You’ve decided on Natural Immunity - now what?
Updated: Mar 18, 2019
Acute Homeopathic Treatment of Common Childhood Infections.
If you’ve made a decision not to vaccinate your child but now you feel uncertain about what to do when he or she get’s sick, you are not alone. Most new parents who decide not to vaccinate feel the same way. What will you tell your doctor, will you continue with wellness visits, will you be reported to a government agency and what will you do if your child gets sick ? You may start to doubt your decision and feel isolated, especially if you’ve gone against the grain of compliant family members and a compliant community.
Facebook groups offer good social support but if your baby get’s sick, what will you do ?
There are a number of Homeopathic remedies which you can keep at home to treat sick babies and children and there is a bag of mother’s tricks (wise women's medicine) you can use too. The human body, is resilient and babies are strong. However our children inherit both our strengths and our weaknesses, and it’s important to observe your child closely to see where their organism holds and expresses stress. For some it’s the throat, for other’s the stomach or the nervous system. Have you even noticed how you and your partner can get the same strain of flue but your glands swell up for days and his nose runs like a tap ? Soon you will see a pattern with your little one too. These observations are critical in deciding which remedy to use.
Fevers are the bodies way of alerting the immune system to take action and increase the production of white fighter cells. Fevers are not terrible and they should not be immediately suppressed with pharmaceutical drugs (except in emergency situations). In fact fevers are a sign of a healthy immune response to infection. (see link below ) You do not want your little one’s fever to get too high or stay too high for too long. The hospital MUST receive you and your child even though you have decided not to Vaccinate. So do not be afraid to take your baby in if he or she is non responsive, lethargic, refuses to drink and is dehydrating, is not passing urine regularly, or is in respiratory stress. If the hospital staff bring up vaccinations, tell them you will look into it with your Paediatrician but do NOT agree to vaccinate your sick child.
Here is a link to a wonderful Paediatrician discussing fevers
FEVER remedies to keep at home :
The classic fever remedy Belladonna will bring down the fever of a child (or adult) when the fever comes fast and high presenting with hot red cheeks, and cold feet and/or hands. Aconite will work if the onset is sudden after exposure to cold and cold wind, for example if you took baby out to the park on a cold windy day without a hat and when you got home he is suddenly feverish. Bryonia will help when the fever continues for many days and is accompanied by a painful cough. Chamomilla is for babies who have a temperature caused by teething, babies who are very irritable, capricious (cranky) and very sensitive to pain. They may have one red cheek or one red ear, and they want to be held or rocked. If your child is very clingy and fearful with severe thirst, and great fear of being left alone try Phospherous.
Natural FEVER treatments :
Soak a facecloth in a solution of 1:3 vinegar to water, squeeze it out and hold it on the bottom of babies feet for 5-10 minutes. You will feel the heat coming out and the fever going down. Rinse and repeat till the fever comes down. Hold cabbage leaves against the souls of babies feet till they get limp and warm. This draws the heat out of the body through the feet. Repeat with fresh leaves till babies fever comes down. Bathe baby in a tepid bath (not cold), just warm enough for them to be comfortable. Put a cool damp cloth behind baby’s neck or on baby’s forehead.
COLD AND FLUE remedies to keep at home
Aconite for sudden onset after exposure to cold. Gelsemium is for that collapsed feeling at the beginning of a cold, when you or your child feels weak with heavy eyelids and chills. Hepar-Sulph helps that stitching, stinging sore throat, the patient is sensitive to cold and wants warm drinks and to be wrapped up in a warm blanket. The glands are swollen and the patient can be irritable. Camphora - first stage of cold, collapsed with chilliness and sneezing - the patient is cold but kicked the covers off. The collapse is quite sudden and the body can be icey-cold. Eupat-Perf is a classic Influenza remedy - flue with high fever - chill before fever, worse 7-9pm, aching bone and muscle pains, bruised feeling as if the bones have been broken. The patient holds his chest when he coughs and is thirsty for cold water.
