For anyone dealing with health problems in children, homeopathy offers some excellent benefits. Speed of action and ease of use where medicines such as herbs can cause compliance problems, are just two reasons for choosing homeopathics as a method of treating children’s complaints. Four of the most common problems experienced by children are teething, colic, reflux and insomnia.
COLIC
Remedy |
Differentiating Symptoms |
Belladonna |
Colic with abdominal distension accompanied by regurgitation of liquids. Child attempts bending backwards to relieve pain. Symptoms are better for firm pressure but worse for the slightest touch. |
Chamomilla | Spasmodic colic pains that come and goes suddenly. Symptoms are better for being carried, and worse for touch and at night and worse for warmth. |
Colocynthis | Severe colic pains that are worse in the morning, better for pressure and lying face-down and better for bending double, worse for being angry or excited. |
Dioscorea | Colic with regurgitation or diarrhoea. Better for bending backwards, stretching or hard pressure and worse for lying down or doubling up. |
INSOMNIA
Remedy |
Differentiating Symptoms |
Aconite |
The child tosses and turns and may be kept awake by the fear of nightmares. Symptoms are better for warmth and worse from anxiety, cold wind or cold dry weather |
Belladonna | Restless sleep due to nightmares or recent weaning, sees dreadful images on closing the eyes and jerks and/ or screams out during sleep. May be accompanied by bed-wetting. Better from a light covering, worse for draughts, light or noise. |
Coffea | Insomnia from mental overactivity and wakes from the slightest noise. Would rather play than sleep. Often wakes at 3 a.m. Symptoms are better for warmth and worse for cold, noise or overeating. |
Ignatia | Insomnia from grief or worry. Sleeps light and wakes too easily from noises etc with a loud cry and tremors. Jerks limbs on going to sleep and whimpering while asleep |
GASTRIC REFLUX
Remedy |
Differentiating Symptoms |
Carbo veg | Reflux with bloating and belching that arises half an hour after eating. Accompanied by a desire for sweet or salty food, worse at night and when lying down |
Nux vom | Irritability and reflux with cramping stomach pains, hiccoughs, hunger, flatulence and arching of the back several hours after eating. Worse from pressure of clothes. |
Phosphorus | Reflux is children who are very hungry and particularly thirsty for cold drinks, but these are regurgitated as soon as they are warmed by the stomach. Better (initially) from cold food or drink and lying on the right side, worse for warm food or drink and worse from touch, weather changes or lying on the left side. |
Pulsatilla | Reflux with bloating, belching, flatulence and abdominal distension in children who are not thirsty. Better for standing and moving around, worse in the evening and twilight, worse in warm stuffy rooms and rest. |
TEETHING
Remedy |
Differentiating Symptoms |
Calc carb |
Teething in plump children who may be slow to develop (including dentition) and tire easily. |
Calc phos | Teething in irritable and easily bored children who may also have diarrhoea and delayed dentition. |
Chamomilla | One of the best remedies for teething. Child is very irritable, wants to be picked up, has diarrhoea and one red cheek, gums are red and tender and child refuses toys, food or drinks. Better for cold drinks and worse for warm food or drink. |
Kreosote | Teething with restlessness, irritability, constipation and inflamed, spongy gums that bleed easily. Teeth may decay easily. Better for warmth and worse for cold. |
fine, i was impressed with this article, can u suggest me a medicine for kids fr growth
Hi Sailaja
Thanks for your feedback. In regard to potential remedies for growth, from my perspective the 2 most important things to consider are the reason for the growth retardation (assuming that this is the problem you’re referring to) and how, through the patient’s individual symptoms, they express this pathology physically, mentally and emotionally. Once you can individualise the expression of the disease, you can then translate these expressions into rubrics, select the 10 or so most commonly occurring remedies from these rubrics, read the provings around these and possibly associated remedies, and then determine the simillimum. In my experience, the remedies that most often come up for examination here are Baryta carb, Calc carb, Calc phos, Silica, Nat mur and Phosphorus. I hope this helps.
Regards
Robert
The article is informative.And I would like to add that the homoeo remedy passiflora incarnata is a valuable remedy for Insomnia in children.
Hello Doctor,
I read with interest your excellent article on Homoeo remedies for kids.
We in our family take only homoeo remedies for acute ailments.May I request
you to suggesst remedies for lethargy and tendency to procrastination Sir?
Hi T.Madhu perkin
Thanks for your feedback. In regard to potential remedies for lethargy and procrastination, I’ve mentioned this above but it’s worth repeating that with lethargy, procrastination or anything else you’re trying to find a remedy for, the 2 most important things to consider are the reason for the existience of these issues and how, through the patient’s individual symptoms, they express this pathology physically, mentally and emotionally. This is particulrly the case with lethargy given the sheer size of this rubric. Once you can individualise the expression of the disease, you can then translate these expressions into rubrics, select the 10 or so most commonly occurring remedies from these rubrics, read the provings around these and possibly associated remedies, and then determine the simillimum. I’m sorry I can’t give you any specific advice on remedies at this stage but I hope this helps.
Regards
Robert
hello doctor,
i read your arlicle onhomoeopathy for kids, it is very knowledgeful.
i will try it on my clinic to cure the kids, sir you may suggest remedies for birth asphyxia in childrens.
thank u
dr. kunwar shatrughan (INDIA)
Hi Dr Kanwar Shutraghen
Thanks for your feedback on this article. In regard to remedies for specfific clinical conditions, the best advice I can give you is what I’ve written above to those requesting help with their own patients. However, there are several remedies that I’m aware of that are well worth considering for neonatal asphyxia as they often rise to the surface on repertorising, if in fact you have time to do this, given the acute nature of the condition. These are Ant tart, Laurocerasus, China, Opium, Camphor, Aconite or Belladonna. I hope this is of some help.
Regards
Robert
Hello Robert,
thank-you for this very helpful article. Is it also possible for you to share with us some of the homeopathic medicines you have found to be the most useful for the successful resolution of paediatric helminth infestations?
Hi Donna
Thanks for your interest in this article. In general worm infestations the remedies I see most frequently see coming up for consideration are Cina, Calc carb, Spigelia, Sulphur, Silica or Lycopodium. Note that several of these are very large remedies so the usual precautions apply. If you’d like to narrow your definition of “helminth” down to tapeworms, roundworms, pinworms etc I may be able to help further.
Rgards
Robert Medhurst
Dear Doctor,
Our 7 month old daughter She is a very light sleeper and keeps getting up at the slightest sound. She has great difficulty falling asleep (have to keep rocking her for a long time) and once she is asleep she gets up in exactly 40 min and then she has to be rocked again. Even during the night she gets up several times and each time she has to be rocked back to sleep. She hardly falls asleep feeding. This has been the case for the last 6 months. We have started using the preparation Kindival (cypripedium pubescens, mag. carb, zinc val) for the last one week and she is doing slightly better now, but the day I do not give her medicine she is back to disturbed sleep. Can you suggest a remedy for this.
We have used only homeo remedies for her till this point and she responds very well to them.
Dear Doctor
I had given Carbo Veg 30 to my one month old son. It works in colic, but for one time. Then it comes back. He usually relax after a big burb
kindly advise
regards
Good to hear this.
Sir,I like your article and it is very beneficial.
Hey dr,
my son is got pimples in his month,,there are not painful but am worries?I consulted few specialist and they said I should not worry.a
I am worried