Natural Remedies for Children

First - I applaud you for making the effort to find a natural way to help your child. It's not always the easiest or cheapest way to go. I have not had personal experience with ADD with my own child, however I have seen a therapy be helpful for others, and done a lot of research on this subject. What you may want to look into is craniosacral therapy. It is safe, gentle, and effective, and extremely beneficial for childhood issues. It is a very gentle form of specific touch to affect the flow of fluid in the brain and spinal cord. Sounds wacky at first...until you feel the results for yourself, or see the results. And when you research it more thoroughly, it makes sense, as a nurse you will easliy understand the physiological theory.
Do a bit of research and you will see that it is being used more and more for issues children face...colic, feeding issues, ADD, autism, etc.
I can recommend the following sites:
www.upledger.com - a whole section on managing kids issues
www.osteodoc.com/birthtrauma
www.craniosacral.com

Yes, I have had this therapy myself and my son has had it as well. It probably won't be a cure-all in one session, it is not a magic pill. Make sure you work with someone who is specifically trained. I would recommend finding a practioner off of the American Massage Therapy website, because PA requires no licensing so it is up to the consumer to verify the education and qualifications of the practioner you choose.
Also, you may want to consult a naturopathic doctor -ask around at chiro's or health food stores or massage therapists, for a referral, to find out proper dosages of any herbs or supplements.
In addition, I can personally recommend NAET (an accupressure technique) to really help with odd health issues. Google your way through "natural health" or "alternative health" for children or specifically for ADD/ADHD and you will be astounded at the different things you can find that may be helpful for your child. The trick is finding prationers you trust, making sure what you try is safe and can't do any harm, and finding the right combination...every person is different, every biochemical makeup is slightly different, it takes some time to tweak a regimine that keeps a body in balance.

Good luck to you, and congrats on the home daycare business, may it flourish.

I tried it with my son and didn't notice a difference.If anything my son's behaviors got worst.
I too didn't want to medicate my son but after years for not when i finally did.....WOW what a difference.He wasn't self abusive anymore he could stay on task and the family time was great.
But it could work for you.
J.

S.,

You have gotten some great advice regarding the suggestion of dietary changes. Consider them.

Anything from Nature's Sunshine is awesome. They have the most quality ingredients out there and their level of QC can't be matched. I say give it a try with the Focus Attention. I can't find the Bright Start.

I have also had excellent success with products from the following two companies:
<http://www.nativeremedies.com/&gt;
<http://www.1-800homeopathy.com/&gt;

It's always important to remember that going the natural route takes time... sometimes as much as 3 months to begin to see a marked improvement. And if a condition worsens within the first 2-3 weeks, and sometimes as soon as just a few days while using a natural product, that is basically an indicator that the product is working and more time on it will help to allow the body to help itself. We have all gotten so used to the idea that medicine should work immediately and always with positive results. That is just not always the case when it comes to allowing the body to help itself. An excellent Omega 3,6,9 combination is a MUST as well.

Best of luck to you.

Blessings,
Rolinda
Wife, Mother, Friend

I tried the focus on my son who is ADHD ODD and it really didn't help at all. I may have seen a minor change or it might have just been that I started taking him outside more often. Hope this helps. Good luck I know what a pain it is trying to find the right thing!

S.,
I can't really say much about that particular suppliment. Most of those generic suppliments are not very effective for real ADD or ADHA. I can say that what has been proven more effective is to find the food sensitivities that tend to aggrivate your child's symptomes. An anti-inflammatory diet has been proven very effective. Look that up on the internet. Also, eliminating gluten and dairy along with all unnatural additives, dyes and flavorings has really helped my son. Just as a side note, my sister was suffering from a yeast infection in her breast after giving birth to her son. She did everything to try and get rid of it...even very very strong prescription medications. She did my son's anti-inflammatory diet which eliminated those foods mentioned above along with getting rid of sugar foods. She commented how she has never had such clarity of mind and thinking. This is coming from someone who already is very clear thinking and very skeptical of alternative methods. It really opened her mind-up to how foods effect the brain. Doing an elimination diet should be the first step. It takes some research before you attempt it, but the internet is great at finding resources. Good luck. If you think you want to do this with your son and need help, contact me. I've been there, done that, and feel blessed to passs on what I have learned from so many and my son. As for drugs, hold off...hold off..hold off until you have tried dietary and behavioral methods. Check into sensory therapy also, since most kids with ADD have sensory issues. It would be an occupational therapist who would do that evaluation. Doctors are way too quick to medicate for behaviors that children often outgrow or can be greatly helped with some new and inventive parenting tools. The "1-2-3 Magic" book or video is great for all children ages 2-12, but critical for children with ADD.
God Bless,
L.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 10. We started out using Strattera, but after a year my son refused to take it anymore. Then I went to the health food store and used a product that is sold in Natural Food Stores it's a product made by Nordic Naturals.It's in a white bottle with blue writing. It is a combination of essential fish oils, omega-3 fatty acids etc, designed especially for children. It was reccommended to me by the woman who worked at the store and she said alot of parents have been using it and the feedback has been very positive. It is suppose to enhance their mood, help them focus and improve concentration. I did see some improvement in my son's behavior and didn't see nearly as much problems with him in school. But, after a while my son refused to take it and so we took him off it. I can't say for sure if the Nordic Naturals really worked or not, but if you go online and do a search on the benefits of Fatty Acids on ADD or ADHD there is alot of research on it.

My second child was diagnosed by the school psycologist as ADD. I refused to put him on medications, and had his vision tested, to find out that he has a perception problem that was causing him to get bored in class (he could not see/ understand the board and group work) so he acted out. He has also been since diagnosed with a learning disability unrelated to ADD. Since we have found the real cause of his attention problems, and modified his learning, he has shown tremendous improvements. I have also talked to moms whose "ADD" children had food allergies, and the symptoms were gone when the food were removed from their diets.
I have never tried these products, but before going on a doctors script, I would exhaust all other possibilities.