Have a question? Need some general advice? Andrea hosts this Q&A forum just for you. Send in your question and Andrea will publish and answer selected questions on this page! Be assured that privacy is always respected and names will not be posted. Questions should be of a general nature as more personal issues may require an individual consultation. Scroll below to read the most recent questions:

How To Dose Herbs For Children

Q: I feel insecure about how to give herbs to my child. I never know how much to give, or how often to give it. Are there any easy guidelines to follow?

A: Since children at any given age can vary greatly in size and weight, I prefer to use weight rather than age as the deciding factor in how much to give.

To best determine the dose for your child, use an adult weight of 150 pounds as the baseline constant.
Using the figure of 150 pounds as the common denominator, put your child’s actual weight over it to determine a fraction of the standard adult dose. (Thus, if your boy or girl weighs 50 pounds and the standard baseline is 150, you will want to give 1/3 of the adult dose.

50 lbs (child’s weight)

150 lbs (adult’s base weight)

The following general guidelines apply:

10 pounds = 1/5 dose*

20 pounds = 1/8 dose

30 pounds = 1/5 dose

40 pounds = 1/4 dose

50 pounds = 1/3 dose

60 pounds = 2/5 dose

70 pounds= 1/2 dose

80 pounds = 1/2 dose

90 pounds = 3/5 dose

100 pounds = 2/3 dose

* The smallest dose of a liquid extract is 3 drops diluted in 1/4 cup breast milk, formula, or water, or 2 teaspoons of tea.

REDUCE QUANTITY, NOT FREQUENCY
When you calculate a child’s dose according to weight, always reduce the quantity of the dose rather than its frequency.

For example, an adult dose of 1 cup of medicinal tea to be administered 3-4 times a day translates into 1/3 cup, given 3-4 times daily for a 50-pound child.
To make the math easier, it is often helpful to first convert cups to ounces. For instance, an 8-ounce adult dose becomes 1 ounce for an infant of about 20 pounds.

HOW TO DOSE EARDROPS

The standard adult dose for eardrops is 3 to 4 drops in each ear.
A toddler’s dose would be 2 drops; an infant’s, 1 drop in each ear.
After treatment, to avoid an uncomfortable oily buildup in the ears, cleanse the ears by inserting a few drops of hydrogen peroxide.
Here’s another helpful hint: The easiest time to insert eardrops (especially for very young children) is when they are sleeping!

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2002 Copyright

How to Give Cayenne

Q: I’ve often read about the healing virtues of cayenne but my child objects to it’s spicy, hot taste (for that matter, so do I!) Can you suggest a way we can get it down?

A: Although it is perceived as an irritating herb, cayenne (Capsicum annuum) is known, in its raw state, to have demulcent or soothing properties that result from its high calcium and mineral content. When cooked, cayenne changes chemically and becomes an irritant. To preserve its health-promoting properties, I therefore recommend that you add cayenne at the end of cooking rather than before you start the food preparation--that is, if your family likes spicy foods!

The first question to be determined is: when is a child old enough for cayenne therapy. That’s a decision best made with your child. Variables such as emotional maturity, compliance, self-confidence, and willingness to try new things enter into the decision. One child of eight may be more ready to try it than a child of twelve. Of course, the nature of the problem is also a factor. When an oral dose of cayenne is needed in an emergency situation, such as a severe nosebleed, treatment may have to prevail over readiness.

You can administer cayenne to your child in powdered or liquid extract form. I do not recommend cayenne capsules as it is more beneficial if the child’s esophageal fluids move the herb naturally down the digestive tract. The liquid extract of cayenne is available in health food stores, while the powdered cayenne can be found on the supermarket shelf. Perhaps there is already a supply of it in your pantry.

The standard therapeutic adult dose for cayenne is 15 to 20 drops (diluted in water or juice), 3 times a day.
To build a tolerance for cayenne’s hot sensation, begin dosing your child with a diluted drop or two, gradually building up to the full weight-appropriate dose. (See the archived Q&A on “How to Dose Herbs for Children”).
Cayenne can also be taken in powdered form, beginning with 1/8 teaspoon (diluted in water or juice), 3 times a day. In an acute situation such as an asthma attack, cayenne may be given every 15-20 minutes for the first hour and once an hour thereafter until relief is attained.
The best way to give cayenne is as follows:

1. Put a favorite treat on the counter. (You’ll see why later.)

2. Place the appropriate amount of cayenne drops in a shot glass. Add an ounce of water or juice.

3. In addition, have a full glass of water or juice on hand.

4. Have your child take the full contents of the shot glass in her mouth (at this point it won’t burn) without swallowing it.

5. Have her add a mouthful of water/juice and swallow it all down together. Taking both the diluted cayenne solution and water/juice at the same time allows the cayenne to be further diluted as it goes down the throat, where it can burn.

6. Continue to give more water or juice until the discomfort subsides, which it does very quickly.

7. Here’s where the treat comes into play. Doesn’t the child in all of us need a reward for action that’s “above and beyond”?

To relieve the burning sensation cayenne can leave in the throat, offer the Eastern Indian accompaniment to hot, spicy foods: plain yogurt.

The hot chemicals in cayenne dissolve in fat so be sure the yogurt is made from whole milk rather than the low fat version.
A swallow of whole milk, or, even tastier, a teaspoon of full-fat ice cream, can also cool the heat.

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2004 Copyright

How to Remove a Splinter?

Q: Whenever one of my children gets a splinter a distressing scene ensues. Either they run from the mean mommy with the sterilized needle or painfully cry for both of us as I try to be quick about removing it. There must be another way!

