With children starting back at school, many parents worry about the dreaded head lice. We have treated lots of children over the years who are allergic / intolerant to the standard chemical treatments.

A bit more about head lice

Head lice come in groups and are indiscriminate on who they live on. They travel from one person to the other via close contact and spread easier the longer the person’s hair. A louse can live for up to 5 weeks and can survive for 24 hours away from the body. The eggs become glued to the roots of the hair, making it impossible for them to fall out of the hair, these eggs hatch after a period of 8 days. The eggs (nits) are visible as small white specs, where as when they hatch they are pale greyish brown in colour. Both the nits and louse collate in the roots of the hair.

Top Tips to avoid head lice

• Keep hairbrushes, towels, hats and pillows separate.
• Tie long hair back
• Put plenty of conditioner on your child’s hair and comb through with a nit comb at least once a week.

The Natural Head Lice Strategy

The benefits of this easy approach are that it is:

• Effective
• A totally natural approach with no manufactured chemicals
• Appropriate for all the family
• A treatment that does not cause resistance in lice

The two-step approach is as follows:

1) An essential oil treatment balm (100mls at £7.00) (between 1 and 4 treatments depending on hair length)

• Apply balm to the hair at night (approx. 25 – 50mls of balm required, depending on the length of the hair)
• Cover the hair with Clingfilm and leave on for at least one hour (but preferably overnight). Make sure the balm will not get into the eyes if leaving on overnight.
•  Wash out in the morning with shampoo, then use plenty of conditioner and a ‘nit comb’ to comb the hair through.
• Wash the conditioner out and then do the final rinse. (using Quassia bark infusion – see below)

2) Quassia bark infusion (£4.20 for 50g) (at least 2 treatments)

• Use 25g of herb to a pint of boiling water, simmer for 10 minutes, strain and cool.
• Use this as a final rinse on the hair after using the balm.
• This rinse will then need to be repeated after 7 days to ensure complete treatment.

Foods rich in carotenes, help the body to produce a plentiful supply of milk, such as cooked:

• apricots
• asparagus
• green beans
• carrots
• sweet potatoes
• tomatoes
• peas
• all cooked leafy greens—including kale, collards, mustard greens, beet greens, parsley, watercress, and dandelion leaves—are considered critical for women wishing to increase or sustain lactation.

Carotenes are most available when foods are well cooked: tomato sauce has over 2000 times more of them than a fresh tomato. And carotenes are more easily utilized in the body when consumed with plenty of fat. (Olive oil or butter are good fats to use.)

With the resurgence of interest in breastfeeding, there is increasing demand for natural remedies for the minor problems that can accompany nursing.

Increasing and Maintaining Milk Flow

• One of the easiest problems to remedy is lack of sufficient milk. First, it is important to see to it that nursing takes place in a safe, inviting space where both mum and babe can be relaxed.
• Second, try to include one or more of these herbs and foods that are well known galactagogues, that is, substances that encourage abundant breast milk.
  Nourishing herbs, such as raspberry leaves, stinging nettle, oatstraw, and red clover blossoms—prepared as strong infusions not only encourage a plentiful supply of breast milk; they also support the overall health of mother and child.  The minerals in these herbs are amazingly abundant, so they counter mineral loss from nursing, and help keep mum calm and alert during those first few weeks of round-the-clock infant care.

At Foreman & Jones we are happy to supply high quality herbal teas to mums and babies.

Thanks to Susun Weed, Herbalist for allowing us to use some of her article for this blog www.susunweed.com

In my first article on this subject I explored the idea that children are often very sensitive to Herbal Medicines and many childhood illnesses can be cleared up fairly easily when the child is prescribed herbal treatment.

Whilst we treat all of the common childhood complaints that many parents would think of we mostly treat chronic illnesses like Eczema, Asthma and Bowel problems where parents have been down the conventional route and have not had success (please read this testimonial about a child with bowel problems being greatly helped by herbs.)

Here’s an idea of how we might treat a very common chronic childhood complaint.

Treatment of Eczema

I have treated many children with Eczema over the years of varying severity. Eczema is characterised by irritation and inflammation of the skin and has many causes.

When treating childhood Eczema we spend an hour in consultation with both the child and parent/s to ascertain what’s causing the problem. No patient is the same and so no herbal prescription is the same either some patients complain of ‘wet’ eczema where the skin weeps, is red and cracked and some suffer with very dry and itchy skin like all the moisture has been sucked out of the skin!

Possible Herbal Treatments for Eczema

Eczema can be caused and exacerbated by an intolerance to certain foods, stress and a reaction to washing powders and other household chemicals (to name a few). The cause of the complaint is explored and addressed during the consultation and then a prescription is written up for the individual child. Possible herbal treatments may include –

Nettles

This herb can be very useful when there is a strong allergic element to the Eczema. Nettles are also highly nutritive and cleanse the kidneys and blood.

Chamomile

This herb is used widely in childrens’ herbal medicine because it’s both gentle and effective. Chamomile is known for it’s anti-inflammatory properties and it also calms the nervous system. This herb may be added to a prescription when a patient’s nervous system is overactive and the child tends to be hot.

