A Mother's Guide to Raising Healthy Children--Naturally (13 page)

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Authors: Sue Frederick

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Page 61

Chapter 8
Healthy Skin
Natural Personal Care for Kids

It's easy to forget that the skin is the body's largest organ, and whatever we put on it is absorbed into our bodies. This is especially true for children and infants. Never put a lotion, cream, or soap on your child that you wouldn't want her to put into her mouth. That may sound far-fetched, but it gives you an idea of how the skin works.

When your baby is born, remember that her skin is perfect and doesn't need scrubbing with soap. My daughter had only water baths for many years. There's simply no reason to use soap unless your child has been playing in the dirt. In that case, use only the gentlest, plant-based, and chemical-free soaps and shampoos that you can find, such as those made by a company called Weleda.

Your first foray into skin care with your child probably will be diaper rash. Keep your child's bottom as dry as possible by changing her often and letting her "air out" by being diaper-free whenever possible. Avoid using rubber or plastic pants. We used cotton balls dipped in a baking soda/water solution to eliminate diaper rash quickly.

Many herbal salves made for diaper rash work quite well. We used one made with chamomile and other soothing herbs. Natural baby powder is free of irritating talc, which, according to Ruth Winter's
A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients,
has a chemical composition similar to asbestos. Natural powders are formulated with French white clay, arrowroot, and herbs such as slippery elm and aloe vera.

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Cradle cap, a condition in which patches of scales form over the scalp, is a common skin problem in infancy, and it is a sign of essential fatty acid deficiency. Massaging the scalp with flaxseed oil, then combing out with a fine-tooth comb, usually will eliminate the problem.

Expert Advice

Here, I've asked herbalist and author Brigitte Mars to answer questions about baby's and children's skin problems. She always tells parents to be sure to avoid mineral oil, synthetic fragrances, and artificial colors. Calendula is an excellent, gentle baby herb for topical skin care.

Diaper Rash

Diaper rash may occur when either the mother's or baby's diet has become overly acidic. It may indicate that tomatoes, citrus products, sweets, and even fruits are being over-consumed or becoming aggravating. Keep the baby's bottom diaper-free as much as possible. Avoid using rubber or plastic pants as well as disposable diapers. If you launder your own cloth diapers, add 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to the final rinse water. Apply a soothing calendula salve to the baby's bottom. Many parents report that an application of plain yogurt to the baby's bottom has helped to clear up a persistent rash. Also consider giving the baby an acidophilus supplement that is formulated for infants.

Eczema and Psoriasis

Because these two conditions tend to change and spread, they often are likened to ''wind invasion" in Oriental medicine. Eczema is characterized by dry, rashy areas that itch. Psoriasis involves rapidly growing cells that come to the skin's surface before they are fully mature. It manifests as skin patches that may be red, thickened, and covered with silvery scales that usually do not itch. It is considered more stubborn than eczema. New skin grows back about five times faster than old skin can be shed.

People who suffer from psoriasis tend to be on the run, moving rapidly, like their skin growth. Foods to avoid include dairy products, citrus, tomatoes, peanut butter, fried foods, and hydrogenated oils. Exposure to chemicals can also affect our skin in a negative way.

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In both eczema and psoriasis, it is helpful to cool the blood and skin. A tea or extract of burdock root, raw dandelion root, Oregon grape root, and yellow dock root, would be excellent. Other remedies include liquid flaxseed oil taken daily (see your practitioner for dosages). An alternative is capsules of evening primrose oil. Avoid contact with chemicals on the skin.

Dry cleaning fluid, bubble baths, and cleaning products all can be contributing factors to skin problems. Be careful of nylon, suede, wool, and synthetic fibers. It may help to put 1 cup apple cider vinegar to the final rinse of a washload to neutralize possible irritants. Place baking soda, apple cider vinegar, or two handfuls of oatmeal wrapped and tied inside a cloth to your bathwater. A folk remedy worthy of trying is to apply raw potato juice (made in a juicer) to the affected area.

If more infants were breast-fed, it would help cut down on the incidence of eczema and psoriasis. However, it is possible that a nursing baby could have allergies to a food his mother is consuming, so she may need to alter her diet somewhat to eliminate the possible culprits. Children with eczema may benefit from extra cuddling at night before bed. Massage is also a good way to soothe tension.

Vitamins A, C, and E, as well as zinc, may also be helpful. Look for salves to apply topically that include aloe vera, burdock, calendula, chickweed, comfrey, echinacea, goldenseal, plantain, and St. John's wort.

Swimming in the ocean may be helpful to both eczema and psoriasis. Scratching itchy skin can cause more irritation and make one more prone to infection. Consider keeping the fingernails very short and even wearing gloves to sleep to prevent scratching.

Cradle Cap

Cradle cap is a type of infantile seborrheic dermatitis caused by overactive sebaceous glands or, in some cases, a yeast called
Pityrosporum ovale.
It is not caused by poor hygiene.

