Baby

Once my daughter Raven got sick for the first time (at almost 14 months old). She had what we call in Chinese Medicine a "wind cold"....runny nose with clear discharge, congestion, fatigue, and a low fever. Here's what I did to help her kick it as quickly as possible.

1) Reframe: the first thing I did was take a moment to frame this sickness as an opportunity for her immune system to learn and be strengthened. Often parents get down on themselves thinking they did something "wrong", or spend thei…

When kids are sick, one of the biggest concerns is hydration. Often they don't feel like drinking or maybe are struggling to keep things down. This is when dehydration can become an issue. Here are some electrolyte-balancing drinks to try:

1) Coconut water.

Not much of a recipe, is it?! Coconut water is full of minerals and natural sugars to maintain electrolyte balance and proper hydration. In addition to use when sick, this can also be a great day-to day drink for the summer months.

2) Aviva Ro…

You won't often hear me recommend cold or frozen items, but fever is an exception. When a child is fevering, you want to be replenishing electrolytes and supplying them with liquids that contain healing elements. Sometimes, a popsicle is just more appealing than a drink. Here's a recipe created by Aviva Romm, an MD, midwife, and herbalist for herbal popsicles.

Lemon Balm Pineapple Herbal Popsicle

2 cups strong lemon balm tea (one handful herbs to 2 1/2 cups water, steeped for 10 minutes)
1 cup or…

Curious about these phototherapy patches I keep talking about? Here's the scoop.

The patches are made by a company called Lifewave. Lifewave patches are wearable technology that use LIGHT to induce biochemical and physiological changes in the body without relying on molecular inputs like pills, drugs, creams, oils, injections, food, diets or lifestyle changes!
Lifewave marries Western phototherapy technology with Ancient Chinese medicine. You can biohack almost any symptom using different combin…

I talk a lot with the parents of my patients about breaking the cycle of chronic paediatric illness. I see lots of chronic upper respiratory infections, ear infections, coughs and colds. Here are 3 things I tell parents to avoid doing when their children are sick in order to prevent continued illness.

1) Going into panic mode. This is super common with parents of children who have a history of chronic illness. In my experience, it comes from the parent feeling like they don't know how to help t…

There are ways to soothe a colicky baby naturally, and acupressure is a GREAT place to start! The powerhouse acu-point shown here is used to regulate and balance digestion, strengthen the digestive organs, and relieve colic pain.

To stimulate the point apply firm, gentle (acu)pressure for 30-60 seconds. In addition to pressing, you can rub the point with small clockwise circles. This can be done several times daily as needed, but should be done twice daily at minimum for therapeutic effect.

Fo…

I get questions about fever constantly, and for good reason. Fevers can become serious fast, especially in kids. Chinese medicine looks at a fever as heat (infection/inflammatory response) that needs to be cleared from the body. The points in this protocol are my go-to's for fever because they're great at clearing heat while working WITH the body to address the illness rather than suppressing the body's immune response like an OTC fever medication might. Placing Lifewave phototherapy patches …

Try this simple acu-patching protocol for a child struggling with cough. For best results, begin patching at first sign of symptoms. Patches can be placed directly on skin or on clothing over indicated points (both are equally effective). Patches can be worn for 24 hours, then discarded and replaced with new ones. Hydration is important while patching to optimize results, so encourage water consumption.
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Apply a set of Energy Enhancer patches to Lung 1, placing the white patch on the point on t…

Transitioning to whole foods is such an exciting time for baby and the family. It marks a big milestone in life, and is a key part of development. When your baby is ready for food, remember to choose whole foods, preferably organic. The lower the ingredient count, the better. Avoid processed food products whenever possible. The best option for baby food is homemade, and truly this is not as daunting as it may sound. Babies eat small portions, so it’s easy to prepare large quantities of baby fo…

Becoming a parent is like getting a high stakes job without any training...to say that it can be overwhelming and stressful is an understatement. It is tough to weed through all the different schools of thought when it comes to health and care, too. I find that two things are true for all new parents.

1) Every parent wants to do the best they can for their child.
2) Every parent struggles to know what “the best” really is, at some point or another.

To help alleviate some of this stress and over…