#IBSD14 Guest Post: Natural Therapies For Kids

I’m 36, live in Sydney Australia and live with a couple of awesome dudes
– husbo and the little man. I’m kind of obsessed with alternative therapies and
nature’s best healers, so I’m happy Claire was interested in featuring it here…

My love of natural
therapies

It has been a gradual progression over the years, but as soon as I had my
little boy 3.5 years ago, I was more curious than ever to know how I can keep
him healthy – and help him heal when he wasn’t so healthy – using nature’s
remedies.

These days our family sees a few brilliant natural therapists, for
various reasons, and we have a pantry and bathroom cabinet full of all-natural
treatments. I’m buying more books than I can reasonably afford but learning so
much about our health and avoiding medicine as much as possible. I totally
believe it’s a worthwhile investment of my time, effort and funds. What’s more
important than robust health and a thriving happy family?  

Little Man

 

Kitchen pantry
staples for health

~ Turmeric and manuka
honey 15+

for colds and flu’s, especially with a nasty cough. Stir in ½ tsp
turmeric with 1 tsp honey into ½ cup hot water and sip when cool enough. It’s
taken the kid a little while to get used to turmeric but it’s so worth it.
Otherwise stir into rice.

~ Coconut oil.

The best. I keep one pot in the kitchen for
cooking and one in the bathroom. I fry gently with it as it’s one of the
healthiest option, besides organic butter, and use it in all kinds of Asian
cooking and smoothies. The bathroom one disappears quick as I use it on insect
bites, sunburn, dry skin, bum rash (the kids’ not mine!), hair conditioner
(comb ¼ tsp in ends of wet hair before drying), for dry cuticles, cold sores,
you name it.

~ Apple cider vinegar

(with the ‘mother’).
It’s a great way to start each day – 1 tbsp in warm water – and get the gut
functioning at it’s best. It’s super tart, so I sneak it into my son’s fresh
fruit and veg juices, like apple, ACV, carrot and watermelon.

~ Chamomile tea

for red eyes, like
pink eye or conjunctivitis. Just make a cuppa, pop it in the fridge til cool (not
cold), and dip in a fresh cotton ball for each eye. Also if kids have trouble
falling asleep, put a tea bag in the bath.

Bathroom cabinet
lotions and potions

~ Garlic oil.

Mullein Garlic Ear
Oil is great for ear infections.

~ Lavender oil.

This is one of the
few essential oils that can be used neat, without a carrier oil, unless it’s
for kids and then I’d suggest using it with jojoba or almond oil. And it works!
I use it for headaches (rub a couple drops into your temples), pimples,
insomnia, stress, and restlessness. When the kid is a little crazy, like after
a birthday party, I put a few drops in the bath and watch him relax. So good.

~ Calendula cream.

Amazingly soothing
for cuts, bruises, burns and nappy rash.

The professionals we love:

Chiropractor /
Kinesiologist

When the dude was little he had constant ear infections. His doctor would
say “here’s some antibiotics” and didn’t even look at the underlying cause or
consider how the ear can be healed through alternative therapies. After a few
rounds of antibiotics I could see they weren’t helping and there were side
effects too, namely really poor gut function (he would be up all night
screaming after he ate any kind of meat or overly processed food, it was a long
road until he was all better).

Homeopath

Dude got whooping cough when he was 1.5 years old, and I panicked. I
heard so many horror stories, so I tried everything to help him out. Eventually
I stumbled across homeopathy, saw it could help, and took him to a local
homeopath. She was amazing. The ‘whoop’ was all gone within 24 hours! He
recovered from it so well, I was gobsmacked.

I took him back a few times to conquer other sicknesses, and eventually
I did a ‘Homeopathy at Home’ course. I have now treated our family, with my own
pack of remedies, for colds, flus, cough, gastro, tonsillitis, PMS, nasty
insect bites, a bad fall, ear infections, hangovers (I KNOW), and so many other
things. It’s amazing. I don’t care if science can’t prove it, it works!

Naturopath

It was the stroke of genius by an amazing naturopath who got us pregnant
with our son, and she helped us in the beginning with lots of nagging newborn
problems. One of the greatest things I learned is to include baby probiotics in
my son’s breakfast, every morning, to help his gut function at it’s best.

Another naturopath I know was great at suggesting all-natural, homemade
foods for kids, like bone broth (you just make slow cooked food with organic
meat that has a bone, save the broth and next day pour some on their pasta,
rice or couscous), chicken liver pate (the kid loves it on apple slices), spices
and seasoning (don’t underestimate the power of a dash of good–quality Maldon sea
salt, pepper, herbs and spices) as well as cutting back on dairy, processed
foods and sugar. Kids need nourishing food to be at their best.

The more meals you can make the better, but don’t ever feel guilty about
what you buy, just do your best, as we all do, every day.”

What do you think of Kris’ ideas? I’m certainly going to give a few of them a try, starting with the coconut oil!

To see the piece I wrote for Kris called ‘Clearing the Air’ visit Lady Frankie.