Infant and Children's Remedies

Hives

Posted by Diana (Jackson, New Jersey) on 05/31/2011

My son has chronic hives. He will be 4 years old in a few months. He is taking zytrec and zantac. He has been seen by many doctors/specialist. All kinds of blood work/ scratch test have been performed. Everything has come back negative. Wondering if anyone can help with some ideas? Thank you.

Hives

Posted by Janet (Kendal, England.) on 05/31/2011

I too had hives, added to which an acid reflux that affected my throat.

I am sorry to hear your son of only 4years, is experiencine them, as they're awful.

After numerous things from the doctor, failing to impact them and side effects.

I discovered this site and started taking both apple cider vinegar and coconut oil, they have cleared at last but the relief as brought so much more with it. Bathing in vinegar helps too. It removes the itch and burn cycle. Hope this helps.

God bless.x

Congestion/Cough Remedies

Posted by Lita209 (Sanford, Fl, Usa) on 01/13/2011

I would not give honey to an infant.

Homeopathics

Posted by Nichole (Middletown, Oh) on 10/28/2010

My son has had an on and off toothache for a bit now, I have been waiting to try the eggshell calcium for him (prepared from chicken eggs consumed daily for two months and you will see tooth healing) but since he's 7 it's a little harder to get him to take it. Anyways, for his toothache, chamomilla has provided him instant relief, within a minute or two and he's back to bed. Other times belladonna and calcerea phosphorica has worked. Well, two days ago he had a toothache then woke up with a swollen cheek, it was so bad it looked like he had a giant gumball in there and the swelling was also making under his eye puffy. I got online immediately to look for a homeopathic remedy and try nux vomica and veretrum album but those didn't appear to be working after one day of use so I looked again and tried belladonna and mercurius vivus and after another day it was almost completely gone, the abscess started forming on his gum (so the infection has been localizing) now we are working to get rid of his abcsess with 4grams of vit c and regular doses of colloidal silver each day. I just wanted to share about how the homeopathic preparations work instantaneously and are even easy for babies too because they are little sweet pills that dissolve in your mouth.

Turmeric

Posted by Kristi (Santa Rosa, Ca) on 06/27/2010
★★★★★

Re: Giving turmeric to babies or children

Turmeric has completely helped my husband and I deal with boils - after 2 or 3 each we have had no more. We mixed turmeric with warm water and milk to drink, and also applied paste of turmeric and honey.

But when my daughter developed extremely large painful ones, we weren't initially able to get any turmeric inside her. So we tried a few tricks that we don't normally turn to, and she's done better with them. Antibiotics did NOT work -- they cleared the infection while she was taking them, then the boils returned again.

External applications of turmeric are also fine for children, and draw out pus very quickly. We use a mixture of turmeric and honey, with a few drops of tea tree and lavender essential oil -- mix well. Note that tea-tree is safe for mucous membranes/genital area; lavender is not recommended on those areas for young kids unless very well diluted.

Here are some suggestions for parents who want to try giving turmeric orally to kids; I hope they can help someone!

1) Curcumin in capsules has a less offensive taste than straight turmeric -- we sometimes use that in our dosing by breaking open the capsules and using half the powder each time.

2) Put some turmeric/curcumin on a spoon with manuka honey (itself great against infections)- follow with milk or another bit of honey.

3) If all else fails, icecream is a good cover-up because it's cold and sweet, although of course the sugar isn't so great

Best to try when your child is hungry! Always start with a sip of water and a spoonful of the sweet stuff to lubricate the mouth and to make the experience appealing! Then turmeric, then honey/icecream again.

Good luck everyone.

EC: Thank you! Reminder: please do not give honey to babies under a year old.

Athlete's Foot

Posted by Reneenbrown (Bend, Or, Us) on 05/15/2010

My 2 year old has had a rash on her feet for over a month now. I think it is athletes foot, but I have never seen it and the pictures on the internet are so extreme it is hard to compare.

It started out with a few bumps where her toes connect to her foot - on top of the foot. It wakes her up in the middle of the night itching - but during the day it doesn't seem to bother her that much. In between her toes also felt leathery. After a few weeks, in between her toes started peeling.