A: Yes, indeed, there is another way…it’s called The Banana Trick. Whether it’s a splinter, sliver of glass, remaining tick part, or any other unwanted foreign object, the customary plan of attack is to go in after it with a sterilized needle. Rather than expecting your child to withstand this uncomfortable exploration or worse, leaving it alone in peril of becoming painfully red, swollen and infected, call forth the banana as hero of the day. A ripened banana peel is rich in digestive enzymes. It is the drawing action of the enzymes that will pull the foreign matter to the surface of the skin.

THE BANANA TRICK

§ Cut a 1” square piece of ripened banana peel to cover the affected area.

§ Apply the pulp side of the banana peel against the skin

§ Hold the banana peel in place with a piece of surgical tape. Leave on overnight. In the morning, the banana will have drawn the foreign matter to the surface, ready for easy removal--or, better still, may show in the peel when you remove it from the skin. More deeply embedded splinters may require one or two more nights of this treatment, in which case you should use a fresh section of peel each time.

I guarantee this is a remedy your child will broadcast to the neighborhood, and that it will catch on like wildfire. It certainly did in my neck of the woods!

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Pharmaceuticals?

Q. Would you ever use pharmaceutical drugs?

A. Of course! In fact, some years ago I did…I used an antibiotic for the bite of a brown recluse spider. However, I combined herbal remedies along with it to keep my immune system strong while the antibiotic did its job.

What’s wrong with pharmaceuticals? They’ve saved a life or two…look at the miracle of antibiotics. The problem is…

§ They’ve been grossly overused – to the point, in some cases, that they’ve become ineffective.

§ They often provide a hammer effect when all you need is a gentle nudge.

§ They can have toxic byproducts that challenge the liver. When we’re told that the drug of choice requires monitoring with liver studies…we must take that seriously.

In today’s world, we have more than enough pollutants challenging our livers:

§ Undesirable microbes and chemicals in our water supply.

§ Automobile/factory emissions polluting the air we breathe.

§ Pesticides in our food supply.

§ Chemicals in supermarket foods that didn’t even exist 30 years ago.

§ Chemicals in the clothes we wear and linens we sleep on.

§ Chemicals out-gassing from our carpets, drapes, plastics.

§ To make matters worse, our homes and offices are designed to be more energy efficient so there’s a toxic build-up in our personal environments.

What can you do? The best possible defense is a strong offense. We can take charge of our wellness by making healthier choices. We can protect our livers.

One place to start is by trying safe, natural remedies instead of drugs…the drugs are always there for backup. Of course, we’re not talking about using a simple herb in a life-threatening illness but safer, less toxic choices are available for many situations.

There’s a large movement within the medical field addressing lifestyle changes and more natural methods of healing. It’s called integrated medicine – taking the best of all worlds – and that’s where I stand.

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How To Stop Bleeding Cuts: Cayenne Peppers And Brown Paper Bags!

Q: We recently had a traumatic trip to the emergency room for my daughter’s bleeding cut. No matter how much I wrapped it, the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Is there anything I could have done herbally to stem the flow?

A: There is something you can do at home but if the first response is to go the emergency room, this is something you can try on the way and will probably find works before you even get there! High in Vitamin K, the clotting properties of the cayenne pepper will stop a child’s bleeding within 10 seconds...a dramatic remedy, to say the least. Interestingly, cayenne’s high mineral content lends to it the classification of a demulcent (a soothing herb); thus, despite its fiery reputation, it does not burn the skin, even when placed on a sensitive wound.

Spoon a thick layer of powdered cayenne over the affected area.
Cover with a bandage; leave on overnight. The bleeding will stop within 10 seconds. What’s more, cayenne’s anti-microbial and astringent properties will help cleanse and close the cut. You do not have to wash the cayenne out of the cut as it is healing, because the cayenne comes off with the removal of the bandage.

Note: Head wounds are characterized by their ability to bleed excessively. Don’t be alarmed. The cayenne pepper remedy even stopped the profuse bleeding from my son’s head when he fell and hit his head on the corner of a table. After the bleeding has stopped, check your child for signs of concussion and have a medical check-up to be sure there is no undetected internal hemorrhaging.

RESCUE REMEDY

I don’t have to tell you that any deep wound is as emotionally invasive as the wound itself. So I use the following natural nerve-calmer to help restore equilibrium to a child’s state of mind. If you had to go to the emergency room, this is something you can take along with you and start giving in the car on the way over.

Place 4 drops Rescue Remedy (a well known Bach Flower Essence available in most health food stores) in 2-4oz water and allow the child to sip the mixture during and after the treatment. A few undiluted drops could even be put right under the tongue.

Less serious bleeding cuts will respond to every child’s favorite:

THE BROWN PAPER BAG TRICK

For minor bleeding cuts, a brown paper bag may act as a compression bandage. It’s an old family method of stopping bleeding popular prior to the advent of plastic. Brown paper bags seemed always to be around, used for garbage, groceries and school lunches. In the same way men often stop their shaving cuts from bleeding with a bit of toilet tissue, a piece of brown paper bag can quickly be torn off to be used as a pressure bandage, applying firmly to the cut. I can remember several incidences arising with my boys, at home in the kitchen, in the supermarket, even in the car after going grocery shopping, where a quick tear from the bag became a fast first aid tool.

Make a “bandage” from brown paper torn from a grocery bag and tape or firmly hold on the cut.
Leave in place until the bleeding stops.

When you know how to use simple materials found in your home, even potentially scary situations like bleeding cuts can be gently and effectively healed…although they’ll never replace the loving benefits of kissing the boo-boo along with a hug!