Marigold

This herb is highly antifungal, antiviral and healing and can be used internally and externally. It is especially helpful when the skin has become infected and is very red and inflamed.

Borage

This herb is often used in the treatment of Eczema where there is a history of steroid cream use. It is very soothing for dry and irritated skin and can help support the body when steroid creams are stopped to prevent a ‘rebound’ flare up.

Jodie Foreman

Keep checking back for further blogs on the Treatment of Childhood Complaints using herbal medicine or sign up for our newsletter by following this link.

For a list of the herbs we stock look here.

Image: Clare Bloomfield / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As a herbalist I have the privilege of working with all age groups from babies to patients in their senior years. I have to say though, I particularly enjoy working with children. I have found over the years that children respond extremely quickly to herbal treatment as their young systems are quick to become balanced again.

As humans we all have self- healing mechanisms and mostly our bodies correct any imbalances without us even noticing. Sometimes, however, our bodies don’t always find their way back to good health and need some help along the way and that is where herbal medicine comes in. Herbs help the body to work in a better way i.e. they support the body’s own healing process.

Babies and children have time on their side, where an adult’s system may have gone out of balance and stayed that way for many, many years a child may have only been taken ill over a few weeks, months or years. This often means that there isn’t as much work to do and the child’s health can be quickly improved using herbal medicines and dietary changes.

Herbal Medicines are extremely safe and effective and a natural way to treat all common childhood illnesses when prescribed by a qualified medical herbalist.

Most parents know when their child is ‘under-the-weather’ they often notice that their child isn’t eating properly or is perhaps more irritable and clingy than usual. This is the best time for the child to receive herbal treatment as often infections and the like can be warded off before they develop. In this situation we treat children constitutionally, strengthening their system so that they will fight off any infection without too much trouble.

At Foreman & Jones we treat many childhood complaints – here are just a few

Allergies, Eczema, Digestive problems (frequent tummy ache, loose bowels, constipation) Infections ( chicken pox, impetigo, verrucas, molloscum contagiosum), Ear nose and throat problems ( Tonsillitis, Ear infections, frequent colds and flu), Sleeplessness, Hyper-activity, Bedwetting.

Babies – Colic, nappy rash, eczema, reactions to vaccinations, teething, fever.

Part 2 of this article explores this topic further

As a Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner in Kent I see many adults with eating disorders – whether that be overeating, not knowing when to stop, not knowing when they are full, and eating for reasons other than hunger.

As I said in the previous article, many mums, for the good of their children may want to ‘just get that extra spoonful in’ or ‘just finish off what was in the bowl’ even though they suspect the baby has really had enough, just to make sure. (As I said before this is placing no judgement on what mums are doing – it is all with the best intentions) This extra spoonful can teach the baby’s body to override its feelings of being full and make it able to put more in than it needs.

Studies of naturally thin people have shown that the key to maintaining a healthy weight for most people is actually learning to stop eating when they are full. Naturally thin people don’t count calories or think about food all the time, they just eat when they are hungry (not just because the clock says it’s time), enjoy every mouthful, without being rushed, and stop eating when they are full.

This really is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. So then think about not enabling a young child to control what they eat, and regularly override their ‘I’m full’ programming. This could lead to a grown-up with food issues.

Using Hypnotherapy and NLP I work with my patients on their patterns of behaviour. It is very important for us to establish any ‘problem programming’ they have – you can liken humans to computers in that we have programmes we follow – when you get dressed in the morning, you don’t even think about it, you ‘go on automatic’, and when it comes to other behaviours it can be very much the same.

It is important for me to say here that all change-work is done in the interests of the patient. I always work looking through the eyes of my patients as best I can. If something the person is doing isn’t a problem for them in their life (even though it might not be something I would do in mine) then we leave it well alone. However if there are areas of a person’s life that they want to change because it is not working for them, then we work on it, uncovering resources they didn’t know they had to make those improvements.

And these patterns of behaviour can be improved when you know how. To find out more about this read here.

In January 2010 Jodie and Hayley of Foreman & Jones, Hythe, attended a seminar on baby-led weaning with Gill Rapley.  During discussions at the seminar many mums spoke about their fears about their baby ‘getting enough’ food, which led us to the topic of people wanting to ‘get that last extra spoonful in’ or wanting to make sure that the baby ate the amount that had been pureed for them, so that they knew how much they’d had.

This raised a little discussion and some ponderings in my head too! Of course, all of this is done with the best of intentions (things usually are) and I want to make it very clear that I am passing no judgement at all on anyone here. I am just thinking about what Gill said about the potential for baby-led weaning to cause less obesity and fewer eating disorders.

Jodie and I took part in the experiment to ‘feed’ two of the other people who attended the seminar and it was a very peculiar experience! They were told to just sit in the chair and we were told to feed them.  I didn’t really know whether the lady I was feeding wanted another spoonful yet, or whether she wanted another spoonful at all. So Jodie and I just kept on putting the food in their mouths! 

This raised some important points.