I was started rubbing her feet every night with a mixture of calendula, grapefruit seed extract, tea tree oil and other herbs for the skin. After 3 weeks it seemed to have gone away, but only for a few days, then it came back.

Now there are red bumps in the same place as before and little spots all over the top of her foot.

I have been trying an all natural athletes foot cream I purchased from an organic grocery store. I have using it 2 times a day for 10 days with no results.

Her feet don't stink and as far as I can tell, there isn't anything on the bottom of her feet.

Is this athletes foot? If so, is apple cider vinegar safe to use on children? Can I add it to her bath - because trying to get her to sit still and keep her feet in a bowl of vinegar for even 3 minutes is tough!

I am afraid to do anything for too long because of her sensitive skin - I don't want to cause more damage than there is.

Teething Rash

Posted by Wahida (Wokingham, Berkshire UK) on 05/17/2010
★★★★★

Hi, I have found that if you always have a layer of vaseline around the mouth area the drooling etc from teething would not affect the skin. Especially at night it will help heal it if you put a thick layer of it around the chin and on lips mouth etc do it when the child is asleep it will be easier. During the day keep topping it up. Hope it helps.

Skin Allergies

Posted by Sarah (San Diego, Ca) on 01/18/2010

Both of my kiddos have very sensitive skin and we had to eliminate all soaps and shampoos for a while. When they would "break out", I would use 1 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar in the bath and that started to clear it up.

What soap, if any, are you using??

We also found that Emu Oil (kind of pricey) works the best to clear up many skin conditions. My son suffers from excema, and Emu oil is the only thing that cleared it up. (And I tried Extra virgin coconut oil, Vitamin E oil, tea tree oil..)

Hope that helps. :)

Skin Allergies

Posted by B Davey (Copacabana, Australia) on 04/13/2010

My boys, 3 and 5, both get eczema and skin allergies. I tried all kinds of remedies and ointments. When I removed all artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and flavour enhancers it cleared up. I limit processed food as much as possible and they drink non- homogenised milk.

Its worth trying and not too difficult. At birthday parties and special occasions I don't worry too much.

Good luck.

Headaches in Children

Posted by Kaylin (Hampton, Il) on 02/17/2011

Chinese Herbs and Cranial Adjustments for headaches:

My 9yo son was getting headaches almost daily. He also started getting a pinching pain behind his right eye, a few times a week. I assumed it had something to do with his eyes since he wears glasses, so I called the eye doctor and she said his prescription was perfect and the eye pain was an opthalmic migraine. She recommended getting meds from the Dr.Since a headache is a sign that something is wrong, I was not about to give him toxins just to take the pain away without trying to figure out the problem. We took him to a naturopath. He noticed that one of his eyes looked bigger than the other, and recommended cranial adjustments. We started taking him to a chiropractor that specializes in cranials, and the butterfly-shaped bone behind his eyes was crooked. She gently "encouraged" it to go back in place, and his eye pain disappeared. Every time he gets it (maybe every couple of weeks) we take him back and sure enough, his cranium is out, so she puts it back in and his eye pain is gone again. His eye pain is getting less and less frequent as his cranium gets used to being in the right place.

As for the general headaches, the naturopath recommended a chinese herbal blend that brings up the "essence", which was low in my son. He also has other symptoms such as motion sickness, poor memory, short attention span, and mood swings. Since starting him on the Chinese herbs his headaches are extremely rare. He is more focused, less moody, and has a better memory. I am not telling you what the remedy is because Chinese remedies must be selected by a qualified practitioner who fully evaluates the patient. What works for my son will not be the correct remedy for everyone else. Frequent headaches are not something to ignore! Take your child to a qualified natural practitioner for help. There are soooo many causes for headaches, and it's the body's way of telling you that something is wrong. Give your child a gift that will last him/her a lifetime and get some help!

