NuturalPaed_NaturalMom

Im a huge fan of a reliably researched natural option. Unfortunately there are not a lot of these options out there. And nothing gets me hotter under the collar then misrepresented information or even worse ... big claims based on weak studies. ESPECIALLY when it comes to important issues around child health.

Elderberry however seems to be something that has been shown to be worth giving a try and ill be sure to repost this topic in our flu season which starts around April.

Here is the low down -

3 nifty studies (and I have checked them out for reliability) have lead to a well based conclusion that ...
Elderberry seems to relive flu symptoms and reduce the duration of symptoms when taken by mouth within 48 hours of onset.
Relief tends to occur within 2-4 days.
It’s seems to be as effective as the pharmaceutical Tamiflu (Oseltamivir). But here is the catch- the efficacy of Tamiflu has never been amazing, so if elderberry is only ‘at least effetctive as Tamiflu’, then it is certainly no miracle drug. Buy hey! I’d rather take it then the pharmaceutical if they work as well as each other, right?

Unfortunately it hasn’t been shown to be effective in treating the common cold (On that note South African’s need to stop calling a cold, ‘the flu’ - it creates so much confusion people!! Especially when it comes to the flu vaccine - and I’ll be sure to post on this in the future too!).

We definitely still need more studies on elderberry before we can know the full extent of its efficacy. But for now - I’m excited about having a natural option that is backed up by decent research. I have never been impressed by any flu medications out there, especially when it comes to children’s options. Yet it is so hard to watch them suffer and feel like you are not doing anything to help them. So I recon, if you little one comes down with something that seems like flu, chat to your paed about elderberry.

THIS BIT IS IMPORTANT - don’t stop reading yet!! ...

Flu is SERIOUS and can be life threatening, esp. in children. It is NOT ‘A BAD COLD’. It claims THOUSANDS of lives every year. Which is why billions have been spent (not made) on developing a flu vaccine.

What’s the low down on Vitamin D? Surely in sunny SA we all get enough?? Let’s start at the very beginning.
Breastmilk only provides about 10
-40IU per day. While babies need 400IU per day. But isn’t breastmilk complete you ask? Well, we are designed to get most of our Vit D from the sun, so there should be very little need for a lot of Vit D in breastmilk. Mom’s body efficiently caps the amount of Vit D excreted into breastmilk. Even if mom takes high doses of Vit D, it doesn’t increase the amount excreted in breastmilk....
Babies therefore should take extra Vit D in the form of a supplement (400IU daily). Because of our damaged ozone layer, only about 10min of sunlight a day is recommended for newborns, and this should be in the early morning or late afternoon.
30min of sunlight a day is required for adequate Vit D synthesis. Your baby’s Vit D supplement should be continued until you think she is getting this amount which would typically happen around 6 months when their skin can tolerate a little more UVB.
Many people live in apartments. Also, the safety of your kids being outside while you are at work may be a concern for you. These are some of the reasons why your child may not be getting enough sunlight even beyond 6 months. In which case you may want to consider giving Vit D for longer.

Living further from the equator (sorry CT moms!), air pollution, suncream use, darker skin colour and increased weight all decrease the skin’s ability to synthesize Vit D from sunlight. More reasons why many South African kiddies were found to be Vit D deficient, despite living in a relatively sunny climate.

Vit D insufficiency has been linked to asthma, cold and flu, heart disease and diabetes to a name few.

Vit D supplementation is easy (comes in drops or sprays) , inexpensive and safe.

So now you know 🔅😊😎

So now you know!

- the words send shivers down my spine. Both of my kids hated (hate) it!! So I’ve been trying to look for evidence of if it’s REALLY that important
🔅There isn’t a lot of evidence for it (none against it) because it hasn’t been studied that much
🔅It came into the spotlight after the ‘Back-to-sleep’ campaign which promoted babies sleeping on their backs to prevent SIDS/Cot Death
🔅’Back-to-sleep’ caused positional plagiocephaly (flat head) so tummy time encourages moms and dads to position babies on their tummies during awake time so they spend less time with the back of their heads on a flat surface.
🔅spending a lot of time in a car seat/carrier also causes flat head
.. so what to do?
🔅Tummy time is probably a good idea although it hasn’t actually been well studied
🔅If your baby hates it don’t force it. But make sure he spends as little time in a car seat/carrier/flat on his back as possible (ie carry him in your arms where he has to hold his head up and activate his core)
🔅Keep Tummy time interesting - do it on a Pilates ball, get down on the floor with him. Keep his attention with toys that make a noise

While on the topic of flat heads - we used to think that it was not of much significance but moderate to severe plagiocephly has recently been shown to be associated with some developmental delays.