Natural remedies for headaches in 5 year old

[mama*pisces]

My son seems to get them a lot...my husband used to get them all the time as a child and the only thing that really helped him was coffee.I do nooot want to give my 5 yo coffee! lol Does anyone have experience with this?

[smilingsara]

When I was a kid, I got headaches a lot, starting when I was about 7 or 8 years old. It turns out, I needed glasses, and pretty badly. 

Have you thought about taking your child to get their eye's check? I went through months of doctors trying to alter my diet incase it was something I was eating, but it turned out to be glasses. 

Hope that helps. 

[mama*pisces]

Honestly, that's never occured to me, and I will do that ASAP. Thank you.

[JollyGG]

My daughter gets migraines (she's 5 as well). I gotta say, if I could get her to drink coffee and if it actually helped I would do it in a heartbeat.

Some things that do help:

1. Identify triggers - even non migraine headaches may have triggers. My daughters include change in routine, diet (nitrates and artificial sweeteners really set her off), and stress. Some of the triggers we can control and others we can't. For example we can't eliminate every single source of stress in her life. But we could have my husband take a job closer to home that didn't involve as much travel to reduce her stress level. We can't eliminate any changes in routine, but we can reduce them. We can control her diet.

2. Get plenty of sleep

3. Stay hydrated

4. Follow the child's lead - so for example my daughter wants to watch cartoons at 3am to distract herself while her head throbs I let her even though the flickering lights of the TV seem like the last thing I would want if my head hurt.

5. Look for the signs a headache is coming and medicate early and sufficiently - I know this isn't a natural remedy. But it's better to give one full dose of Tylenol early then three doses later.

[Alenushka]

I would go to a neurologist. If you DH was helped by coffee , it most likely because he was suffering from migranes that are cause by vessel  constriction.

Neurologist can  reccomend many things that are not medicines to help with your child headaches. It is also a good idea to see a doctor to rule out more serious things.

Some migranes are atypical and do not have the "i felt nauseous, light senstive, bad headche" type of  simptoms .

Some food and other things can trigger headaches "noise, flurecent lights, not enought sleep, MSG , stress, lack of physical activity, too much screen time" and many more

[100%mom]

My 5 year has also started having headaches. I'm bringing her to the chiroprator to see if that'll help. I've been trying to make sure she drinks plenty of water. I had headaches as a kid and still do. My sister also had headaches because she needed glasss. If the chiro doesn't help I'm going to bring my daughter to the eye dr.

[D_McG]

What does her pediatrician advise?

[Mirzam]

Coffee is a tried and true folk remedy for [migraine] headaches. 

[SandyMom]

You've gotten great suggestions already - and yes, do get vision checked IMO.

There are homeopathic headache formulas that may help also. That may be a safe way to go since your LO is so young.

Good luck!

[demetria]

I used to get headaches as a young girl, it actually started me on my herbal path.

Rosemary is good, lemon balm, etc..

I would identify the triggers first and treat those.

So if it is stress, treat the stress, nervous system, etc..

I have a new book that may be helpful for you.

[JollyGG]

Some vitamins we are trying in order to prevent the migraines include: CoQ10, Magnesium, and a B complex.

Right now my daughter just takes the CoQ10. I plan to add the Magnesium and the B complex soon. All three are proven in clinical trials to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches. All three are essential to the energy metabolism of the body. I'm not sure how they would work on non-migraine headaches. Though if your child is successful treated with caffeine I would think that they are likely a migraine type headache.

Also a journal really helped in identifying triggers. So every time she got a headache we wrote down what she had eaten for the last 24 hours, what she did, her behavior, the date, the time since the last episode, the time of day, etc. It may reveal patterns you didn't see before

[JollyGG]

Speaking of which - anyone know of a decent tasting magnesium or B complex supplement that comes in lower doses (looking at 20mg per day of magnesium, and 100mg per day of riboflavin in the B-complex)?
 

Originally Posted by JollyGG 

Some vitamins we are trying in order to prevent the migraines include: CoQ10, Magnesium, and a B complex.

Right now my daughter just takes the CoQ10. I plan to add the Magnesium and the B complex soon. All three are proven in clinical trials to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches. All three are essential to the energy metabolism of the body. I'm not sure how they would work on non-migraine headaches. Though if your child is successful treated with caffeine I would think that they are likely a migraine type headache.

Also a journal really helped in identifying triggers. So every time she got a headache we wrote down what she had eaten for the last 24 hours, what she did, her behavior, the date, the time since the last episode, the time of day, etc. It may reveal patterns you didn't see before