‘Being fed’ puts someone else in control and we know how independent babies like to be! ‘Feeding the baby’ also makes it a job that has to get done, something to do, which really isn’t all it is. It can also often mean ‘the baby being fed’ on their own, then everyone else eating their dinner at a different time, whereas with BLW the baby eats at the same time as everyone else. And in baby-led weaning the baby gets to choose when they are full – why shouldn’t they?  After all, they are the one who is eating, so they should know when they are full, not us!  The feeling of satiety (being satusfactorily full) is a very natural instinct, and babies are very in touch with this feeling.

Part Two of this article explores this issue further.

The Baby-Led Weaning seminar we attended at Sure Start, Folkestone, by Gill Rapley was such fascinating stuff.  It is such a respectful approach to weaning children and the seminar was accompanied by some wonderful videos of babies, watching their development and their transition from milk to food.

It makes use of many truths about babies that have been forgotten. 

For example, from 6 months:

• Gross motor skills are improved – baby can sit self up and support head
• Fine motor skills improve – baby can reach and grab
• Hand-eye coordination improves – baby can feed self

It also works from the perspective of all babies being different and that they all develop in their own time.

One of the ideas that was challenged was that ‘good’ babies are often passive in our society.  Whereas the ones that are active, (touching food, grabbing the spoon themselves, refusing to eat) are seen as ‘difficult’.  This is not the case.

Obviously for full details we recommend that you buy Gill’s book, but some of the interesting points that stood out to me were that:

• To begin with, a baby probably won’t swallow the food it takes into its mouth – he or she will only do this as their developmental ability allows them to.  This can create some anxiety in parents when they worry about the baby ‘getting enough’ food, but actually, just as babies often shuffle, or crawl before they walk, so they begin to explore food with their hands and mouths before they actually start taking it in as food.  They are just tasting to start with and it is like a new toy to them!
• The development of the pincer grip doesn’t occur until 8-9 months of age so baby won’t pick up anything very small – you just give them chunks of food that they can grab and nibble. 
• Just as in adults, we like eating to be an enjoyable experience, the same is true for babies.  Jodie and I took part in an experiment where we had to feed another person at the seminar and we discussed what that experience was like.  (That’s where this picture came from – the local press!  Here is Jodie feeding Steve Wall!  Look how much he is enjoying the experience!)

Of course to begin with, someone approaching a new way of doing something, away from the pureed food and spoons and feeding, may find it a bit challenging to their ideas.  But Gill’s research has pulled together all the information you need to put your mind at rest about how this approach is safe and fun for your child.

The Benefits of Baby-Led Weaning are:

• It is cheaper!  No blenders to buy!
• No need for pureeing
• The family eats together
• The whole process is simpler
• Eating out is much easier, just maintain good standards of cleanliness in where the baby places their food
• No concerns about what to give baby as long as food is healthy, go for it!

Potential bonuses of Baby-Led Weaningare:

• Happy families (relaxed attitude to mealtimes, family eats together)
• Improved nutrition
• Less obesity
• Fewer eating disorders (My next blog post will be on this topic)
• Improved coordination in babies

The seminar was organised by Lyndsey Wall, featured in the article, who used baby-led weaning with her two children, Archie, two and Annabelle, one.  She made a beautiful display about the experience, with lots of pictures of messy, smiling children!  Lyndsey is looking to organise drop-in sessions on the subject – do call the Sure Start Centre on 01303 856200 if you are interested.

Hayley Jones

To read other articles on the subject click here.

On Monday 25th January Hayley and I were invited to attend a seminar exploring the concept of Baby-led weaning at the Sure Start Centre, Folkestone, Kent. We often advise parents on the correct foods to feed their babies and toddlers and since Hayley and I treat many pregnant mums and mums with young children using Herbal Medicines we felt it would be great to go along and here all about it.

The seminar was run by Gill Rapley, author of the book ‘Baby-led weaning – Helping your baby to love good food.’ It was a very informative talk, Gill explained that baby-led weaning is based on the way babies develop in their first year and it’s a way of introducing solid foods that allows the baby to feed herself – there’s no spoon feeding and no purees. The baby sits with the rest of the family at mealtimes, and joins in when she is ready. Her parents offer her food in sizes and shapes that she can handle and she feeds herself with her fingers, choosing what to eat, how much and how quickly.

Gill went on to explain that all healthy babies can do this. They don’t need their parents to decide when weaning should start and they don’t need to be spoon-fed; they just need to be given the opportunity to feed themselves.

There were many questions from the audience – the main question that people seemed to be concerned about was… ‘Don’t they choke!’ Gill explained that there is no more risk of choking with BLW than with any other method of introducing solids. A normal, healthy six-month-old baby is able to sit upright, pick up pieces of food, take them to his mouth and chew them. Adults and children are more likely to choke if someone else is feeding them and they can’t control what goes into their mouth – with BLW the baby is in control.

What I got out of the seminar was that we should trust nature and allow our babies to be independent. A sixth month old baby is developed enough to feed themselves and I’m sure that if more babies were weaned this way then children wouldn’t be as fussy and it would be easier to feed them a healthy and balanced diet.  

For more information on baby led weaning click here or call the Folkestone Sure Start Centre on 01303 856200.

Jodie Foreman