Herbs safe for kids?

[Sarah MirandaStudent]

I’d really  would love to hear from doc on what herbs are safe and what aren’t for children. The store makes it seem like herbs shouldn’t be given to kids, but if they are base it on size. I really need more information.  Doc please let us know. There was a lady who posted about this in Jan and got no answer. Inquiring mom’s want to know. This part of herbalism makes me nervous. Thank you

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Hi Sarah,

That’s an important topic. I’ll do a little lesson on it.

In the mean time, here are some of my general rules:

• If the kid is running around and talking, I don’t worry much about herb use. If it’s an infant, I get much more careful.
• I don’t like intense herbs in kids. For constipation, I’m going to use an aperient, not a cathartic/purgative (see Learning the Lingo lesson if you don’t know those terms)
• I don’t use herbs containing berberine (Oregon grape, barberry, goldenseal, etc…) in babies or nursing mothers as they can cause brain damage in nursing infants
• I don’t use herbs long term on kids unless they’re really mild and safe
• For small children, I use the gentlest herb choice available for the job. For example, if I wanted to worm a three year old, I wouldn’t use black walnut, cascara, wormwood etc…., I’d use mullein leaf. If I want to help them sleep, I’m going to use catnip not valerian.
• I don’t do cleanses on kids
• I don’t use comfrey internally on kids.
• I don’t use herbs with narrow margins of safety on kids

I really want kids to have GOOD experiences with herbs so that they’ll use them voluntarily when they become adults. With my own kids, I made it very voluntary and didn’t ever force the issue. As a result, they all very soon started doing it themselves when needed with no coercion. Now they all use herbs and several of them are really good herbalists.

 

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Tami White, Sarah Miranda

[Catherine McSwainStudent]

Is mullein and marshmallow root safe for 19 month old children with a cough?

[Hannah NolanStudent]

Looking forward to going through the new lesson when it is released! Herb safety for kids and infants will be of utmost importance for me.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 4 weeks ago by Hannah Nolan.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Marshmallow root and mullein leaf are both very safe.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[Marta LukasiakStudent]

Hi Sarah!  My kids range from ages 1-7. What I would give my 7 yr old is very different from what I am comfortable giving my 1 yr old. The store now a day have lots of all natural medicine to give to children and many are great! 1 thing that helped me before I became more knowledgeable about herbs was,  reading  all the all the ingredients in the all natural OTC remedies. I started to see that many of the herbs in them where very familiar herbs. Some I drank in my own teas often like chamomile. So that helped me when I was unsure if something was unsafe. There are many other great resources like Barbara O’Neil! One of my favorites from her is her cough syrup and it is very safe for my youngest and even my husband when I force spoon him some to make him feel better.

I will say before I was even comfortable making my own medicine at home I would purchase from Earthly and other brands that were in the baby section. I would of course double check what each herb was and make sure it did what I wanted such as for teething I would check each herb to make sure I was not about to give my infant or toddler something that would make them have a diaper explosion or stay up till 3 am. Again, everything in their formulas were things that are very familiar and you likely already have on hand in your kitchen i.e. honey, garlic, onions, ginger. Once I was more familiar and had a good understanding I would use their formulas as kind of a guideline to what I could do from home and not have to stock on their tinctures.

Not sure if this was helpful, but I wanted to share what I have found works for myself and others and maybe might be helpful in the meantime while we wait for Doc Jones to share all his secrets in this future lesson.

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