Keeping Infants and Toddlers Healthy
Does your child seem to get sick frequently? Are they about to go to daycare or preschool for the first time? Do you want to feel more empowered about what to do when your child gets the beginning of a cold/flu?
Here is some helpful Information for infants and toddlers to avoid getting colds and the flu and how to combat it naturally when they do get it.
Things that keep the immune system strong:
– The following foods should be avoided to keep the immune system strong. Avoid all dairy (including cheese and yogurt), refined sugar (even cane sugar in organic products), wheat products, peanut butter, soy, and fried foods. Even natural fruit juice should be avoided because once it is separated from its natural form and pasteurized; it enters the body as just sugar. Fruits themselves are fine. If you are not breast feeding DO NOT give your child a dairy or soy based formula. Try whole goat milk powder and a green vegetable powder. If you are breast feeding, I highly recommend eating 1-2 tablespoons of raw organic coconut oil per day. The medium chain fatty acids powerfully protect infants.
– Avoid processed foods that come in boxes, bags and packages. Make your own organic baby food and puree.
– If you do decide to get vaccines, a suggestion would be to wait until your child is older (at least 2 years old – user friend vaccination schedule) in order to give their immune system time to mature. Also, stagger the vaccines as far apart as possible. When you do get a vaccine, make sure they take the following products 3 days before and at least 2 weeks after getting them in order to avoid reactions and to flush out harmful chemicals and metals in the vaccines. If you don’t have your children vaccinated, and believe in the power of homeopathy, you might consider homeopathic prophylaxis. Some of the below products can be taken continuously throughout childhood.
- Nutrex Omega 3 – 1-2 per day
- Pure Encapsulations Vitamin D3 – 1 capsule per day
- Good State Liquid Ionic Zinc – 3-10 drops per day in water
- NOW Vitamin C Complex powder – ½ teaspoon in water – 2 times per day (morning and evening)
- Wheat Germ Oil – 1 Perle per day
- Detoxadine Nascent Iodine – 1 drop every 3rd day from 0-1 years old, 1 drop per day from ages 1-7, 2 drops per day from 8-13, 3 drops per day from ages 14-18. Iodine is very powerful, so be sure to pay attention to your children when taking this.
- Perfect Food powder or tablets from Garden of Life.
– Consume lots of vegetables per day – at least 4-5 servings per day for youngsters. Make your kids smoothies with spring mix organic leafy greens, Orgain organic protein powder and ½ cup to 1 cup fruit frozen dark berries (add water for desired consistency). Consider buying a juicer as well and juicing vegetables (The Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juicer is a decent inexpensive one – $60 at Target or Walmart). Start juicing early in life. A book with tons of fantastic healthy recipes is Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
For Ear Infections – Herb Pharm Mullein/Garlic Herbal Ear Oil. Keep around in advance to administer at first signs of issues. Dairy, wheat, and sugar consumption are behind most ear infections. Also, in cases, it can be useful for tinnitus in adults.
Essential oils such as Thieves (or the competitors equal) can be very helpful in an essential oil diffuser and inhaled. Also, lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppermint and other essential oils can also be used in a diffuser or mixed with a carrier oil such as coconut oil and applied to the feet or chest of toddlers. Direct application of an essential oil to the skin might be too much for the skin to handle, which is why mixing with coconut oil first is a good idea.
Congaplex Chewable (Standard Process), Herb Pharm Kids Immune Fortifier, Herb Pharm Kids Elderberry, Herb Pharm Kids Echinacea, Herbs Pharm Kids Sinus Samurai, Herb Pharm Tummy TLC and Herb Pharm Kids Cough Crusader are helpful for preventing and also strengthening the immune system during a cold/flu. It is important to have these things around, especially during their first 6 months of day care or going to school for the first time. If you aren’t sure how much to give, consider having Nutrition Response Testing done and I can tell you if their body tests for something and exactly how much of it to administer.
If congested, a neti pot may be very helpful. They can be purchased at most local pharmacies. This can especially useful for those with allergies and chronic sinus congestion.
If they get the beginning of a cold/flu (itchy or sore throat, body aches, headache, congestion, etc), it is important to flood the body with vitamin C immediately. In large enough doses, taken in equal doses and spread throughout the day, it can be very powerful at stopping a cold/flu in its tracks. It can also severely shorten the intensity and duration of a cold/flu. The way to know they have taken too much is they will get loose stools or diarrhea, which is called bowel tolerance.
