Do You Use Natural Remedies On Your Kids?
My daughter has mild eczema and when it gets itchy I put on this beautiful, organic, locally-produced cream full of essential oils and well-researched plant extracts.
And when that doesn't work, I pull out the cortisone.
I would like to use organic, natural products all the time. I consult Gill Deacon's book: There's Lead in Your Lipstick for natural remedies and for what toxic ingredients to avoid. I really believe that products outside of the mainstream can work. A lot of stuff sold at the drug store is at best full of crap, and at worst toxic.
I avoid parabens, phthalates, fragrances, and lots of long, unpronounceable ingredients that are not found in nature. I am mindful of baby products and use green cleaning products. It makes my head spin when I am trying to buy a product and sometimes I just grab something. But if I'm facing a real medical issue I also turn to modern science to help me out.
So if a kid has a stomach ache, I may break up an acidophilus capsule over their food, but for full-fledged car sickness? Hello, Gravol.
It would be nice if my kids would take fish oil in a natural form, but you have to start training them young for that fishy taste. So theirs comes in friendly, sugar-filled gummy vitamins. Natural bug spray is great for the city, but in the woods it has to be nasty bug repellent. (Though I don't feel good about it.)
I hope that I have achieved a balance between natural remedies and mainstream ones. But the truth is that you never stop worrying about the compromises and the what-ifs. Compared to some people I am a total granola spending too much time and money worrying about toxic products, but to others I don't go far enough. There is always someone who is more paranoid and/or more natural than you and vice versa.
Do you worry about the products you use on your kids? Do you use natural/home/herbal remedies?
Want more chaos? Last year I thought about my back-up plans in case something happened to me. What did I tell my husband about marrying again? You probably can't guess.
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