Alternative Medicine: Homeopathy and your Teething Child
by Jessica M. Lang, Holistic Health Practioner
www.clothdiaperingmama.com
He's crying, drooling, inconsolable, can't sleep; you're tired, frustrated, feeling like a bad parent and you can't sleep either. Do you slap on some orajel? Sure… that works for a good 3.5 minutes and we’ve added some chemicals into our child’s already distraught system. How about Tylenol? Yes, that will probably work, but it's going to make our little baby’s liver do a little work, as well. This might be a good time to turn to homeopathy as a remedy to your child’s ailments.
Homeopathy is a natural, safe, inexpensive and highly effective complement and alternative to conventional medicine. By triggering the body's own self-healing abilities, homeopathic remedies effectively treat everyday ailments, including acute and chronic symptoms of mind and body. Stephen Cummings, M.D. author of Everybodies Guide to Homeopathic Medicines
Confused? I actually took a full-semester course in Homeopathy when I was studying to become a Holistic Health Practitioner, and by the end of the course I was still asking myself how does this work again? In short; homeopathy counteracts your body's symptoms by taking miniscule amounts (so small they are actually immeasurable) of a botanical substance that would create those symptoms if taken in a large amount. There are different doses or potencies (as they call them). You will see on the bottle, 6X, 30Xor 30C, those are Roman Numerals. The number attached to the roman numeral describes the amount of times the substance has been diluted. The more times it has been diluted the more potent it is. So in actuality a dose of30Chas been dilutedmore than a dose of 30X and is thereby more potent.Typically the health food store that you will be purchasing from will sell in a lower potency and you willnot haveto worry about overdosing. It is virtually impossible to overdose on a homeopathic remedy. The worst that can happen is.it won't work!
The widespread production of Hyland's teething tablets has brought homeopathy back into our medicine cabinets and into the mouths of so many teething and unhappy babies. I will personally say that these work wonders. They are however multi-ingredient remedies, which really means that you don't have to do any research, most likely they will contain the correct fix for your baby. However, if you're like me, you will want to look specifically at YOUR child's symptoms and not give him remediesfor things he is not ailing from. The three most common remediesfor teething are Chamomilla,Ignatiaand Kresote.
Chamomilla
It would be essential that your child exhibits:
Screaming with severe pain; inconsolable
Extreme Irritability
It would confirm that your child needs Chamomilla if:
Fingers constantly in the mouth
Child is demanding but can't be satisfied; rejects things she has asked for
Temper Tantrums, striking out at others
Relief from being carried or rocked
One cheek flushed, the other pale
Ignatia
It would be essential that your child exhibits:
Child is extremely distressed by the pain but not so irritable sobbing crying
It would confirm that your child needsIgnatia if:
Sighing
Trembling; single parts of the body quiver or jerk
Wakes from sleep with piercing cries
Kreosote
It would be essential that your child exhibits:
Much pain but the child is not necessarily angrilyirritable.
It would confirm that your child needsKreosote:
Red inflamed gums are swollen to the point that they appear spongy
You may give your babyone of these remedies, a combo of the three (or just go with the Hyland'sTeething Tablets/Gel) up to three times a day. They should start to work immediately according to research in homeopathy. If they do not show any signs of improvement after three doses then they need to move on to another remedy and or supplement with lots of cold teething rings, face cloths with ice in them or good old-fashionedgum massages witha clean finger.
My son is a classic case of Chamomilla, he has one red cheek, one pale, wants to be rocked and nursed at the same time, only to then reject the breast and attempt to leap to the ground. Poor little guy is going through what all babies do when new teeth erupt. Of course, I'm out of Chamomilla right now, so I'll be heading to the health food store this afternoon, in hopes that this remedy will ease his pain and my frustrations for him.
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