Babies may have flaking of the skin and redness on the scalp and head and also under the arms and groin area. It is not itchy, contagious, or painful and tends to bother the parents more than the child. It usually begins between two weeks and three months of age and can last until the toddler stage.

At night, rub the baby's scalp with olive, wheat germ, or sesame oil scented with a few drops of lavender or rosemary essential oil. Avoid using

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harsh soaps and shampoos on the baby. The baby's scalp can be washed with a tepid tea of burdock root, chamomile, chickweed, meadowsweet, or violet leaf. Leave the tea on the scalp. When it is dry, apply cocoa butter to soften the crusts.

Another remedy is to fill a cloth bag (cheesecloth works well) with oatmeal, tie it closed, and use it to wash the scalp. Use a fine-tooth comb to loosen the afflicted spots. The nursing mom should add some flaxseed oil and burdock root tea to her diet to help metabolize as well as control any fungus growth.

Ear Infections

Ear infections are the number-one reason why parents take children to a pediatrician, and why they give their children antibiotics. Fortunately, there are other options. A twenty-four-hour course of garlic/mullein oil in the ears along with oral dosages of echinacea, goldenseal, and vitamin C, and a child's earache may be cured.

Frank Ervolino, a naturopathic physician in Seattle, Washington, shares his experience in treating children with ear infections.

"Probably the most perplexing pediatric condition encountered by general practice physicians is otitis media. The first time I saw a case was early on in my practice. A little boy was brought to me with an acute case of otitis media and I gave him the standard protocol: garlic/mullein ear drops, echinacea with hydrastis, and elder flower tea. He cleared up right away and I thought,
No sweat. I'm real good at this stuff.
Beginner's luck is what I call it now. Over the years I have seen cases of otitis media, both chronic and acute, that have brought me to my knees, figuratively speaking. But in each case I learned a little more about the art of healing and what it means to bring out the healing power within.

"Take the little girl with multiple attacks of acute otitis media with a skyrocketing fever of up to 105 degrees. She was only three years old and her parents were very loving. Both worked, and she spent her days in a very nice day care center. The attacks would come on suddenly and force the mother to take many days off work. I tried the usual protocol mentioned above, but it did not work. Then I tried the homeopathic remedieschamomile, belladonna, aconitum, and pulsatilla. The attacks still kept coming. The father was losing his patience, and, being a working father myself,

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I could empathize. He wanted to take action that would restore control over the situation: ear tubes. I told him that might stop the acute attacks for now, but it didn't address the larger problem of finding the cause. He told me I had two more weeks to work a miracle. I hit the books, as I am known to do, and found a perfect description of this little girl in a book on Chinese acupuncture and herbs.

"In my interview, I found out that the mother had been ill often and very tired during her pregnancy. She also had had a hard time recovering from her pregnancy. The little girl had been very frail during her first two years of life, and when she got sick she would have alternating chills and fever. Nothing tasted good to her when she was sick. The mother also told me that her little girl was a worrier and had some separation anxiety when she took her to the day care center each day, but once mom was gone, the child was fine. I asked the mother how she felt about taking her daughter to day care every day, and I saw tears well up in her eyes. She said she was devastated over the thought of someone else raising her daughter during these most precious days, but they needed her income because they had just bought a new home. Purchasing a home in Seattle is a far more expensive proposition than in many other areas of the country.

"This is what I came up with. This little girl had a weakened immune system, which allowed the invasion into her body of whatever pathogen was causing her otitis. The pathogen was getting deeper than it should in a normal person. For those of you thinking about allergic reactions in the eustachian tube blocking the tube and allowing bacteria to form, this is still applicable because her intestines are also part of the immune system, or house components of the immune system, and they are responsible for keeping out large proteins, which will cause an immune reaction in the tube. In Chinese medicine, this is called a Shaoyang syndrome. It is characterized by alternating chills and fever, a bitter taste in the mouth, no appetite, and irritability. We used a formula called
Xiao Chai Hu Tang
and gave it to her by masking the taste in honey/loquat syrup. She recovered nicely, but the real advance in her health came when I explained to the mother that her pain of letting go of her daughter was an emotion that in Chinese medicine belongs to the lungs; and this is the source of the immune system in traditional Chinese medicine. I told her that her daughter was picking up on this and having her own lungs compromised by the anxiety.

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"My recommendation was for her to take a few days off each month to spend time with her daughter and develop a long-term plan to stay home full-time if she really wanted that. I then prescribed a spearmint-flavored astragalus glycerite for the little girl to tonify her lung
qi,
and an herbal formula for the mother to alleviate her anxiety. Two years later, the little girl has not had any recurrence of the otitis media, the husband got a promotion at work, and his wife was able to stay home with their daughter. When I look back at this, the most rewarding part of the experience is getting people to wish for something that is for the good of all involved and putting it out there in the universe so it can happen. To me, that is real healing."

Six Things To Consider For Ear Infections