Toxic Baby

Recently, Oceana and I were featured in an NBC News piece on acupuncture and the item showed us both receiving the treatment, which stirred quite a bit of interest.

Oceana was first treated with acupuncture at the age of eight weeks.  She had picked up Zeph’s virus and was snotty, coughing and running a mild fever.  She was having problems breathing through her nose and her cough would wake her up from sleeping.

I knew that the FDA had recommended parents avoid giving babies and children (under the age of two), over the counter cough and cold remedies after data showed serious side effects including death.  Whilst steam inhalation helped with the congestion, I struggled to find a cough remedy that worked.  In my desperation, I considered acupuncture.

Luckily I was booked in to have a post partum acupuncture treatment with Jill Blakeway, the acupuncturist featured in the NBC piece and I called the Yinova Center, which she runs, to ask if she would consider treating Oceana as well.  She agreed, explaining that she would insert the needles briefly and that in ancient Chinese medicine, acupuncture was often used to treat babies and children.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, “Acupuncture has long baffled medical experts”, with its tenets of qi (an invisible life force pronounced chee) and meridians.   However high-tech tools such as neuroimaging, thermal imaging and doppler ultrasound confirm physical changes in the body when the needles are inserted.  Jill Blakeway says it is easier to access a baby’s qi, as it lies just under the surface of the skin.  Illness, inflammation and pain are thought to be a result of blockages and imbalances with qi and Inserting fine needles at very specific points can release these blockages.

Jill used particularly thin needles and as a mother herself, knew exactly how to treat a baby.  Oceana did not seem to mind the needles at all, so it didn’t seem an invasive, unpleasant experience.  Astonishingly, less than eight hours later she was completely cough and cold free.  No temperature and exactly her usual perky self.  This was the baby who could barely feed because of her stuffed up nose.  My husband was astounded to see how well the treatment worked and we were both thrilled to find a natural remedy to what is a very common childhood complaint.

A joint survey by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health released earlier this year showed 56% of parents polled still administering cold and cough remedies to children under the age of two, in apparent ignorance of the FDA recommendation.  Disturbingly, 45% of parents reported that their physicians had recommended these over the counter medications, despite what the FDA had to say.  A study last year in Pediatrics noted that emergency room visits for kids under the age of two for cough and cold medication-related problems dropped by over half.  Just to be clear, it is worth remembering that that the FDA lists very serious side effects for these medications in babies.  Losing a child because of  you administered an OTC (over the counter) remedy would be heartbreaking.

It is also worth noting that medications are complex chemical compounds and like other chemicals, affect little ones in a far different way. “Children metabolize and react to medications differently than adults, often in unanticipated ways,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement released after the FDA alert. “Studies have shown cough and cold products are ineffective in treating symptoms of children under six years old and may pose serious risks.” Another concern is that medications are often preserved with parabens.  Whilst digesting small doses of parabens might not be as toxic as receiving a dose through the skin that goes directly to the blood stream, most parents who are wary of parabens, would feel uncomfortable exposing their children to them.

A licensed acupuncturist experienced in treating babies and children, could be a viable option for your baby’s coughs and colds. If you want to see Oceana receiving her acupuncture treatment, watch the NBC piece here.

Other natural methods of treating coughs and colds include:

• Rubbing baby’s back in a steam bath helps ease congestion
• Eucalyptus is the essential oil for congestion.  A couple of drops in the steam bath or an essential oil burner works wonders
• Keep fluid intake high
• If you eat meat, chicken soup has a deserved reputation for banishing cold bugs.  If you are vegetarians, plump for soups with highly colored vegetables such as carrots, beets and squashes
• If you breast feed, up your intake of foods with garlic and onions
• Echinacea is a great boost to the immune system as it stimulates the production of interferon.  Look for special kid versions available in good health shops and natural markets
• Honey (especially antiseptic varieties such as manuka) and lemon is a great remedy for coughs, straight outta Grandma’s kitchen.  However, honey should NEVER be given to an infant under the age of one.