Low Muscle Tone

Posted by Kathy (Calgary, Alberta) on 07/20/2009

Dear Sandra, your baby might have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, an inherited disorder. Collagen in the body is more flexible than normal-not sick, just bendy! I have it and so do my 3 kids. Find a genetic clinic such as Medigen or Sick Kids, she will walk and talk and dance soon! Meanwhile good nutrition, gentle regular exercise and happy outlook help a lot! is anybody else bendy in your family?-also known as "loose-jointed"

Salt Water Soaks

Posted by Ness (San Antonio, Tx) on 07/13/2009
★★★★★

2 months ago, My 1 yr. old had gotten a yeast infection and it was sooo disgusting, with pus filled bubbles and everything. We did the athlete's foot creams, and only temporarily helped, soaked him in baking soda 3x a day and applying the cream after. Helped but doctor suggested a prescription cream, worked too, but a couple days later, it came back

We were headed to the coast that week and my father suggested to stick him in the salt water. My father said he would always get hurt with fishing hooks and stuff on deep sea fishing trips and such, but took a swim in the saltwater before coming home. I didn't want to, but while I was tanning, and daddy was swimming, neither of us noticed my father run off with him in the water. It didn't seem to hurt my son, so we pulled out a small pool for him and put a couple of buckets of salt water for him to play in. Later that night we took him a good bath and it seemed clearer and the next morning, the RASH WAS COMPLETELY GONE!! Hasn't comeback since.[this is like 3rd week]

I suggest taking a vakay, and sitting your child in a small pool of salt water, even with minor cuts and scrapes. I scraped my knee that day and it healed too after swimming. The salt water just cleans it all out, killing the infection, and cut, so it stays sterilized. Take a real good bath and check it out in the morning. I should have brought some home.. lol

Chamomile Tea

Posted by Richard (Cane Ridge, TN) on 07/09/2009
★★★★★

A little chamomile tea in my grandsons bottle work like magic he stop crying and went right to sleep.

Lichen Planus, Keratosis Pilaris

Posted by Barbara (Cary, IL) on 03/02/2009

Which remedy is safe for a 12 year old boy? He was biopsied and has Lichen Planus on his feet (the worst) and legs and arms. He has Keratosis Pilaris on his trunk, chest and back. He also has 3 spots of Vitiligo on his waistband! Everything showed up at once in January! Steroid creams and oral prednisone were no help. Please does anyone havesome suggestions this is very hard for a child his age not just the itching but the appearance OF IT ALL!!

Turmeric for Boils

Posted by Debbie (Melbourne, Australia) on 04/08/2011
★★★★★

Nikki as per the attached article:

One of the best things to have in your medicine cabinet is tea tree oil. In medical studies, tea tree oil has proven successful in wiping out staph bacteria quickly. Simply use a cotton ball or swab to apply tea tree oil to a skin infection, and cover with a clean bandage. Repeat two or three times per day until the infection is gone.

Another natural treatment is to make a paste of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and apply to the infection with a cotton ball or swab. Cover with a clean bandage. Repeat several times a day

Mix 1 tbsp. Of honey with 1 tsp. Tea tree oil, and cover the infection with the sticky paste. Cover with a clean bandage, repeating several times per day.

Mix 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp. Honey and 1 cup hot water. Soak a clean cloth in the solution, and wring out. Use as a hot pack three times per day, using new solution and a clean cloth every time. Be sure and launder these cloths with bleach after use to keep the infection from spreading.

Also because your baby has had antibiotics you need to buy some probiotics because the antibiotics will kill off the good bacteria in the baby's stomach and you need to repopulate the good bacteria. Doctors don't tell you this.

Cavities

Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 01/26/2009 391 posts

Dear Jagjeet: The most common problems about multiple cavities indicates usually a molybdenum deficiency (protects against cavities and helps remineralization, without the toxicity of fluoride), a potassium is lacking in the diet, and the pH of the mouth is constantly acid. It is rare that a child has a bad breath problem. A xylitol is not a xylitol if they added aspartame which may make the conditions much worse. I often buy a pure powdered xylitol 1/4 teaspoon for something to keep around the mouth for awhile to kill off the bacteia. The natural terrain in the mouth has to be ALKALINE is the single most important factor. A constipation can give rise to acidity which causes the mouth to be acid. However, certain bacteria also grows faster if the body lacks magnesium. Therefore assuming an adult requiring 1/4 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate and 1/4 teaspoon of potassium bicarbonate (or tripotassium citrate) in 1/2 glass of water, a child half the weight of a small adult of 100 pounds, will require 1/2 of the dose. This should naturally raise the pH of the mouth discourabng the bacteria. Since an adult requires 500 mg of magnesium citrate, a dose 1/2 based on 1/2 weight of an adult may require about 250 mg or perhaps 100 mg depending on weight with plenty of water should discourage most of the cavities. Since one of the indicators of a molybdenum deficiency is nightblindness or difficult to see in the dark but also the fact that molybdenum is an anticavity supplements I usually may take say 5-25 mg of molybdenum. In commercial molybdenum supplements the dose are smaller therefore it's usually is taken whatever amount they give us to prevent a deficiency and may help reduce cavity from a molybdenum deficiency which may initiate a cavities.

