Guide to Seeing A Children’s Naturopath

What to expect when you see a Children’s Naturopath

Naturopathy can support infants, childrens’ and teenagers’ health to optimise their start to life and decrease any uncomfortable symptoms they may be struggling with. 

A Children’s Naturopath can work with you and your child to facilitate lifestyle, dietary and supplemental changes, and work with your child to achieve better long-term health.

Whatever your child’s needs might be, we work with you and your family to find practical strategies that promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle for all involved.

Naturopathy for Children: What a Consultation looks like

Your initial consultation for your child with one of our qualified naturopath’s will go for approximately 1 hour. 

This consultation will review in depth your child’s life up until this point, including their birth details, eating habits, bowel motions and moods. Our Children’s Naturopath may also ask questions about your own health, whether the child was breastfed as a baby, the types of foods they like/will eat now (eg starchy and sugary foods only), and so on.

This thorough questioning allows your practitioner to piece together the puzzle that is your child’s health based on their history, current symptoms as well as family history to formulate a plan that can get them feeling their best and thriving in the long-term as they grow.

What recommendations can be made?

Within your consultation, our Children’s Naturopaths will provide education and advice surrounding particular concerns that have brought you in for the consultation. These recommendations range from dietary tweaks, foods that may be exacerbating their concerns, and foods to include more of, for nutritional benefits. 

Further, lifestyle recommendations dependent on the age of your child may be recommended.

If you child is old enough they are heavily involved in the consultation process by our welcoming practitioners to ensure they are comfortable, excited and willing to make the changes that are recommended and discussed. 

Our practitioners aim for achievable goals that are not going to leave you more confused. Instead, we want you leaving your consultation empowered and with all the information you were after, and more.

Do you give children supplements?

Dependent on your baby or child’s presenting concerns, our Naturopaths may recommend supplementation. This is entirely symptom dependent and will only be used for children if specific dietary changes are not achievable for the same purpose.

We want you having all your options and while dietary changes are the ultimate goal, we also understand that some kids are not so easily persuaded to eat certain foods that aren’t on their favourites list. 

This is likely to be particularly of concern if your child is diagnosed with ADHD and/or Autism – our Children’s Naturopaths are experienced in working with you to make the necessary changes while still accommodating the specific needs of your child. 

Any supplements recommended by our Naturopaths are of a high quality, in liquid or powdered form for compliance in children and are generally subtly-flavoured to ensure they are not just another thing going in the bin after dinnertime. 

All nutrients, herbs and probiotics our Naturopaths prescribe have been clinically trialed to ensure they have noticeable and safe effects in infants and children for certain conditions,

Dietary advice can be tailored to relevant health conditions your child is living with. Setting goals and inspiring change can play a big role in how your child responds to the attention placed on their health, and coming up with a rewards system early on can often be a great motivating factor! We can help you come up with ideas for what works well to keep your child on track.

Why should my child see a Naturopath?

Your Naturopath will help your child start their life off in the healthiest way possible.

Here are some of the particular concerns and symptoms our Naturopath’s work with often, and with amazing results. If you find your child starting to experience any of the below, we can help:

• Recurrent colds and flu
• Ongoing ear and throat infections
• Food allergies
• Food intolerances
• Allergies
• Eczema
• Stomach Aches
• Bloating
• Headaches
• Molloscum
• Fussy eating
• Constipation/Diarrhoea
• Anxiety
• Behavioural Issues
• ADHD/Autism/ODD

How do I get my Child to take Supplements?

First, take a deep breath, it doesn’t need to be a battle – you just need to find what works with your child. Here are some suggestions from our Children’s Naturopaths:

• Smoothies, these work for any child 6 months upwards, blending dosages into smoothies for an undetectable taste is a great strategy.
• Flavoured powders can be made into gummies (check heat tolerance with your practitioner, but a daily home-made gelatin based gummy will also have gut supportive benefits.
• A lot of our powders are tasteless and can be stirred into yoghurt,
• Oil based products can be poured onto a spoon and sprinkled with fun sprinkles.
• If your child drinks small amounts of juice, add your supplements in here. Citrus based juices cut through the flavour the best!
• Depending on their age, older children are curious and educating them on what they’re taking can be really powerful. Creating fun names for the supplements can get them excited. A 5 year old client thrives off his Vitamin C powder and with a love of spider-man has dubbed it his ‘Spiderman-C’ to make him stronger!

Our Naturopath can advise more at your initial consultation.

Any Other Questions

Please call our friendly Reception staff if you have any other questions. They will be happy to guide you on which of our wonderful Children’s Naturopaths will be best for you and your child to consult with.