Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Health and Healing › What would you do to prevent and how would you treat pertussis in an infant/child?
New Posts  All Forums:
 

What would you do to prevent and how would you treat pertussis in an infant/child?

post #1 of 16
7/27/09 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
On the fence about vaccinating for this. Trying to formulate a plan, knowing that even if we do vaccinate it's not a guarantee that we'll avoid it.

Breast feeding is a given (provided she hasn't weaned at the time), but say there's an outbreak of pertussis - what would you do to prevent other than making sure that my and dh's immune systems are functioning optimally so that we decrease the likelihood of catching it and avoiding malls/airports/etc.?

And if, worst case scenario, she got it - how would you treat it? What would you do differently for an infant vs. toddler/child? I think treatment would be more effective if initiated prior to the "whoop" and thus definitive diagnosis, yes?

I've read about using Sodium Ascorbate on some of the threads, I need to read the entire long thread on that.

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #2 of 16
7/27/09 at 3:02pm
Sodium ascorbate or ascorbic acid (both vita C) is key. There is nothing like it. But I would not use it unless you see signs of an infection since the body can get used to it and not work as well for the infection.

To prevent, breast feeding and every day healthy living is best. I wound not worry and fret about wc though. We've had it in our family and it's not like thy make it out to be. If the child is over 6 months, I would not worry at all.

When my grandchildren were young (well, the first two) we worried about wc also but now, so many years later we realize how silly it was. Have SA ready and then go about your normal business.
post #3 of 16
7/27/09 at 3:46pm
Moved to H&H
post #4 of 16
7/27/09 at 11:02pm
When dd got croup this year I gave her my usual illness treatment, ascorbic acid (1/4 tsp in a cup of juice several times a day) and Herbs for Kids goldenroot/echinachea liquid. In addition I gave her homeopathic cough remedy. She improved immediately after the first dose and was all better in less than 24 hours. I would probably do the same for pertussis.
post #5 of 16
7/28/09 at 9:03am
For us it's homeopathy, vitamin c and vitamin A (which has an affinity for the lungs.)
post #6 of 16
7/28/09 at 9:45am
To me, it doesn't look like there are "outbreaks" of pertussis so much as ups and downs in diagnosis. I'm assuming it's around all the time and it's inevitable that we'll get it, probably noticeably and not terribly fun the first time, and then after that, we'd have to wait and see how it goes.

I treat all the kids' colds with extra vitamin C, and then other supportive stuff for however they're feeling bad. Aviva Romm's garlic lemonade for painful throats or coughing, homemade soup from stock for upset stomachs, like that. And for wc, I'd try to learn quick what may help homeopathically.

Panserbjorne, how would you give extra A? I mean what form/product?
post #7 of 16
7/28/09 at 9:49am
I use a liquid by nutrisorb. It's 10,000 IU's per drop. We needed a lot of extra A when we had it and it made a big difference.

We also drank a lot of stock and juiced quite a bit. I found hydrotherapy to be very helpful for me-but I was consistent with it. : Dh didn't get as good results, but he was a baby. To be fair it kicked his butt because he already had a major chronic thing going on.
post #8 of 16
7/28/09 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Panserbjørne View Post
I use a liquid by nutrisorb. It's 10,000 IU's per drop. We needed a lot of extra A when we had it and it made a big difference.
The bold is especially helpful to know, I've given high doses to DS twice (but figured you must know a better form than I did!) for other illnesses and it made the difference for those, and I feel like I need to take extra care for any illness that would deplete A. Pertussis wouldn't have particularly been on my radar before this, I was just assuming the rash illnesses.

http://www.vitacost.com/InterPlexusVitaminANutrisorb

Is this the product?
post #9 of 16
7/28/09 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Panserbjørne View Post
For us it's homeopathy, vitamin c and vitamin A (which has an affinity for the lungs.)
What homeopathic pills would you have on had specfically for the cold/flu season? Just learning about homeopathy

Tanya what brand C do you use for the LO's? DD is 13m.o. and I'm searching for a pure organic form for her/us
post #10 of 16
7/28/09 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mom61508 View Post
Tanya what brand C do you use for the LO's? DD is 13m.o. and I'm searching for a pure organic form for her/us
I use Now brand sodium ascorbate, the 3-pound containers you can buy online. It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but we use it in bulk for our health stuff, so it's an economical choice. Bronson's sodium ascorbate is also well-regarded among those who use SA, it's probably a bit better than Now's but it's also more expensive by quite a bit (prices went up last year).
post #11 of 16
7/28/09 at 12:49pm
TanyaLopez-That is a similar one.