Ted

Cavities

Posted by Kaylin (Hampton, IL) on 05/25/2009

My son used to have terrible teeth. I say USED TO because we have had marvelous success! When my son was 6 1/2 our regular dentist sent us to a pediatric dentist to have a couple of cavities filled. The pediatric dentist decided to put in 2 crowns because the structure of the teeth was so terrible. Yikes! Crowns at 6! Shortly after that I stopped buying breakfast cereal because it was killing our budget. Keep in mind, I NEVER bought "sugary" cereal. It was always organic, low-sugar "healthy" cereal. I have always been health-conscious and limited the sugar my children ate, which is why it was so discouraging for my son to have such horrible teeth.

At my son's next appointment (6 months after I started feeding him eggs for breakfast instead of cereal) our dentist sent us back to the pediatric dentist to get another small cavity filled. The pediatric dentist decided not to fill the cavity because it was so small and my son's oral hygiene was so much better. (I do NOT believe that this was due to better brushing. His brushing habits have not changed).

Shortly after that I read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, which is the cookbook based on Weston A. Price's research. I started feeding my children raw milk from grass-fed cows, farm eggs, homemade bread (with delayed-fermentation techniques), honey, etc. At my son's next 6-month dentist appointment I asked the dentist how the cavity was. The dentist said THERE WAS NO CAVITY. IT WAS GONE AND THE TOOTH WAS COMPLETELY HARD!!!!!! I have never heard of a cavity healing, but my son's did! The news made my whole year!

Keep following the Weston A. Price-type recommendations and you're sure to find improvement.

Also, relating to the recommendation above about keeping the body alkaline, Kombucha is very alkalinizing. I make it at home as it is way too expensive to buy. My children absolutely love it. They think it tastes like pop, but of course it's completely healthy.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Tahalia (Brooklyn, New York) on 01/04/2009

My 4 yr.old daughter has a yeast infection not on the inside of her vagina but on the outside . She has had it for a month and I've been using nystain and lotrimin antifungal but its still here. Right now I am trying the apple cider vinegar 1 cup and 1/4 of salt in her bath water. I need some help. Someone please respond.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Maggie (Miami, Florida) on 02/03/2009

Re: Fungul Infection on 4-month old baby. Try "Tea Tree & E Antiseptic Creme" to use topically. It's very soothing and antifungul. It helps tremendously. Only found in Health Food Stores. Also try giving her Acidophilus.

Iodine for Eczema

Posted by Lisa (Coto de Caza, Ca) on 11/27/2008
★★★★★

Paint on povidone iodine twice daily on eczema patches. Worked on my 3 year and it's cheaper than the prescription drugs. Don't use iodine tincture since it has alcohol and will sting...especially for young child who scratches the eczema until it bleeds. Since the iodine stains clothes, I put large bandaids over the areas on his legs and arms.

Turmeric for Eczema

Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 09/21/2008 490 posts

To Jacquie from Tacoma: Sounds like your little granddaughter might have MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) which she would have probably picked up in the nursery at the hospital. Whether she has it or not, anything that will kill MRSA will probably kill a lot of other things also. My line of thought is that external application of turmeric is safer than one round of antibiotics after another, and all their unwanted side effects. You might try mixing 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of turmeric in a couple ounces of distilled water and swabbing the areas involved 3 to 4 times a day to see if it improves. Using it this way should prevent getting any in her eyes, which is one place you don't want it. Another way of using it on a baby, might be to mix it with a little A & D ointment and applying it sparingly to the affected areas. Hang in there, Grandmother, because I also believe this little one is going to be cured.

