fever.
5. Some practitioners swear by the technique affectionately called ‘Biffy up the butt’.  Coat a capsule of Bifidophilus FloraForce (#4080-4) with a little olive oil and insert as a suppository to get the desired effect.
6. Give a little Magnesium (#1786-6) in their food (while also doing the ACV in #1).  This tablet can be crushed and added to anything.  It is easily disguised.  For nursing babies, have mom take the tablet (she probably needs it).  For 2 yrs and up, begin with a quarter tablet.  For 4 years and up begin with ½ tablet.  For 8 years up begin with 1 tablet.  Increase quantities until stools are loose then decrease.  Note how much this dosage was for future reference.
7. If these methods fail and baby has genetic constipation tendencies, have liquid LB (#1794-1) on hand and administer according to directions on the bottle.

Diarrhea

Sometimes kids will have the opposite problem.  This can be scary for moms but it is so

easy to remedy.  Make a stiff cup of black tea (from loose or a tea bag – not instant).  Regular black tea (like Lipton, etc) is ranked top of the list in potassium content by weight.  Plus it is a wonderful astringent.  In the mean time order liquid Red Raspberry (#3425-4).  Have it on hand for times like this.  Double or triple bottle dosage until bowels calm down.  If the diarrhea is long standing or from antibiotics, add dropperfuls of kefir.  Another reliable remedy is Slippery Elm (#1391-2).  Many report this is very useful for diarrhea and this is also a good food for baby.  This can be added to mom’s milk or water and make whatever consistency is appropriate for the child.  This can be sweetened with the liquid Red Raspberry (#3425-4).  Older children well tolerate this mixed into their foods.  Follow their blood type diet to reduce inflammation or you may observe that the diarrhea becomes chronic..

Colic

To avoid colic a parent must release the trapped bubble inside as soon after feeding as possible.  So think in terms of stretching the torso, making lots of room for bubbles to move on up.  Lift them up by holding them under their arms.  This allows their torso to stretch, whereas having them sit hunched over on your lap while burping can trap some bubbles.  Allow them to lie on their stomach when they can hold their head up.  This also helps release bubbles.  The colic hold is a sort of stretched ab hold.   After giving due diligence here you can place a few drops of liquid Catnip and Fennel (#3195-3) in baby’s mouth or on their pacifier.  Baby will be so thankful.  If this does not work, after 2-3 doses 15 minutes apart, then do #1. above.  This helps for children of all ages.  It even helps with hiccups.   Colic is bowel related so pay attention to the remedies above.

Respiratory Issues

These problems come from the child’s bowel patterns.  Even if your child is regular, his eliminations may not be yesterday’s food – but maybe that from several days ago.  So begin doing the recommendations for the bowel above.  Step 1 with any childhood illness is clear the bowels – the fever will go down and they’ll get better faster.  This is an ‘old time’ tried-and-true natural remedy.

1. Use liquid ALJ (#3166-5) at the first sign of any excess mucus.   Follow bottle dosage.  Loose cough is good.  Reduce non-cultured cow products.  Follow the Blood Type Diet.
2. If the cough is dry add liquid Licorice Root (#1780-9) to the liquid ALJ   Again follow bottle dosage.
3. If fever, do #3 in the Bowel section above and then administer Silver Shield (#4274-1) rectally after the child has voided the bowels.  This is reported to work very quickly.
4. If croup or asthma-like cough, do liquid ALJ and liquid Licorice Root internally and rub liquid Lobelia Essence (#1765-8) on their chest as often as needed.  If asthma/croup symptoms occur frequently, begin the Magnesium protocol in #1&6 in the Digestive/Bowel Issues section above.

Ear Issues

Again, step 1 with any childhood illness is clear the bowels (see Digestive/Bowel Issues section  above).  Then, a reliable remedy for a child’s ear complaints is liquid CBG Extract (#1751-2).  This herbal combination is applied in and around the ears in the following manner IF the child does NOT have tubes in the ear.  This greatly relieves the pain and inflammation in the ear.  Baby will be happy.  (You should also give some orally since ear issues and throat issues go together, both being exacerbated by stuck lymphatic flow.)  Actually this works for babies of all ages…. even teenagers.

1. Warm a metal spoon by running warm water over it.
2. With a dropper place about 4 drops of liquid CBG Extract into the warmed spoon to warm it.
3. Suck the warmed liquid CBG Extract back up into the dropper, put one drop on your skin to test the temp and then place it into the child’s ear
4. Place about 8 drops right below the ear onto the child’s neck and lightly rub this in with a circular motion. This helps the lymph drain below the ear.