In terms of homeopathy it really depends. However I find it helpful to have a kit on hand rather than having to worry that you don't have the right remedy when you need it.

For pertussis we used a lot of ant tart (dh!) ipecac, phosphorous, drosera and bryonia. There are different stages.
post #12 of 16
7/28/09 at 5:11pm
Most risk is in the first 6-12 months when airway is narrow. How old is baby, are you exclusively breastfeeding, did you/baby receive antibiotics at/before birth (C-section), are you working outside the home, child in daycare >20 hours a week, older sibling in elementary school?

Otherwise, your risk exposure is less, if you are home exclusively nursing.

Ds had whooping cough at 2.5 years. It was scary. Here is an old post with links and holistic alternatives. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...g#post14127869

ETA: Dpt was one of the easiest for us to skip due to the risks of the vaccination. The meningitis ones, if you have child in daycare >20 kids, >20 hours per week, increases risk exposure, however. Although, we still didn't feel the potential risk of the disease outweighed the risks of the vaccine.

Here is more info about Vaccine Choices and our deliberation process.


Pat
post #13 of 16
7/28/09 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
Baby is 10 weeks old.

We are exclusively breastfeeding. She was in the NICU for a week due to fluid in her lungs from the c/s, but we had access to donor breastmilk (altho we were fortunate to not need much because my milk came in quite well). She did not receive any antibiotics (altho was on a glucose IV). I received antibiotics in my IV with the c-section, but nothing in addition to that. I have been taking good quality probiotics since then in addition to other regular supplements - Vit. C, Bs, selenium, zinc, Vit. D, fish oil, magnesium, etc. I have been supplementing baby with Vit. D. I have sensitivities to wheat/gluten and dairy and have been avoiding them.

I'm a massage therapist in private practice and will be doing some work part time. DH will be watching her when I am working. We do not have any other children. DH does work outside the home doing commercial alarm installation.

I'd be more inclined to do the vaccine if she was in day care and not exclusively breastfed. But I think our risk of exposure is relatively low, hence my hesitation. Well in addition to all the other reasons.

Thanks for the links - I'll read up on them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WuWei View Post
Most risk is in the first 6-12 months when airway is narrow. How old is baby, are you exclusively breastfeeding, did you/baby receive antibiotics at/before birth (C-section), are you working outside the home, child in daycare >20 hours a week, older sibling in elementary school?

Otherwise, your risk exposure is less, if you are home exclusively nursing.

Ds had whooping cough at 2.5 years. It was scary. Here is an old post with links and holistic alternatives. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...g#post14127869

ETA: Dpt was one of the easiest for us to skip due to the risks of the vaccination. The meningitis ones, if you have child in daycare >20 kids, >20 hours per week, increases risk exposure, however. Although, we still didn't feel the potential risk of the disease outweighed the risks of the vaccine.

Here is more info about Vaccine Choices and our deliberation process.


Pat
post #14 of 16
7/28/09 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Panserbjørne View Post
TanyaLopez-That is a similar one.

In terms of homeopathy it really depends. However I find it helpful to have a kit on hand rather than having to worry that you don't have the right remedy when you need it.

For pertussis we used a lot of ant tart (dh!) ipecac, phosphorous, drosera and bryonia. There are different stages.
Thank you ladies

Can you please direct me to a kit perhaps ?
post #15 of 16
7/28/09 at 8:57pm
http://www.homeopathyworks.com/jshop...n.php?xSec=104

There are many others, but I like theirs quite a bit.
post #16 of 16
8/2/09 at 12:09am
:
New Posts  All Forums:
 
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Health and Healing

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Health and Healing › What would you do to prevent and how would you treat pertussis in an infant/child?