[.ca] Smart Medicine For A Healthier Child (ISBN 1583331395)

From Amazon.com:
Health-care practitioners are a polarized lot: generally speaking, either they subscribe wholeheartedly to conventional medical treatments, or they eschew them altogether. This can be a great source of frustration to parents, whose natural response to a child's illness is a desire to do everything possible to make that child well. Written by a natural-medicine practitioner, a traditionally licensed doctor, and a pediatric nurse, Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child presents an integrated approach to children's health care that allows a parent to do just that. This excellent reference applies a full spectrum of responses to common childhood health problems: conventional medical treatments, dietary guidelines, nutritional supplements, herbal treatments, homeopathy, and acupressure; for each ailment, general recommendations and preventive measures are also offered. The book's authors explain that their approach to health care "considers all treatment possibilities and draws on what works. Sometimes this will be an herb, sometimes an antibiotic, sometimes both." This well-researched, balanced, and clearly written reference belongs on every parent's bookshelf. --Jane Steinberg

Be your child's BEST health advocate with this awesome book!:
Written by a medical doctor, a naturopath and a pediatric nurse, this comprehensive A-to-Z quick reference guide gives you what you need, when you need it, without having to waste any time wading through all the fluff. At-a-glance options for the most common childhood ailments are provided, along with a guide to common symptoms, dosage guidelines for herbs and nutritional supplements and of course the huge yet easy to navigate A-to-Z listing. Excellent suggestions for each illness are provided in 9 different categories of healthcare: Conventional Treatment Dietary Guidelines Nutritional Supplements Herbal Treatment Homeopathy Acupressure Bach Flower Remedies General Recommendations Prevention I pass by all the others on my bookshelves and never fail to find just what I need in this wonderfully written and thorough compilation. Between my conservative, conventional husband and my own more holistic instincts, Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child greatly pleases and helps BOTH of us. With 470 oversized pages, this tome is HUGE and a great bargain even at the full ... retail price. I can_t tell you how thrilled I was when this book arrived in the mail! In addition to the main meat of the book, the authors thoughtfully provide a plethora of other helpful information to assist you in caring for your child, divided into three separate and neatly organized chapters. Part One: The Elements of Healthcare You'll get the basics (and then some) on all of the above listed 9 categories of healthcare _ history of each method, how and why they work, common treatments and how to administer them properly. There is even a ten-page section on pregnancy and your newborn as well as a helpful checklist for assembling a comprehensive home health kit. Part Two: Common Childhood Health Problems The nitty gritty of this book which features the A-to-Z listing and suggestions. Part Three: Therapies and Procedures So you might possibly be interested in using acupressure to help your child who keeps wetting the bed, but have no idea how to properly do this. This section of the book will give you brief instructions along with an illustrated chart of common acupressure points on a child's body. You'll also find other helpful information such as CPR procedures and illustrations for infants and children, first aid for choking, how to prepare herbal treatments (baths, teas, ointments, tinctures, etc.), relaxation techniques for your child, and more. The small section at the end of this chapter, on _time outs_, is the only part of the book that I do not fully agree with or recommend. The rest of the book is so incredibly valuable that it is easy for me to simply overlook these one and a half pages. At the end of the book you will find a helpful glossary, a chart of common medical abbreviations, a guide to recommended suppliers, a listing of resource organizations and even a listing of toll-free hotlines on a number of parenting issues. An excellent companion to this book is _A Parent_s Guide to Medical Emergencies: A quick and easy-to-use handbook to the most common childhood accidents_, written by the same trio of authors/experts and presented in the same easy A-to-Z format. Between these two books, my husband and I have become deeply educated about our son_s health and have never felt more confident about the choices we are making on his behalf. If you are an involved parent, Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child is one of the best resources you will ever get your hands on!

a treasure: still using it after 6 years:
I bought this great book when my 6-year-old son was a baby, and I still turn to it whenever he's not feeling well...and sometimes when the adults in the family aren't feeling well. Here are 2 of the most valuable things about it: 1) It is very easy to navigate and has many lists of symptoms that help you identify what illness you're probably dealing with. For example, there is a table of different rashes by symptom. The book's many "When to call your doctor" sidebars listing severe or alarming symptoms help to sort out what's serious from what's not. 2) It presents conventional, herbal, dietary/nutritional, homeopathic and other treatments for every illness. Its information is balanced, informative, and easy to understand, allowing you to select a combination of treatments that works for you. At the end of each entry, it sums up with a common-sense list of "general recommendations" including some from all of the approaches listed above. This book is especially good for nagging problems that conventional medicine has limited solutions for. For example, my son's recurrent thrush infections as a baby did not go away with the Nystatin the pediatrician prescribed; they did, however, go away when I treated myself with acidophilus and grapefruit seed extract as the book recommended. I would recommend this to every new parent as a reassuring, well-balanced, and amazingly thorough resource to your child's health.

well worn book:
This book is worn and cracked and split in two from years of regular use. It's well organized with good descriptions of the symptoms and many available treatments. I also like that it includes preventative measures. I've recommended it many times.

I love having this book to help me care for my baby:
I'm currenty building a homeopathic home kit using the recommendations in the book. For each ailment, it tells you different approaches and what your doctor will probably reccomend for it, then you can judge what you think is best for your child. I absolutely love this book and love the straight forward explanations of alternative and conventional treatments. So far, I have managed to avoid antibiotics by using a garlic and oil tincture in my sons ear, and I am currently studying the nutrition section. Next I want to hit the acupressure sections and learn more in this area. I am so thankful to have this book - it's a must have.

Excellent!:
This book is a very handy reference guide for any parent. It has an extensive catalog of common \oand not so common\c childhood diseases, illnesses, and symptoms and includes both the modern western medical treatments as well as nutritional, herbal, homeopathic, accupressure and other more non-traditional treatments. It is a thorough and complete volume. It is non-judgemental as well - not preachy or annoying. This book would be helpful to any parent in dealing with their child's health concerns.