Sore Throat

Again, step 1 with any childhood illness is clear the bowels.  My children have always responded very well to the liquid CBG Extract (#1751-2) squirted into the back of the throat.  This tastes nasty, but solves the problem.  Many report that  Silver Shield (#4274-1) is beneficial applied to the back of the throat.  You can put it in an atomizer and spray it in the nose while inhaling and it will run back down the throat.   This helps sinuses and a sore throat.  Many others have reported the liquid Blue Vervain (#3160-8) is helpful – even for strep throat.

Thrush

This is an indication of gut flora imbalance often created by antibiotics, but often occurs in response to stress.  Introduce live-culture yogurt or kefir to the child to reintroduce some of the beneficial microbes.  Probiotic 11 (#1510-1) can be opened into live-culture yogurt that has been thinned with mother’s milk or water and fed to the child regularly to reestablish the important cultures in the gut that are necessary for proper development.

Dr. Christopher said that White Oak Bark (#730-7) tea would reliably resolve thrush.  See Creative Dosing for how to make a tea.  This herb is a powerful astringent and acts to reduce inflammation and swelling so the tissues can heal more quickly.  If you have liquid Red Raspberry (#3425-4) this also acts as an astringent.

Ringworm

This is a slow/congested bowel indicator.  Use Liquid Black Walnut extract.  Follow bottle dosages.

Kidney/Bladder Issues

Parsley (#490-9) is useful for children (esp. girls) with chronic bladder problems.  Avoid bubble baths. Before opting for surgery please try 2 capsules 2X/day. Making the tea and doctoring it for sipping all day works, or, consult with Creative Dosing.

Bedwetting can have many contributing factors the most common being stress induced hypoglycemia.  Parents often report that after being consistently dry all night, children will begin bed-wetting after a stressful event. This has such a negative impact on a child’s self concept and often has nothing to do with the urinary system.  The 2 balancing remedies are Chinese Mineral Chi Tonic (#1818-3) along with HY-A (#950-0).  Neither of these taste very good so consult with Creative Dosing.  For ages 3-7, 1 tsp of the Chinese Mineral Chi Tonic and 1 capsule HY-A 2X/day.  For ages 7-10, double the recipe. For 10 & up, triple it. Reduce with symptoms.  If needed, make an appointment.

Vaccinations/Boosters/Flu shots/Gardasil

DON’T DO THAT TO YOUR CHILD.  Read this doc and the links before endangering your own child.

Childhood Medical Labels

ADD (a.k.a. not paying attention to boring, adult-contrived, silly exercises on stuff that is not important to me) and ADHD (a.k.a. having more energy than adults can understand to explore what I’m really interested in.)
I homeschooled my 4 children through high school – 3 of them boys.  I know about these things.  My terse rant above has sufficiently exposed my thoughts on the matter.  I have written a doc on kid behaviors explaining how Autism, ADD and ADHD and other behavioral problems arise and what remedies my little clients have responded well to.

Pharmaceutical Phactoids – In the unlikely event that your doc failed to warn you that…

Cold remedies put children at risk, group says

City health chief, 15 pediatric experts petition FDA for stricter regulations
“When you see multiple deaths, hundreds of calls to Poison Control and thousands upon thousands of kids using these drugs in the city every day, and they don’t work and they’re not safe, it’s a fair issue for public health,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore’s commissioner of health.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 1,519 children younger than 2 were treated in emergency rooms in 2004 and 2005 for overdoses and other complications related to cough and cold medications. Three infants less than 6 months old died.  In some children, unintentional overdoses have caused heart rhythm changes, cardiopulmonary arrest, hallucinations, psychoses, hypertension and seizures, according to research cited in the petition.
“Over-the-counter cough and cold preparations are neither safe nor effective for use in young children,” the petitioners argue. “The FDA has never conducted an appropriate analysis to support their widespread use, and expert organizations agree that they are ineffective and pose a risk to health.”
Last year the American College of Chest Physicians released clinical practice guidelines advising caregivers not to recommend cough suppressants and other over-the-counter medications for young children because of their ineffectiveness and the increased risk of complications and death. “As long as the child is generally healthy, the best thing to do is let the virus run its course, and generally they’ll get better as quick, or quicker than when they take these medicines,” Czinn said (who is chair of pediatrics at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine).

Antibiotic Use Can Trigger Asthma

The Study of Asthma, Genes, and the Environment has been following 13,116 children born in 1995. The results of the study were published in the June 2007 Chest. It looks like antibiotic use can trigger asthma – probably by altering our internal environments by killing beneficial bacteria in the gut that are needed for optimum immune development. In this study, the children who received antibiotics in the first year of life were more likely to have developed asthma by age 7 – whether or not the antibiotics were for respiratory infections. Those who received more than four courses of antibiotics before the first birthday were about 1.5 times more likely to end up with asthma than their peers. The effect was strongest for broad spectrum antibiotics. The connection was clearest for children without a strong family history of asthma.