Homeopathy has always had a wonderful track record when it comes to treating children. It can stop the use of, or head off the need for allopathic drugs and set up babies and young children for a healthier future.
Young mothers are grateful to discover how safe, effective, and gentle homeopathy is, and successful homeopathic treatment of their children is often the gateway to seeking homeopathic treatment for themselves.
More than a century ago, in his book “The Management and Care of Children including Homeopathic Treatment”, William Boericke said it best: “… in the treatment of children’s diseases homeopathy has achieved its greatest victories…Children brought up under homeopathic treatment enjoy better health, are less liable to having epidemic diseases, recover more quickly when sick, have no
ill – effects, and are in every way more vigorous and able to throw off disease germs whenever exposed”.
This has been true for my own children who grew up taking only homeopathic remedies, and did not need antibiotics and other allopathic drugs. Here are some cases from my practice:
Easing Ear Problems
C was a 13-month-old child when his parents came to me after he experienced two ear infections. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Middle ear infection is the most common childhood illness (other than a cold). Ear infections occur most often in children who are between age 3 months and 3 years, and are common until age 8. Some 25% of all children will have repeated ear infections.”
There is a two-fold issue with children with repeated ear infections treated with antibiotics. One of course, is that it is a very uncomfortable problem – the child is in pain, might be irritable and have a low appetite, have trouble sleeping and so on.
The second issue is the risks that come with antibiotic treatment, that many parents are not aware of. According to a recent report from the Mayo Clinic, researchers analyzed data from over 14,500 children and found that “About 70% of the children had received at least one treatment with antibiotics for illness before age two. Children receiving multiple antibiotic treatments were more likely to have multiple illnesses or conditions later in childhood…Conditions associated with early use of antibiotics included asthma, allergic rhinitis, weight issues and obesity, food allergies, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, celiac disease, and atopic dermatitis.”
In C’s case, he had recently started daycare when he got a cough and cold followed by an ear infection for which he was given Amoxicillin. He got better, but nine days later developed the same symptoms again and was again given Amoxicillin which didn’t work, so he was switched to a new antibiotic.
He took a course of that and had been well for a week, but was fussing again and seemed to be heading towards another ear infection. When I spoke to his parents, they were worried about the prospect of more antibiotics and wanted to try homeopathy to avoid further ear infections.
Otherwise, C was a happy child with a good appetite. He rarely cried but would get extremely cranky two to three days before the onset of the ear infection. He also suffered from teething pain and would be very difficult to console when he was in pain.
I analyzed his case and while both Chamomilla and Belladonna were possible choices, I chose Belladonna due to the intensity of the onset of his previous infections as well as other Belladonna symptoms such as redness, and right-sidedness of the ear infections. I prescribed three doses of Belladonna 30C, along with cell salts
Mag Phos 6x and Calc Phos 6x to be taken daily for 4 weeks.
I often prescribe cell salts along with homeopathic remedies because they are targeted at specific complaints and very effective at supporting recovery. In this case,
Calc Phos was chosen for its importance in teething support. In their book “Biochemic Theory and Practice”, J.B. Chapman and Edward L. Perry say about Calc Phos: “This is the principal nutrition remedy for the teeth. Important for teething infants, children and expectant mothers.” Mag Phos is a pain reliever par excellence, and in this case, the baby had both tooth and ear pain. Chapman and Perry say: “Mag Phos is quick to relieve pain, especially cramping, shooting, darting or spasmodic pains.”
The remedies worked very well and C has had no more ear infections nor has he needed antibiotics. He has been under my care for nine months and has had a couple of coughs and colds which have responded well to Pulsatilla and cell salts, and have been resolved within a couple of days.
Relieving Acid Reflux
J was a 16-month-old who had problems with acid reflux. She was put on three doses of Omeprazole daily, when she was five months old. At the time of the consult, it had been reduced to one 8 mg dose a day, but she had a lot of problems with appetite, especially since she was teething. She had also had a double ear infection recently and was given a seven day course of antibiotics. She threw up her food, was eating very little and was extremely fussy, and wasn’t sleeping well at night. Her mother was exhausted and at her wits’ end.
Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor that has now been shown to have serious side-effects in adults such as bone fractures, kidney disease etc., when taken long term. In children, its side effects are listed as: diarrhea, stomach ache, gas, upset stomach, or throwing up, headache, unusual drowsiness, tiredness, rash, and trouble having a bowel movement (constipation), with more serious side-effects possible as well. It was no wonder that J was suffering so much.
After repertorizing her case, I once again had a choice between Belladonna and Chamomilla as the top remedies. When she was sick, J only calmed down when her mother carried her around, but would claw and hit her when she was in pain. This hypersensitivity to pain, with the desire to be carried by her mother, led me to choose Chamomilla 30C as her remedy.
I asked the mom to give her one dose daily for three days, and also to give her
Nat Phos 6x and Calc Phos 6x daily for four weeks. I chose Calc Phos for the reasons outlined in the previous case, as well as because of its importance in overall nutrition and assimilation. Chapman and Perry call it “a useful remedy in the treatment of gastric and digestive disturbances…” About Nat Phos they say: “Nat Phos is indicated whenever symptoms of acidity are present…an acid state of the blood occurs when there is a deficiency of the soothing, acid-neutralizing salt.”
As the baby was in so much pain, I asked the mother to follow up with me in a week, or sooner if she got worse. I didn’t hear from her for six weeks and I wondered whether she had followed through with the treatment. Then I got a message from her asking if I could help with J’s cold. When I spoke to her, the first thing I asked was how J had responded to her remedy.
“Oh she’s off the Omeprazole now, hasn’t needed it at all. I was busy and haven’t had the time to call you,” was the mother’s reply. It has been six months since J was weaned off the acid reflux medication with homeopathy. She is eating well, and has also not had any more ear infections.
Staving off Motion Sickness
One of my patients had once brought her little daughter with her to her appointment, since she didn’t have a babysitter available. As I asked her to come in, I saw that she was flustered and dabbing away at the toddler’s face and asked me if she could have a few minutes since she needed to change the baby’s clothes. She explained that her daughter had just thrown up, and was profusely apologetic about the situation.
The little girl was a year and a half old. I asked if the baby had eaten anything that disagreed with her. The mom explained that she had eaten her normal snack before they left the house, but recently, the toddler had been throwing up whenever she spent some time in the car.
She was otherwise healthy. The mom had consulted the pediatrician and was told that it was motion sickness, but that the child was too young to be given the antihistamine, Dramamine which is the standard medication for motion sickness. It can be prescribed to children two years and older. However even in that age group, the side effects of Dramamine in children can include drowsiness, dry mouth, blurry vision, thickened mucus, feeling excited or restless, and increased heart rate.
Homeopathy works very well for motion sickness, and I asked her if she wanted to try it for her daughter. She agreed immediately. I treated this as acute, and didn’t do a full case history of the child.
I chose Cocculus Indica which is the first remedy to think of in motion sickness, especially in a car. I asked her to give the child one dose of Cocculus 30C before their next car trip, and to let me know how things went.
She called me a few days later to say that she had given one dose of the remedy, and the child had not thrown up again in the car since then. A month or so later, she reported that the girl had thrown up again, and I asked her to repeat another dose of the remedy. This was the last dose she needed, and the car sickness situation was completely resolved after that.
As we can see, children’s systems respond quickly and beautifully to homeopathic remedies. Not only do we relieve their pain and suffering, we help them avoid allopathic drugs with side-effects, and we set them up for better health throughout their lives.
SOURCES
Boericke William, The Management and Care of Children including Homeopathic Treatment
J.B. Chapman, M.D. and Edward L. Perry M.D., Biochemic Theory and Practice
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8613-ear-infection-otitis-media
https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=204&language=English
https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/kids-dramamine