Turmeric for Eczema

Posted by Tammany (Elkridge, MD) on 11/24/2008

Have you also looked at the baby wash and lotion products you are using? Unfortunately the FDA does not regulate our cosmetics and they are loaded with mineral oil and animal by products that our skin can not break down.

Mineral oil or petrolatum in products acts like plastic wrap and prevents our largest organ- our skin- from breathing. It then traps the bacteria and then you see the eczema and other skin conditions.

Look at the Arbonne baby products or other natural products - and google the ingedients - you will be amazed at the level of carcinogenic ingredients in our skin care.

Turmeric for Eczema

Posted by Corinne (London) on 01/23/2018

Airborne has a lot of nasties in it, too. Many of their products contain parabens as well as other toxins.

Joyce's Remedies for Infants

Posted by Evelyn (New York, Ny) on 07/03/2011

Joyce sounds like a wonderful lady, but I feel there are many bits of advice here that are way off the mark, and that folks reading this should be pointed in other directions. Breastmilk, not any kind of formula, is the ONLY choice for babies, at least until one year of age, but preferably up to age three at least. Introduce foods if you wish starting at six months, but remember that these are only to develop babies' tastes. Until age one, breastmilk should be primary food. Formula is a "food" of last resort.

Furthermore, the issue with milk and many other foods is far less about allergies to those foods in their natural forms, and much more about the modern practices used in raising those foods. Raw milk, butter and cream from raw milk and eggs from pastured chickens, as well as grass-fed meats, including organ meats, and the whole fish (including organs) is the healthiest food we can eat (alongside of the vegetables, fruits and occassional grains that work best with these foods). Mamas should not avoid these life-giving foods! They should seek them actively throughout the nursing years and beyond, and give them to their children to eat as well. I suggest reading Ramiel Nagel's book on tooth decay as an intro to the work of Weston Price and others in this field -- then you can get the cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, to help you learn how to cook in traditional ways, and you can check out the Weston Price Foundation on line. There are many excellent articles there.

NAET

Posted by Angela (Tonasket, WA) on 08/14/2008
★★★★★

With more and more children being effected with an inherited defective gene causing allergies, one would be led to think that their case is hopeless. Oh contrair. . .there is great hope. In my family there have been huge struggles with allergies as on one side is EE a food intolerance disorder like celiac disease, and the other side is celiac disease. Both are intolerances, which are no different than an exaggerated allergy. well, we've found a new alternative therapy called NAET that many chiropractors and accupuncturists are doing. It eliminates allergies! Permenantly! It's basically saved my daughter from malnutrition and even death. Please give it a try. They use a very effective allergy testing technique using your own or a suragate's muscles. So it is possible to test for offending foods even before the baby has tasted them! That's what I did, knowing allergies run in our families. Then we treated them shortly after that. I believe the immunity being strong will keep our kids healthy, and if we treat allergies that are bringing us down (whether known or unknown) that will go a long way in making healthy kids.

White Hair

Posted by Janeysilva (Fort Worth, Texas) on 04/15/2015

My son is 3 1/2. This morning, dropping him off at school, I found a white hair in the midst of his very thick chestnut brown hair. My son was born with lots of hair and it grows very fast. I'm trying to figure out if this could be related to stress or nutrition. Any thoughts? Thanks for any answers I can get.

Homemade Baby Food Formulas

Posted by Ralu (Brampton, CA) on 03/01/2015

I still feed on breastmilk but the best formula out there is Holle organic formula.

Urination

Posted by Nathan (Troy, Michigan) on 12/12/2014

I would like to ask if frequent urination is normal for a 15-months old toddler drinking milk formula? If not, how to remedy the condition?

Urination

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, US) on 12/12/2014

Dear Nathan,

Is your toddler urinating more frequently than before? How often is "frequent" to you?

I know that dairy can affect children who have trouble wetting the bed. So I guess it could cause frequent urination.

It seems that my toddlers that age do pass urine very often. It is one reason I potty train very late. But this has not been an issue once they are potty trained.

