What do you do to boost your child's immune system?

[monkeybum]

We went through a VERY rough fall/winter last year, with non-stop illness for about 5 months, many times ending up in the ER.

I do NOT want to go through that again ever if I can help it, and want to get a head start on helping DS x2's immune systems strengthen by the time this year's cold/flu season hits. What do you do to help boost a child's immune system if they won't eat healthy food all the time? I have a 4yo and Toddler.

Anyone use vitamins? I am assuming sleep is important?

I thought I would get more regular in their chiro treatments.

How do you get a child to take vitamin C?

Any other strategies?

Both will be in school/daycare this fall so I'll need all the help I can get.

TIA.

[RufusBeans]

DD gets cod liver oil and probiotics. CLO I squirt in her mouth, Probiotics I mix with whatever she is drinking. I would give her Vit C if I could. She refuses

[twilight girl]

plenty of fresh air, sunshine, play, dirt, exposure to other kids. Illnesses themselves strengthen the immune system in the long term.

[4evermom]

As much sleep as possible. My ds likes the gummy multivites I get but he'll only take extra vit C when he is already sick and a little desperate for the sniffles to ease. He won't touch any fish oil in any form or hidden in anything. He has a very sensitive palate. I also encourage hand washing before eating and when we get home from having gone out anywhere.

[Neldavi]

Astragalus is an immune-boosting herb that is good to do a course of when everyone is healthy. It's a bark that you can make into a tea. It has a sweet, mild taste, and you can even mix it with juice or something. You can also throw some into soup to infuse the broth.

[4evermom]

If your dc drinks juice, you can get vit C in a powder and mix it in. There is only one brand chewable C that my ds likes. It tastes like orange candy, lol.

[mamabeca]

This is the best stuff we've ever used. We usually get the concord grape. Hth!

[nichole]

:

We have astragalus tea. I got it from the vitamin shoppe. The toddler likes it but my older son WILL NOT TRY TEA! i put a little bit of apple juice in it to sweeten it.

Very little sugar and lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

The vitamin c and probiotics we have are tasteless. I just put it in their juice when they are sick.

They take a chewable whole foods multi.

I get what someone is saying about illnesses boosting your immune system, but I can really relate to not wanting a repeat of last winter. IT WAS SO AWFUL.

[Mirzam]

Frankly, I think boosting the immune system is a myth. There is so much more to it than taking vitamin C and a few supplements. Health is more than physical, it is emotional, mental and spiritual. Health begins pre-conception and is affected by pregnancy, birth, nutritional staturs and very importantly emotional states. Did you children have an emotionally stressful winter?

Completely happy people are always healthy, so if your children are getting sick the first thing to look at is their emotional state of being. Are they stressed? Are they getting enough fresh air and sunshine? Do they sleep well? Then look their diet and what sort of toxic load are their bodies carrying, ie vaccines, pharaceuticals like OTC cold meds, pain killers/antipyretics, steroids, antibiotics, heavy metal contamination, fluoride consumption etc? All of these things influence how children cope with healing. I say healing and not sickness or disease, because I believe that all so-called disease has a purpose, it is a significant biological special program that has meaning and is not something that is "bad". I also don't believe that germs and viruses are waiting to attack the next weak victim. Pathogens work in symbiosis with our body, they do a job of either breaking down or building up cells for a specific purpose. So what we think of as sickness is actually the body healing. If your children had a tough fall and winter then the results you were seeing were not sickness but the body's natural way of returning to perfection.

Having said that, well-nourished, non-toxic bodies generally breeze through these healings much more easily than those that are less well nourished and have a toxic overload. So my quick answer to your question would be, look to yourself, your SO, your family, look to all your relationships, your life in general, if it is out of balance then this will be reflected in your health and the health of your children.

[Llyra]

We mostly rely on LOTS of sleep, lots of fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, and good food. The only other thing I do is to occasionally pump a cupful of breastmilk for my weaned DD1. I do give DD1 a chewable multivitamin, mostly for the iron because her diet is erratic. She likes it. I have no idea how you'd get a child to take one if the child was resistant... I don't give vitamins to the toddlers, because they're still nursing lots and that's the best thing for them.

That said, mine were sick constantly this winter, anyway. DD1 goes to preschool, and that place is FESTERING with germs. She was never ever sick as a baby or toddler, but since she's been going there, they all three get sick a lot.

[AbbieB]

My 4 year old is a pretty healthy kid. I personally think it has a lot to do with breast milk. She still nurses 2 times a day. When she is sick she wants much more and I try to give it to her.

A squirt of breast milk in the nose can do wonders for sinuses (tried this out on myself and I was amazed at the results). I also used it in her eyes for a sty and for general "Mom my eye hurts/itches" complaints when she is sick.

As a family we are devoted followers of echinacea and vitamin C for everyone when someone in the family seems to be getting a cold. I will make an echinacea and rose hip tea for DD, adding lots of honey for taste.

We have also discovered the amazing Gypsy Cold Care Tea, made by Traditional Medicinals. It tastes good. It really magical soothes the sick feeling and has nice immune system boosters in it.

I also like to clean the bathroom with bleach or vinegar and get new tooth brushes for everyone. I will also strip the beds and wash everything including comforters (don't forget the couch pillows and blankets).

[lachingona1]

A good mineral/vitamin supplement, probiotic, DHA, cod liver oil, and tinctures of echinacea, goldenseal, and astralagus. Also colloidal silver. I get most of it from Whole foods. My kids have never been to a doctor.

Raw milk is a great, it definitely boosts the immune system, and has many other benefits. Pasteurized milk/dairy products do the opposite.

Juicing is great too. My kids/DH don't like carrots but when I juice them and put in apples or oranges they love it. You can mask all kinds of things in juices as well as smoothies.

[moonlight mom]

Originally Posted by RufusBeans

DD gets cod liver oil and probiotics. CLO I squirt in her mouth, Probiotics I mix with whatever she is drinking. I would give her Vit C if I could. She refuses

We also do probiotics and cod liver oil. Last winter he caught a cold every week and this winter (with the supp) he only caught 2 very mild colds.