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Megan Bumps
Is it normal for kids to get sick every several weeks? My kids are 4, almost 3, and 1. They get sick all the time, usually with something upper respiratory. They don’t go to daycare, just church on the weekends and to the store during the week. I’ve been trying to get them used to herbal teas. We don’t eat a huge amount of super processed foods (I make a lot from scratch including bread and starting to make our own sourdough crackers). Recently I have been trying to do at least one smoothie/day usually a green smoothie or an orange smoothie (carrot, mango, orange, orange rind). I’ve been cutting back on added sugar, too.
Any suggestions for diet changes/herbs as part of a daily routine would be welcome. Can kids take herbs regularly? I know my baby can’t really do much (he still doesn’t really want solids anyway), but the older two might benefit.
We have family allergies to elderberry, daisy family, and mineral magnesium.
Thanks in advance!
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CarolAnn
Little kids do get sick A LOT which is absolutely necessary for building their immune systems but hard on the parents however 😉 Too bad elderberry is not an option or the aster family. I would look into using kitchen herbs and spices then that are ok for small ones and that they might be willing to eat or drink (or use for herbal baths, herbal steams or infused oil foot massages!) Also adding some essential oils to a carrier oil for massage can also be helpful when they are ill to ease discomfort.
Homeopathic remedies work well too but the selection is really pitiful in the USA. I lived in France for just over 20 years but oscillococcinum (available in the USA) is good as a viral preventative given once a week during flu season. Boiron makes cell salts and trace minerals in homeopathic granules that are great for kids but impossible to find here unfortunately. But know they do exist.
Also just looking at general diet (I have no idea how much you may or may not already do) :
How many dairy products do they consume and how much wheat (gluten) is consumed ? Inflammation can lower resistance to infection and cutting way back on sugar as you are doing is definitely an excellent thing to do!
Plus, have they already taken antibiotics? One of my three got one ear infection after another years ago and was given antibiotics (developed quite a few allergies to them as a consequence and made her sicker) so rebuilding or building up their gut flora is really important.
Other foods that pose potential inflammation problems are corn and soy. As for fruits, I personally can’t overdo oranges even organic ones. If there is a food that is given like bread or pasta, wait at least 3 days before eating it again. The more inflammation producing foods that are piled on and consumed daily, the harder it is on the body.
I assume you eat organic. Non organic oats contain the highest amount of glyphosate around and is often given to children.
If you are already doing all this, then great!
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Susan Winter
I think it has been an especially bad year due to the lockdowns during C. My grandchildren (ages 1-10, 7 of them) also have been experiencing this (homeschooled, so you think they wouldn’t be as exposed, but…) On the plus side, they ARE building their immune system, so future years likely won’t be as bad.
Just an FYI about milk. There really is no such thing as “lightly pasteurized.” There’s UHT (ultra-high temp) or slow, lower temp pasteurization, but they have the same impact—all bacteria, good and bad are wiped out. The enzymes in the milk are altered or destroyed. The UHT essentially cooks the milk, while the lower temp pasteurization doesn’t give you that cooked milk taste. Personally, I don’t think pasteurized milk is of any value to humans. I’m not in the anti-dairy camp, but we do source reputable raw milk sources around us and make our yogurt from that. I don’t drink straight up milk bc I’m not a fan. Sadly, state laws vary, so raw milk can be very difficult (and expensive!) to obtain. In some states, where it is more strictly regulated, some people do dairy cow “shares”, where they essentially “buy” a % of a cow, and then they own the rights to that milk. The key to getting clean raw milk is knowing your dairy and dairy owner. In my state, it is tightly regulated, and tested frequently.
I know dairy is a hot button topic, so not trying to start a debate here, but it sounded like you are already in the dairy camp, so just wanted to share.
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We do eat dairy (I try to by organic non-homogenized, lightly pasteurized milk that is also from grass-fed cows). The bread they get is organic white bread that I make (starting to make more sourdough than yeast bread and we are also mixing that flour with wheat that we mill ourselves). We generally avoid soy. We do eat corn chips. We buy organic generally.
Why would oranges be bad? Just because of the pesticides?
What sorts of infused oils or herbal baths would you recommend? I have given them ginger baths. My two-year-old son will do cayenne in a tiny bit of juice (tones it down a bit but still gives a zing) if I give him a 2 or 3 chocolate chips afterwards. He says, “It’s not cayen’t; it’s cayenne!” Mommy’s tough guy.
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Reducing inflammatory foods and favoring immune support foods as they are so young would be my course of action. Astragalus supports the immune system but Doc can best address dosage if it’s safe. Rose hips are good for vitamin C. Foods that contain zinc like avocados or poultry, or vit D and omega3s with fish oils (Doc likes Barlean’s I think). Little ones don’t appreciate eating vegetables usually, mix homemade vegetable broth in some juice or use it as water to cook rice for example or in soups. Doc even has a recipe for herbal jello too!
