J.6/ Good Health For Your Little Human
As a parent we all worry about our children, we want to make sure we give them the best in life and make sure they’re healthy. Although it can be challenging to make sure they’re eating well and not getting every sickness going around, there are some things you can do to help boost their health.
From birth to the teen years your child’s body and health goes through many changes, their immune system is constantly being tested, they’re always growing physically and their minds are expanding. It’s tough growing up, but as a parent you want to take care of them and give them the very best. As a Naturopath I treat all ages of children, whether it is poor immune health, anxiety, trouble sleeping, poor diet, behaviour issues, gut health, skin conditions, you name it and I’ve probably come across it.
Infant health varies baby to baby, the main conditions I see for babies are skin conditions such as eczema, gut health issues and immune health. There are many treatments that we can safely give babies depending on the age, if the baby is breastfed and if the baby is eating solids yet. Probiotics are so versatile to use with babies, they are easy to take and can help with a variety of conditions. If the baby is breastfed or having formula the probiotics can go in the milk or it can also be mixed in with food. Always seek professional advice before giving your baby any supplements.
Children can be more complicated to treat as they like to have a say what goes in their body but there are ways around giving your child a supplement such as, mixing it in with food, making healthy lollies, smoothies, a lot of children’s supplements taste quite good and I don’t get much negative feedback from the children. Conditions I find most common for children are gut health, stress, behaviour issues, trouble with sleep, skin conditions and immune health. Supplements such as Magnesium powder is one of my favourites to use with children as it makes such a difference to their mood, energy, sleep and can help with growing pains. Diet change can be hard with children, they quite often don’t want to change their diet and can be fussy with food as they feel it’s one of the only things they can control. Small changes and tiny variations on favourite foods work best with children to help improve their diet.
Treating an adolescent is much like doing a treatment plan for an adult, at this age they can usually have adult supplements if they weigh the same as an adult, many can swallow tablets as this age and you can reason a bit easier with a teenager if they have the motivation to improve their own health. Again diet can be difficult to change, but it is possible depending on their motivation for wanting to improve their own health. Depending on the age of the adolescent it can be more helpful if they’ve come to the decision themselves to make the change on their health rather than the parent forcing it. The main concerns I see in teenagers are stress and anxiety, hormonal issues, gut health, immune health, skin conditions and insomnia.
As a Naturopath it is truly rewarding to treat all ages of children’s health, not only am I helping the patient but I am also helping the parents too. There are supplements I can prescribe safely to all ages and even if your child is a fussy eater there are ways around that and tips I can give to help overcome these challenges. As a Mother myself I know all you want is the best for your child and for them to live a happy and healthy life.
