You’ve likely heard of unschooling, a homeschooling philosophy where no formal curriculum is typically used and children learn based on what they are motivated to seek out and master on their own as well as natural life experiences.
While I don’t homeschool myself and so cannot attest to the validity of this educational philosophy, I would like to suggest that open-minded parents consider a similar approach to childhood illness and even illness in themselves. When a child seems to be coming down with a cold or flu, how about this for a novel idea:
DO NOTHING.
I myself have followed the Do Nothing approach to illness for nearly 13 years. At first I did it without even realizing exactly what I was doing and then about 9 years ago formally put it into practice after attending a talk by Dr. Tom Cowan MD about how illness is actually beneficial to the body and is a way for valuable detoxification to occur so that an improved level of vitality and maturity can be experienced by the child once the illness is over. This talk was a light bulb moment for me as I suddenly realized that my Father, a retired Family Physician, had followed the exact same philosophy while I was growing up.
Old school medicine is to do nothing and let the illness run its course, focus on rest and nourishment, and intervene only if it becomes evident that the patient cannot handle the situation on his/her own.
My Dad’s rule of thumb was to wait 2 weeks before doing anything therapeutically to facilitate the conclusion of the illness. The result? He rarely if ever needed to intervene at all as my brothers and sisters and I got well just fine on our own within that span of time.
Even when I got salmonella at a fast food chicken joint when I was 13, Dad did nothing. It was a struggle, but I recovered fine within about 10 days. No trip to the hospital, no saline drip, no antibiotics. I realize this might seem extreme to some people, but my Dad had his reasons and he obviously made the correct judgment that I was strong enough to handle it on my own.
Ditto when I had strep throat the summer I turned 15. Do you need antibiotics for strep? In my case, no antibiotics were considered let alone prescribed.
Home remedies for strep throat were not used either, and I still recovered completely with no complications. Most interesting is that I have never gotten strep throat again despite repeated and close contact exposures. My children seem immune also and have never gotten strep. Did recovery on my own impart immunity from further strep infections that I possibly passed along to my kids? Anecdotal for sure but possibly so.
Too many parents in my view are far too quick to treat a child’s illness, either by running to the doctor for a prescription or by running to the healthfood store to obtain a natural or herbal based remedy.
Trying to stop a cold in its tracks when it is first coming on and hasn’t quite taken hold yet is not a wise approach either in my view.
Now, I don’t want to come off as anti-treatment here. If a child is acutely ill and is obviously not handling an illness sufficiently well on his or her own, then by all means seek out assistance from the healing professional of your choice.
As for me, though, my first course of action is Do Nothing.
Echinacea to boost immunity during cold/flu season?
No way.
Elderberry syrup to ward off a cold that you feel is coming on?
Pass.
A “preventative” dose of antibiotics because strep is making the rounds at school?
Absolutely not!
Garlic drops or pills for a cough?
No thanks.
Ibuprofen or Tylenol to bring down a high fever?
Why? A child with a high fever will get well so amazingly fast if you let the fever do its job and having the child sip diluted fruit juice to provide sufficient blood sugar to fuel that cranked up metabolism will head off the risk of febrile seizures.
I don’t attempt to squelch symptoms and I don’t want to give my children’s immune system a crutch. Letting the body go through the natural progression of meeting a pathogenic challenge head-on and resolving it with no outside interference is something that I have observed to improve and elevate a child’s wellness to a whole new level.
I don’t think it’s coincidence that since I have adopted this approach, none of my children has required any sort of medication, antibiotics or otherwise. They get well quickly with no relapse or secondary infection.
We’re going on 13 years now with no antibiotics – ever – for my children.
I think that’s a pretty decent track record!
Again, this article is not intended to suggest that antibiotics and medications are always bad. On the contrary, they can be life saving in certain instances and I am all for using them at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way.
However, a healthy child who is simply achy and feverish from a virus is not a candidate for meds in my opinion!
Ok, I Want to Do Nothing, But I Need to Do Something!
If the Do Nothing approach strikes a chord with you, congratulations! I think you will be pleasantly surprised and amply rewarded by implementing this approach like I have with children who rarely get sick and when they do, recover quickly with no assistance nor complications.
If you are an action oriented person, however, here are some Do Nothing suggestions that will help your child along the path to a quick recovery without in any way hampering or short circuiting the natural healing and detoxification process that is taking place:
- Rest, rest, rest. Our culture is way too busy and overscheduled. Sometimes illness is just a way for the body to say “slow down and take it easy”. Honor that message and encourage your children to just rest with no stimulation of any kind except perhaps a good book.