Natural COLD AND FLUE treatments:
Fluids, fluids, fluids. Warm soups, especially Chicken Soup, herbal teas, natural fruit ices, Vitamin C - Elderberry syrup, Kiwi Fruit, blackcurrant juice and water. Warm grain packs can help ease body aches and pains, a nice warm bath with lavender oil and sea-salt followed by a gentle massage of cold pressed sesame oil to keep the heat in the body. Do not massage your child when they are sick, however you can gently massage the back of their calves starting behind the knees and moving down towards the feet for a few minutes. This will also help them to sleep. Older children can eat raw or roasted garlic on toast or in pasta or even whole if they can tolerate it.
BAD STOMACH remedies to keep at home
Arsenicum - for diarrhoea and vomiting - great weakness from diarrhoea. Great exhaustion from the slightest exertion. The patients feels like he has been poisoned. He is restless and moves about continuously. He is thirsty for small sips of water. Ipecacuanha for vomiting with coughing. Gas trapped in abdomen - bloating with distention. Children who moan and groan and are generally unsatisfied with digestive complaints - vomiting or diarrhoea may need Antimodium Crudum. They don’t want to be looked at or touched and will get cranky if you come towards them. The stomach expressed all their complaints. Lycopodium for bloated babies with lots of gas and rumbling tummy’s. They can be hungry with stomach pain and they get hungry quickly. Illicium for general colic.
Natural STOMACH and DIGESTIVE treatments
The most important thing with stomach bugs or digestive problems in little ones is to keep their fluids up. Dilute Apple Juice to water 1:7 for a more gentle drink or add a small squeeze of lemon juice. For indigestion try warm Chamomile, Fennel or Louisa tea. You can make your own gripe water using fennel seeds, a natural sweetener, some ginger, cinnamon and Chamomille. Toddlers who refuse to drink may be happy sucking on an icey, licking a cube or drinking juice from a pack or out of a fancy straw. A warm grain pack on the abdomen may relieve muscle pain from vomiting or diarrhoea. A gentle tummy massage with olive, coconut or sesame oil can help move stagnant bowels or alleviate gas. Lying baby tummy down on your abdomen for a sleep can also help - hearing your heartbeat will settle an unsettled babe almost immediately and the pressure on his belly will help the gas make it’s way out.
BITES, STING and NERVE RICH INJURIES - remedies to keep at home
You will need Apis for swellings with burning, stinging pains. Apis is hot and inflamed - imagine a bee sting. The patient s better for cold, worse for warm. Puffed up eyes, mild allergic reactions which result in great swellings of the face. Ledum is for puncture wounds, red, swollen, painful and cold with itching and numbness. Penetrating wounds from stings and bites, where the skin is mottled. Cantharis has intense burning and can be used for mild burns and sunburn. Arnica for bused feeling when the patient doesn't want you to touch the inflammation. Hypericum is an excellent remedy for toothache, crushed fingers or toes.
Natural treatments for BITES and STINGS
The body will create inflammation around a bite or a sting, and that is normal. What you want to watch out for is that after the initial inflammatory state, the general red inflamed area starts to close in creating clearer boundary and that the red starts to move back in towards the centre. This could take a few days and is the same with any infection. If you see a thin red line appearing moving out from the inflammation, that is an indication of blood poisonings and you should take your baby to the emergency room. Generally, you want to keep fluids up, so the body can get rid of the poison, and try keep your little one rested. Excessive movement will spread the poison as will scratching. After a day or two the swelling around the area should start to come down. Ice can help reduce the local inflammation. You can also make an oat bath by wrapping a few tablespoons of oats in cheesecloth, tying it up, and letting it float in the bath. The oat milk will seep out through the cheesecloth soothing the skin. This is good for skin rashes too. I always suggest increasing Vitamin C intake during any inflammatory stages.