BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Holistic Health Immunity boosters for children

Hi all,
I am new here so please forgive me if I am posting to the wrong area. My son who is 6 years old needs MAJOR help with his health. We took him to our pediatrician and they just kinda shrugged it off & told him to eat his veggies & take flintstone vitamins. His first year of school, he has had pnemonia, ear infections and about 5 stomach viruses. This is only slightly worse than an average year.
He is a good eater & loves his fruits & veggies so I know he is getting enough and we are a clean family...maybe to clean... I hate filling him with sugery vitamins that do not seem to keep him healthy. Any suggestions on what I can give him that could help boost his immune system? I know he will never be "sick-free" but I would really like to keep his illnesses to a minimal.

First of all, the fact that a pediatrician is recommend Flintstones vitamins is kind of scary. Has he read the back of the bottle??

There are other things you can do to boost his immune system like giving him probiotics (especially if he has ever been on antibiotics).

I give my kids Juice Plus+ and am so happy with the results that I became a distributor. The gummy version is really tasty but has no artificial dyes or other additives. This has been independently researched and *shown* to improve children's health. While he may eat lots of fruits and veggies, he's probably still not getting enough--especially since cooking veggies often destroys the nutrients.

You might also want to try juicing. That's another way to get lots of raw fruits and veggies into kids. When my kids seem like they're getting sick, I up the Juice Plus and also give them some echinacea (Herbs for Kids).

Sounds a bit like my kids--is he drinking milk? If so, take him off it for a few months to see if he improves. No milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. Soy milk is okay, and some kids can have yogurt with no ill effects.

Both my kids had pneumonia, ear infections, sinus issues, colds, and caught everything going around until my pediatrician suggested we try eliminating common allergic foods. Turns out, milk was all we needed to eliminate. They improved immediately and stayed that way.

They are adults now, and I've recommended this to many parents for their children over the years and it almost always works.

I gave them calcium supplements--a liquid you can get at pharmacy when they were little, then Tums when they were past toddler age.

Oh, Vitamin C supplements can help, too. It's really good for the mucus-y type illnesses.

Good Luck!

This is what I use with my 3 children...

Thyme cream - on the soles of the feet daily, and applied on the chest or neck at first signs of a cold

Echinacea bath essence - one capful in bottom of shower every day (plug shower)

Eucasol - a spray with a combination of Eucalyptus, mint and other herbs - helps relieve congestion - spray on pillow before bed, or on a tissue to inhale. perfectly safe for everyone even babies. Also may work as an air disinfectant.

Tea Tree - cream and oil. Use again, at first sign of a cold. Massage onto neck for cough, onto sinus for congestion and/or back of ears for ear pain. Works amazingly well.

Eucalyptus essential oil - in an aromatherapy burner - helps everyone in the house breathe more easy.

Hope these ideas help!

Kris

My daughter had constant ear infections when she was a little one (she's 21 now) About age 7, she switched to tonsillitis. That's when I discovered echinacea. She never got another ear infection and honestly was rarely sick after that.

We really started eating healthier too about that point. Lots of fruits and veggies. Now we do probiotics too, organic food, no sugar or processed food. There are good whole food vitamins you can get without additives.

My daughter is super healthy now and never sick, even tho lots of her college friends are sick all the time-and they have very bad health habits too, like too much fast food.

Hope that helps.