Two to three times the amounts listed below in the first chart when faced with the beginning of a cold/flu may be needed in order to reach bowel tolerance. The second chart lists amounts for adults to reach bowel tolerance per day. When you have reached bowel tolerance, back off for an hour, but continue taking vitamin c until the symptoms have disappeared. The NOW C Complex powder is good because it is buffered (calcium ascorbate). For infants and toddlers, Zahler Junior C chewable vitamin c is a decent brand. An even more natural form of vitamin C can be found in Organic Camu Camu powder (a fruit). Per teaspoon, it has about 600mg of vitamin C. Vitamin C in its natural form (in fruits and veggies) is more potent than synthetic vitamin C. It is critical to have enough vitamin C in stock at home BEFORE they get first symptoms. In the beginning of a cold or flu, time is of the essence. The more you can do right away, the sooner symptoms will abate.
Bowel Tolerance levels below are for adults (150-180 pounds) per day. If your child weighs 18 pounds reduce this amount by 1/10 (36 pounds by 1/5 and so on). Take an equal amount every hour or two throughout the day. Simply mix the vitamin C powder in water and swallow. It isn’t pleasant, so you might want to “chase” it with something, like a small piece of fruit to mask the taste.
Acupuncture for Toddlers
If your toddler does well with acupuncture, I highly recommended, especially if they are able to sit still for 10-15 minutes. Acupuncture is extremely helpful at dealing with a cold/flu and shortening the duration and intensity of one. It strengthens the immune system and can release heat (infection) from the body.
Chiropractic for Infants and Toddlers
Chiropractic can be very helpful for keeping the immune system strong and making sure the nervous system can communicate well with the rest of the body. Often during birth, with pressure in the vaginal canal or by pulling, subluxations or misalignment of the spine can occur and contribute to health issues that need to be corrected. Kids are also very active and the spine may misalign when falls or accidents occur.
Emotions and Consciousness involved in the cold/flu
Children are very susceptible to emotions, thoughts and belief systems from parents and others surrounding health or sickness. What is held in mind (emotions and thoughts) tends to express itself into the physical body. In Chinese medicine, negative emotions are noted as the most powerful influencers of sickness. I personally don’t believe anyone catches anything from anyone else. If you are afraid of a “bug”, this fear can be powerful enough to lower your immune defenses so that an opportunistic pathogen can make and grow a home inside you. I have been sick once in 8 years. The national average is getting 1-2 colds/flus per year in the USA.
This is why I am a huge advocate of cultivating mindfulness and meditation in children, even as young as 2-3 years old. Mindfulness can help a child to better understand and deal with negative emotional states that severely weaken the immune system (mainly anger, fear, low self esteem, guilt and shame). A great overview on this topic is written by a New York Best Seller and Harvard psychologist Daniel Goleman called “Emotional Intelligence”. Two tools can put emotional intelligence into action called tapping for kids or Emotional Freedom Techniques and The Sedona Method (Hale Dwoskin). The tapping can be done by the parent to the child or they can do it themselves. Both are very powerful ways to help children release negative emotions from the body. Doing this with your children also helps you to cultivate mindfulness as well. The more mindful, the more loving you will be with your children.
I once had a mother contact me because her children were getting sick all the time. It became clear to me in our first session that the kids were getting sick literally because of her fear of them getting sick. She saw how this made sense, we worked on her letting go of the fears she was projecting onto her children and over the past year her kids have been very healthy. Consciousness plays a huge role in what children are exposed to in their surroundings.
Below are the consciousness aspects that are inherent to the cold and flu.
Cold (common)—Scattered; too much to do, too many responsibilities, too much pressure to perform. Refusing to listen to your body and slow down. Feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and worn out. In need of some time to yourself. Confused about what choices to make. Afraid that you are going to “catch” something from someone else.
Influenza— Feeling vulnerable, tired, frail. Overwhelmed by the negativity that surrounds you. Feeling like you have to carry heavy burdens that you can’t handle. Feeling invalidated. Confusion and chaos inside you. In need of a “time-out.” – Inna Segal – The Secret Language of the Body
When you notice the beginning symptoms of a cold/flu, be mindful about the above themes and how they might have played a role in lowering the function of your immune system. Use tapping or The Sedona Method to process through whatever arises.
For further information or to schedule an appointment for yourself in order to keep you healthy and free from the cold or flu please call 407-255-0314 to come to the clinic in the Orlando, Florida area. Phone consultations are also available to anywhere.
