Should you go the natural route to treat your sick child?

For centuries, homoeopathy has been used to maintain optimal health and to treat a wide range of chronic and acute illnesses. Homeopathy has also been used to treat a host of mental and emotional illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and sleep problems as well as skin conditions such as eczema and acne. “A qualified, experienced homeopath will know how to choose the right homoeopathic remedy to treat a variety of symptoms – whether it’s a common viral cold or gastroenteritis,” says Dr Vicki Compere who specialises in homeopathy. “Home remedies are generally supplemented with natural products like probiotics, and the homeopath is trained to offer advice on how and when to expect improvement and what symptoms to be careful of.”

Good to know: There are hundreds of homoeopathic remedies that are safe and effective.

Health issues that respond well to homeopathy

“There’s very little that can’t be treated with homoeopathy. A Homoeopath is also trained to recognise conditions that are beyond their scope of practice, or that are serious or not responding to treatment. If this is the case, you will be referred to a paediatrician. We don’t claim to be able to replace the skills or knowledge of a medical practitioner such as a paediatrician. However, many of the treatments we use are very effective in treating a variety of health problems.”

• Arsenicum album is effective at treating vomiting and acidic diarrhoea.
• Pulsatilla works well to combat nausea and anxiety.
• Nux vomica has been proven to be very effective at treating nausea, abdominal cramps, and irritability.
• Homoeopathy is also excellent at treating the symptoms of allergies, as well as desensitising to the allergens.

When your child should see a doctor

If you have an infant at home, they’re very vulnerable and susceptible to infections and can either respond quickly to treatment or deteriorate just as fast. This means that the sooner you react and treat your baby with the best medications, the less risk of harm there’ll be. If your little one has any of the following symptoms, see a doctor immediately:

• Headaches, dizziness stiffness of the neck or trouble breathing (this could be a sign of a serious bacterial or viral infection, such as meningitis).
• If your little one is weak and listless or unresponsive, seek urgent medical attention as dehydration can worsen very quickly and needs to be treated right away.
• Severe shortness of breath and difficulty breathing
• Blue or grey skin colour
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Severe or persistent vomiting or diarrhoea that isn’t responding to homoeopathic treatment
• Sharp high-pitched screaming or signs of severe headache
• Fevers that are uncontrolled after 72 hours and aren’t responding to homoeopathic treatment.

Good to know: In some cases, home remedies simply aren’t enough to fight serious infections.