Organic dairy and wheat cause inflammation unfortunately. Doc talks about this in several modules/webinars. You didn’t mention the frequency of consumption … Your two oldest probably are probably no longer able to readily absorb the calcium from the milk anymore so you could limit and especially space out their consumption. You could give it a try and see if they do better.
Consider a ‘typical’ day for many children : cereal or toast and milk for breakfast (or worse a poptart type thing), a cheese sandwich for lunch and pasta or pizza for dinner, snacks of cookies or a treat of ice cream and the exposure becomes really heavy! If done day after day, anyone will start to feel it. For some it takes longer to manifest than others. Obviously, I am generalizing here and this is I imagine not the case for your family but it illustrates how these effects can accumulate.
Oranges are also a typical food that can cause allergies, but I have never learned why. It seems though that foods that often cause allergies also cause inflammation. I think the key is to not cause an overload and really space out those foods.
Something to consider, does one child get sick first and then pass it on the others? Perhaps there is no pattern.
The herbs for a bath depend upon what your trying to do. Rose and lavender are nice in a bath anytime and are mild. Can you use Calendula topically like in a bath, if not internally? Adding eucalyptus and/or pine essential oils to epsom salts is nice when there is a lot of congestion. Doc describes a lot of herbs in the Respiratory module that you might consider for baths, steams (thyme if infection is present for example) or for infusing in oils.
Your two year old at least has already started his herbal education !!
Perhaps others will have different suggestions. ^^
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Thankfully, my kiddos actually enjoy eating veggies. They like raw sweet peppers, tomatoes, avocados, etc. and my youngest will even do a bit of a salad with some oil and vinegar. They enjoy lacto-fermented onions and sauerkraut (homemade–though I don’t remember to bring them out very often).
We do eat a lot of bread and dairy. I thought kids needed calcium from dairy while they grow (is A2A2 milk better or is it all the same?). I don’t think I could give them enough veggies to give them as much calcium as some cheese or milk.
Usually one gets sick and then the other. My husband and I don’t always get sick, nor does the baby usually, especially if it is only a light cold that the older two have.
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That’s great that they will eat vegetables!
Children do need calcium but the amount they absorb from dairy diminishes rather dramatically. My eldest started having severe diarrhea from drinking milk as a toddler and my pediatrician told me (this was in the 90s too) to eliminate dairy from her diet. I had the same reaction as you did about the need for calcium. The Dr informed me that already as a child of 3, the amount of calcium actually absorbed had already been significantly reduced and food sources would be fine, so I needn’t worry. Actually from what I just researched, the absorption rate from vegetables is like 10-20 % higher than from milk!
But by and large, kids get sick a lot and that is pretty normal. It may cut back somewhat and then increase when the oldest goes to school.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by
CarolAnn.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by
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Karen Rose
Just one more thing to think about. How clean is your tap water? Most of us have lived our lives under the false assuption that our water supply is “safe”. It. Is. Not. When I found what our government deemed safe levels of: Herbicides, Fungicides, Heavey Metals, Prescription Drugs etc. I purchased a very effecient flitration sytem that I know provides clean water for my family. God Bless and Keep you and your family well and thriving.
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We just got a water distiller and are distilling water for ourselves (and adding minerals back in after)! Unfortunately they just keep getting sick, every few weeks for the most part.
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Michelle Koch
Check your home for mold/mildew, and other environmental pathogens that can cause chronic, recurring illness. Look for rodent droppings, and evidence of insects like dust mites, fleas and cockroaches too. These make a lot of people sick.
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Dr. Patrick Jones
Much good advice above. Check your furnace filters too. :0)
Get them on a good multivitamin. There really isn’t any food in our food anymore. Garden of Life is good.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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It has been going on for the last couple years, and we have lived in multiple different dwellings, so I don’t think it is environmental.
I’m trying to boost their vitamin c levels and give more consistent doses of zinc and D. (Larger levels than what are in multivitamins.)
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Annissa L.
I have kids about the age of your older 2 and our pediatrician has recommended d3+k2 drops, zinc, vitamin c, and cod liver oil. If you can get them to eat it, beef liver has a lot of nutrients in it, we’ve had good luck with pate & crackers, or dehydrating it and adding it to smoothies. I know aronia berries have a bazillion (highly technical term because I’m too lazy to look up the exact amount) times more vit c than oranges do and would be good in smoothies, I’m new here so I don’t know if they are part of the daisy family or related to elderberry.
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