Herbs For Kids - Aviva Romm

Caring for Kids…Naturally
This booklet is an “e-intro” to Pediatrics for Parents…Naturally (coming in 2012), a comprehensive,
accessible course that will teach you how to take charge of your kid’s health!
Pediatrics for Parents…Naturally is based on the belief that parents can capably manage most of their
children’s health concerns and be informed partners when they must consult a health professional. It is
built on several key principles:
• Common kid’s health problems can be treated with common, natural home remedies.
• Pharmaceutical drugs are over-prescribed for commons kid’s health problems.
• Nobody knows a baby or child like his/her own momma (and often dad, too).
• Parents can safely and confidently take charge of their children’s health.
• Parents need the necessary tools and education to support kid’s health and recognize illness.
• Everyone has a right to affordable health care and adequate information for making informed
decisions.
Further, natural parenting is best supported when:
• Parenting happens in the context of a supportive community (your tribe!).
• Parents can build supportive partnerships with integrative family docs and pediatricians for times
when the going gets rough.
Caring For my Children
Twenty-six years ago, when the first of my four kids was a tiny tot,
I was eager to learn everything I could about natural treatments for
common kid’s conditions. There wasn’t much information available
on how to use natural remedies, and most folks I knew took their
kids to the doctor’s office for every fever and sniffle, accepting
whatever medication was handed out as the solution. I knew that
there was a healthier way to treat my son rather than to treat every
symptom with an antibiotic.
Lemon Balm
I remember feeling anxious and vulnerable treating that first fever and upper respiratory infection he had,
choosing not to use conventional therapies. What if I missed a dangerous illness? How would I know if
my little one was really sick and needed a medicine? Could I really trust the bond I felt between my baby
and me to guide my intuition and common sense in decision-making around health care issues? Could I
really trust herbs and foods to help?
Around that time I took a class with a wise older doctor who told me that in all of his 30 years of
practice, he’d only once had a case where he found an illness in a child that the momma hadn’t picked
up on first. I’ve since heard this sentiment repeated many times by experienced family doctors and
pediatricians. It gave me a lot of confidence to trust myself to take care of my kids, and over the years
now as a midwife, herbalist, mom, and medical doctor, I too, have experienced a powerful phenomenon:
The momma almost always knows her baby best.
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