Naturopathy for babies and young children

What the first appointment is like

Mostly talking, and mostly to you. Feeding and growth history, what the pregnancy and birth were like, sleep and settling patterns, what the days actually look like, and what has already been tried. Children rarely need to perform for this and it is fine if yours spends the hour on the floor with the toys.

I am looking for the shape of the thing. A baby who has never settled is a different case from a baby who settled fine for three months and then stopped, even when the symptom in front of us looks identical.

Reflux, colic and the unsettled baby

This is the most common reason parents book, and it is often the most exhausting thing in the household. I look at feeding mechanics and positioning, timing and volume, what the parent is eating if you are breastfeeding, and whether anything about the pattern suggests something that needs a GP or paediatrician instead.

Where it fits, a plan can include nutritional medicine, most often a probiotic chosen by its specific strain rather than by brand. The research in infants is strain-specific, so what has been studied for one strain says nothing about another, and I tell you which strain I am suggesting and why.

I will say plainly when that is the case. Poor weight gain, projectile vomiting, blood in the stool, or a baby who is genuinely unwell rather than unsettled are not cases to work around, and they go back to your doctor the same day.

Homoeopathy, and why I use it with my own child

Homoeopathy is one of the things I reach for most with babies and young children, and I have used it with my own little one. That matters to me. I would not suggest anything for your child that I would not be comfortable giving mine.

It is individualised rather than matched to a label. Two unsettled babies can be given different remedies, because the choice is made from the whole picture: when the crying comes, what eases it, how feeding and sleep sit around it, and what the child is like in themselves. The doses are small, the remedies are simple to give, and I explain what I have chosen and why so you know exactly what your child is having.

It sits alongside your GP or paediatrician, never in place of them. If anything suggests a baby is unwell rather than unsettled, that comes first.

Recurrent coughs, colds and the child who catches everything

Some of this is simply starting daycare, and one of the more useful things I can do is say so. Twelve infections in a first year of care is unremarkable, however grim it feels.

Where there is work to do, it sits around vitamin D and zinc status, sleep, food variety and iron, and recovery between illnesses rather than the illness in front of us. Persistent fevers, breathing difficulty or anything not resolving go to a doctor, not to me.

Doses, safety and keeping your doctor in the loop

Everything is dosed for age and weight, the list of what I will use with children is deliberately short, and I tell you what I am giving and why in words you can repeat to someone else.

I write to your GP or paediatrician where one is involved, and I would rather over-communicate than have two people managing the same child without knowing it. Reviews are short and frequent rather than long and far apart, because children change quickly and a four-week-old plan is often out of date.

Not sure whether this is worth a consultation?

There is a free fifteen-minute call for exactly that question. No obligation, and I will tell you if I am not the right person for it.

How young is too young to see a naturopath?

I see babies from a few weeks old, though at that age most of the work is with the parent and most of it is about feeding, positioning and settling rather than anything given to the baby. If something needs a paediatrician instead, that is what I will tell you.

Is it safe to give herbs to a child?

Some are appropriate for children at the right dose and some are not, and the list I work from with children is deliberately short and conservative. Everything is dosed for age and weight, and I tell you exactly what is in a formula so you can check it with your GP or pharmacist if you want to.

My baby has reflux and my GP says to wait it out. Is there anything else?

Often, yes, and waiting it out is frequently still the right medical answer at the same time. Feeding mechanics, positioning, timing and volume are all worth examining, and for a breastfed baby the parent’s side matters too. What I will not do is contradict your GP without a reason, or treat poor weight gain as something to manage at home.

Do you treat fussy eating?

I work with it, which is not quite the same as treating it. Most of the useful work is practical and sits with the parent: food variety, exposure without pressure, iron and zinc status where intake has been narrow for a long time, and realistic expectations about how slowly this moves.