Keep Kids Healthy with Herbs

Provide a Gentle Touch with Homeopathy

Homeopathy is another approach that can be used to treat common childhood ailments. It is safe, does not cause side effects, and the approach to treatment is the same for children and adults; it involves determining constitution and administering doses of a remedy derived from plant, mineral, animal or chemical substances.

Dana Ullman, a homeopath and director of Homeopathic Educational Services in Berkeley, California (www.homeopathic.com), says that parents can use various remedies for children at home with success. For more serious problems or recurring symptoms, it’s best to visit a licensed homeopath.

Ullman notes that giving a homeopathic remedy to infants or young children can be tricky because they may not swallow it. However, a remedy takes effect as soon as it contacts the inner surfaces of the mouth, so swallowing isn’t necessary. If the medicine is in liquid form, a small drop is enough for each dose. Or pour a few tiny pellets onto a child’s tongue — they will stick and dissolve quickly. If a remedy comes in a pill or tablet, crush it into a powder between two pieces of clean paper using a heavy object or dissolve them in a spoonful of water and give the child a small drop.

Ullman suggests the following homeopathic remedies for home use with children:

• Chamomilla is used for hyperactive infants and young children who are restless and irritable. It also helps babies suffering from teething pain or colic. Use it when an infant cries incessantly except when being carried or when a child is hyperirritable and has tantrums.

• Belladonna is helpful for fevers, when a child has a flushed face, throbbing headache, drowsiness but difficulty falling asleep and swollen glands and radiating heat. It is used for measles, when there is a sudden onset of high fever, with a flushed face and reddened lips.

• Apis is one of the key remedies for sore throat when the tonsils are puffy and red, when it hurts to eat or drink anything warm, and when relief comes from sucking an ice cube. It is a leading remedy for hives when the skin is swollen, red and sensitive to heat, often from an allergic response.

• Bryonia is the leading remedy for coughs, especially dry coughs aggravated by motion.