- Homemade bone broth and soups. Nourishment is important during illness to provide the body with the ammunition necessary to win the battle and come out on top. There is no food better during illness than soup made with nourishing, mineral rich, and easy to digest bone broths. If you don’t know how to make homemade soup, you need to learn. Soups from the store are no comparison and will likely hinder the healing process instead of helping it as they have little to no nourishment and vitality zapping MSG in large amounts.
- Chiropractic adjustment. Some folks find that even a minor misalignment of the spine can make illness worse. Getting a gentle adjustment to the spine can free up blockages and facilitate healing in a beneficial way.
- Homeopathy. I used homeopathy when my children had whooping cough (pertussis) 6 years ago. Homeopathy works with the body, not against it and does not stifle any of the natural healing mechanisms. A homeopathic remedy can prove useful in certain cases of illness particularly if it is a chronic condition that doesn’t seem to resolve on its own permanently.
- Cleansing baths. Jumping in a warm epsom salt bath to get the elimination routes flowing via the skin and the colon can be extremely helpful. This is the only thing I will do if I feel “a cold coming” on as it assists the detoxification that brought the cold on in the first place.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist<
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Ruth Heckbert Moquin via Facebook
I’ve always been one to try to ride it out. How do we expect our immune systems to build and gain strength if they are never exercised?
Nathalie Farquet via Facebook
I went to the doctor once in 5,5 years… my child had 106.1F fever…
Nathalie Farquet via Facebook
I went to the doctor once in 5,5 years… my child had 106.1F fever…
thehealthyhomeeconomist via Facebook
I never use colloidal silver. I have it in the cabinet for emergencies but I have yet to use it.
thehealthyhomeeconomist via Facebook
@Carrie even a natural antibiotic is a crutch which the body can come to overly rely on. Letting the child get well on his/her own with rest and good nourishment alone is the best policy if the child is healthy with no immunity issues.
Phoenix Frost Ulfhamr via Facebook
We never went to the doctor growing up unless it was something dangerous or broken lol. People become too dependent on medication, we should be focusing more on eating healthy and doing things naturally, not taking prescriptions that damage our bodies
Phoenix Frost Ulfhamr via Facebook
We never went to the doctor growing up unless it was something dangerous or broken lol. People become too dependent on medication, we should be focusing more on eating healthy and doing things naturally, not taking prescriptions that damage our bodies
Carrie Becker via Facebook
We ride it out, unless i know its something that needs antibiotics, ie bronchitis… i don’t know of a natural way/ natural antibiotics. 🙁
Joy
YES to fever! YES to rest! YES to lots of liquids! We always said NO to treatment! Couldn’t agree more with this article. We raised our 5 kids with this and now my sweet dils are carrying on the tradition!
Beth
Indeed! This is what humans have been doing for millennia. Our bodies know how to respond and heal this way. We wouldn’t have survived as a species if this weren’t the case.
How in the world did we get so far off track just in the last few generations, thinking that bombarding our bodies with manmade chemicals is the better alternative?
I know, I know, it was the likes of Carnegie and Rockefeller who pushed medicine toward profiteering from the new-fangled pharmaceutical drugs which nobody knew how to use or dispense. The modern-day drug establishment took over.
Anyway, it’s reassuring to see many people waking up and returning to the time-tested traditions.
tereza
Love this post. In a time, when most parents run to the emergency room when kid has a low fever, this post is a must. I think we as people and parents need to learn a few basic things and take responsibility for our own health.
I have 4 kids, my oldest is 9 y.o. None of them have ever taken antibiotics. The last time I took one of my kids to the doctor was 2 ++ years ago, and I only did that because I needed a prescription. I knew what she had and how to treat it. Of course, the doctor diagnosed her with an ear infection. Which she didn’t have one and we never treated it. She actually had the fifth disease and I needed the prescription for medication in case she had an allergic reaction so we didn’t end up in the ER.
As an unschooler/ homeschooler… I don’t do nothing… I do basically what you suggested: rest, rinses, chiropractic visits, soups and broths and prayer (not in that order necessarily). I praise God that He has given us wisdom and grace and healed all our diseases.
Sadie
So fifth disease is a a fancy name for Parvovirus B19. That’s parvoVIRUS. There’s no allergic reaction anywhere. There’s nothing that’s used to treat it… except time for the virus to resolve on its own. It’s one of the most benign things that pediatricians see.