Are there any signs of bladder infection? Odor, pain upon urination, etc?

~Mama to Many~

Urination

Posted by Nathan (Troy, Michigan) on 01/08/2015

Sorry for the late reply Mama to Many!

My kid does not drink water that much. He's more into milk and fruit juice. He urinate at least 10x a day. It usually happens when he cries and he cries a lot: when he wants something; when we stop him from doing things he like, etc. He cannot talk yet so we thought that crying is his way of communicating.

We did not notice any odor on his urine so far and he does not complain of pain in urinating. In fact, we're trying to potty train him right now as well as coax him to drink milk from a sippy cup instead of milk bottle but we have not succeeded.

If you could give advice about the latter it would be appreciated.

Urination

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 01/08/2015

Dear Nathan,

10x a day for a 15 month old to urinate seems within the normal range - at least it has been for my toddlers.

I agree with you that crying is his way of communicating. I once had a child that age who screamed for everything. I got a DVD (video back then! ) of sign language for babies and taught him just a few signs. It helped him and us so much. He learned them so fast and he was able to communicate and it made our home more peaceful. You may be able to find this information online or at your library if you want to try and teach him some signs.

Most of my children were three before they were potty trained. Then it usually takes a day or two or less. :) I admire those who potty train early. It just never worked for me. I found the frequency that smaller toddlers needed to be taken potty, the frequency of accidents, etc to be frustrating to me and my little ones. When I realize that my child is dry through the night often, I figure they are about ready. I take them to the potty first thing in the morning and we go from there. (Though I had a child who was potty trained at 3 but not dry at night until 9 or so. Bed wetters need lots of patience and it just needs to be no big deal. I am grateful for pull ups for older children! )

Anyway, that is a bit of my philosophy and experience on potty training.

Potty training and weaning from the bottle at the same time may be too much at once. Both can be stressful and are changes. Toddlers love routines and it might be best to change one thing at a time. And toddlers often still need to suck, at least for comfort. If he does not suck his thumb or take a pacifier, he may need to hang on to the bottle a bit longer. You could try setting some limits on it. (Like, the bottle is for at home only. Or for daytime only. Etc.)

I hope these thoughts will help a little. Toddlers a are a lot of work. Try to find some fun every day and enjoy this stage. After 20 years of having at least one toddler, I have none in my house and I miss them! They are always saying and doing such funny and cute things.

~Mama to Many~

Urination

Posted by Nathan John (Troy, Michigan) on 10/26/2015

Hi Mama to Many! Just want to update you on the progress of my toddler.

He does not pee that much anymore. He does not wear diaper during the day as he now go to the bathroom to pee. We still have him wear diaper when he goes to bed at night. But it's been more than a month already that his diaper stayed dry until morning. Like you did with your kids, we will no longer put him on diapers starting tonight. Hope he will not wet the bed until tomorrow morning.

However, he still not want to poo in the potty or the toilet. Thus, we still make him wear it until he was able to poo then, he stayed nappy-free until he went to bed.

The good thing is that he's already weaned off the bottle and drinks his milk from the cup, not the sippy cup. But we have to force-feed him because he refuse to drink milk on his own since we started weaning him from the bottle.

He still does not speak though but he understands us when we tell him to pick up his toys, etc. I wish he has the patience to utter words that we can understand because he keeps on talking to us in the language that he only knows - unintelligible words that sounds like Korean/Chinese/minions. It's funny I know but that's how he sounds when he talks very fast.

How do you deal with your kids when they were on this stage?

Jaundice

Posted by Oly (Sarasota, Florida ) on 09/27/2014

How do you naturally cure jaundice on Newborn baby. That increases everyday.

Jaundice

Posted by Kathleen (San Antonio, Texas) on 09/27/2014

Sunlight. You'd have to look up how much is safe. My son had mild jaundice and it cleared up. If it's a severe case I would definitely be talking to your pediatrician.

