Warning About Babies And Natural Cures

Many of us are comfortable experimenting with our own bodies
and health with alternative medicines and therapies such as
herbal remedies and "natural cures". It is important to realize
though, that when it comes to your baby, so-called "natural
cures" can be dangerous!

My spouse and I noticed something a little different when we
gave our baby girl so-called "all natural" teething tablets.
This seemingly reputable over-the-counter option "looked" like a
safe and viable solution to help with issues related to
teething. The packaging insisted it was safe and natural, and we
took that at face value. We called the doctor and asked about
it, and they said it was "probably fine". But like I said, after
giving it to our child we noticed something a little different
that concerned us.

What was different? Well, our baby was sleeping. I don't mean
just sleeping normally, but sleeping REALLY well, almost
immediately after taking the tablets. The packaging for the
tablets said that the child would fall asleep because they were
no longer irritated by their teeth. (Yeah right!)

After some investigation, we found that the teething tablets
had "natural" sedatives that were the reason the child falls
asleep after taking them. We also found out that one of the
ingredients was a plant substance that has caused VERY serious
side effects in children and infants (including DEATH).

Needless to say, we were shocked... and never gave the tablets
to our child again (we threw them away).

The moral of the story? Just because something says "natural"
doesn't mean it's safe—and don't assume that it's safe just
because you can get it at your local grocery or drug store.

As I heard a TV comedian put it once...

"Heroin is NATURAL... A pack of wolves... is NATURAL..."

Just because it says "natural", doesn't mean it's safe for your
baby.

A question that may come to mind is "exactly how can you tell
what IS safe?" Our best advice is to read the ingredients on
ANYTHING that you feed your baby or give them as a "remedy" for
something, and don't give your baby ANYTHING without doing so
under the guidance of your doctor. Don't just take the doctor's
word for it though, either. Doctors do make mistakes. Look up
ingredients online if you don't know what they are. A good way
to search for ingredients is go to any popular search engine and
type in the substance name along with the phrase "side effects".
You could also add the word "baby". (So before you give your
baby a sleep aid, you could search for something like "baby
sleep aid side effects".)

Since our experience with the teething tablets my spouse and I
have taken to "the less outside help, the better." For anything
from teething, to sleeping, to tummy aches we have searched for
approaches that are the least likely to have any harmful side
effects... which usually means trying things that don't involve
medicine, or that involve minor changes in diet or routine as
opposed to herbal supplements and the like.

Whatever you do, be very careful about what you give your baby,
and don't jump on the "natural cure" bandwagon until you've done
enough research to know that something is safe. Don't experiment
with your baby's life; the risks just aren't worth it. If you
really need help, some simple research on your part may turn up
solutions that you never knew existed.

About The Author: For information on how to solve one of the
most common problems with young babies, visit the author's
website at http://www.dreamingbaby.com