Gentle Healing for Baby and Child: A Parent's Guide to Child-Friendly Herbs and Other Natural Remedies for Common Ailments and Injuries

Even if you're a parent who prefers the straight and narrow of allopathic medicine, you'll find numerous tricks for soothing your little one in Gentle Healing for Baby and Child. From minor issues like splinters or a skinned knee to a nighttime cough that your prescribed medicine just isn't relieving, master herbalist Andrea Candee offers simple, safe remedies made from ingredients that you'll probably find in your kitchen.

Most chapters are focused on either a specific part of the body (skin, respiratory system, digestive system) or an age group (from infants to teenagers). You may be tempted to head directly to the chapters of most interest to you, but don't skip over "Dosing Guidelines." As with any medication, herbs must be taken properly in order to be safe, and following the simple charts of dosage frequency according to age and weight is an easy way to prevent problems. You'll also find suggestions here for getting some of those hot, pungent herbs down the hatch--it may take more than "a spoonful of sugar" to get your child to ingest doses of cayenne and garlic.

Some items show up repeatedly in Candee's book. Onions, garlic, honey, lemons, and salt are all commonly available and inexpensive, and can help with everything from sore throats (warm salt and lemon gargle) to an ear infection (onion poultice directly on the ear). Garlic, "nature's antibiotic," can take care of colds, parasites, and "anything about to become a something!" Honey works to soothe skin and the respiratory system. (Note that honey shouldn't be given orally to an infant; their immature immune systems might have difficulty fending off any botulism spores that might be present.)

Offering new and friendly ammunition for a parent's arsenal of healing techniques, Gentle Healing for Baby and Child is an excellent addition to the family first aid kit and a fantastic way to avoid overreliance on prescription antibiotics. --Jill Lightner