Jaundice

Posted by Tish T (Sonoma, CA) on 09/28/2014

Good ol' fashioned sunshine. =) (viteman d, but you can't give a supplement to an infant)

Jaundice

Posted by Diane (New York) on 03/23/2017

Light - sunshine

Vitamin K

Posted by Holisticmom624 (New York, NY) on 09/08/2014

The Synthetic Vitamin K shot is given to infants all over America, I happen to live in a state where it is mandatory and I already know of the side effects and am dreading having to give this again to another child [as I am pregnant]. One of the side effects being jaundice. My question what are ways to detox this out of the body, for instance I have a friend whose baby developed jaundice...I am aware that breast feeding can help but is there anything the mother can give or take that will help baby remove this out of body. any information will be helpful as there are many babies suffering form this vaccine and unfortunately the govt has made it so that we no longer have a choice in whether or not we want this to be administered to our children.

Vitamin K

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 09/08/2014

Dear Holisticmom624,

Yes, frequent breastfeeding is great for preventing and helping jaundice.

Sunlight is also good for mild jaundice. Pediatrician Dr. Sears says to "put your skin-exposed baby next to a closed window and let the rays of sunlight shine on him for around fifteen minutes, four times a day. Sunlight dissolves the bilirubin in the skin so that it can be excreted in your baby's urine."

All of my babies have had the Vitamin K shot, though, I like you, prefer to avoid any "extras! " Only the first one (of nine) had any hint of jaundice. And he was a very poor nurser in the beginning. All of the rest of my babies nursed seemingly constantly in the first days after birth. So, if you have to get the Vitamin K shot, I would encourage you to nurse as much as baby is willing in those early days. My milk would come in in 36 hours when I did this; perhaps that is how they avoided jaundice. My milk did take 3 days to come in with my first baby.

I hope that all goes well with you and you can avoid the jaundice if not the Vitamin K shot. It can be pretty frustrating. I remember one time getting the "consent" form for the PKU test to sign in the hospital. So, I checked "decline." There was a box for it. The nurses came back and told me it was "mandatory." Well. So, I wasn't really giving permission, I guess, was I.

~Mama to Many~

Vitamin K

Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 09/09/2014

Yes, MtM, sunlight is very good for baby's "yellow", and that's why they put them under a "bili light". But there's another trick to add: when the mother drinks (plenty of) lemon juice, it lowers the numbers too.

Vitamin K

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 09/09/2014

Dear Mmsg,

That is great to know about the lemon juice. Thanks!

~Mama to Many~

Eating Fabric

Posted by Jassy (Florida, US) on 08/13/2014

My 6 year old niece eats fabric, fabric brom her clothes, fabric from garbage, mattress, anything fabric. Her doctor just gave her some multivitamins and said there is nothing wrong with her. She started eating fabric/rugs/sweater when she was about 3! This is very serious because she continues to eat and has no signs of stopping. Does anyone know what could be the cause? Maybe she is lacking something in her body? please help! I don't know how to help this child.

Eating Fabric

Posted by Fluffy (Washington, US) on 08/13/2014

Hi JASSY, I think it is referred to medically as having PICA. People with PICA have the urge to eat things such as plaster, dirt, fabric, sponge and it can be caused by some kind of deficiency and too, possibly, an emotional compulsion. Usually they look for things like iron deficiency or problems with low dopamine levels. I'm not a doctor or an expert but I think they try to treat this kind of things with things that help detox the system in case of heavy metals or use medicines that help with behavior modification. Also nutritional supplements and diet recommendations. I would suggest you get her back to a doctor right away and have them do all the appropriate testing. Look up PICA online. Hope this helps.

Eating Fabric

Posted by KT (US) on 08/14/2014

Yes Fluffy, you are right. It is known as PICA. I remember reading that it was a zinc deficiency. I replied to Jassy before I saw your post.

Eating Fabric

Posted by Fluffy (Washington, US) on 08/14/2014

Hi Kt, I'm not sure I'm doing it right here but those icons at the lower right hand corner of a post, do those go directly to an inbox that is assigned to the users of the group or? I don't think I'm actually registered here but have to sign in, in order to do a post. A little bit of a learning curve for me. Love this site though!

Eating Fabric

Posted by KT (US) on 08/14/2014

Hi Fluffy, If you select the "eye" icon at the bottom of any post you will receive notice that someone has posted to that one every time someone does. EC has changed this all around since I signed up a couple years ago, but yes this site is great!!