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body’s healing response and lead to many more “unrelated” physical and emotional problems in the
future.
For a child, the period of illness is often a way to receive additional caring attention from his parents.
He may get many extra cuddles, meals in bed, and stories at bedtime, etc. Of course, there may be parents
who feel that their child’s illness is very inconvenient and show their frustration by being harsh and
abrupt with them. Sick children need and deserve special treatment and reassurance, especially when they
are frightened or anxious.
A sick child should not be excited or stimulated by exposure to too much radio, television, or even
visitors. Quiet activities such as reading to them, drawing, and board games help them to avoid dwelling
on their illness too much. Make sure that they get extra sleep with early bedtimes, and daytime naps if
they feel tired.
Sick children need to drink plenty of liquid to help remove toxins from the system. Warm water is the
best drink for them and should be the first option; herb teas and freshly pressed, diluted fruit juices
(except citrus fruit juices if your child has mumps) can also be taken. Avoid giving your child anything
cold, such as cold beverages, ice cream, sugar, or sugar-containing foods; milk, yoghurt or other dairy
products; meat, chicken, fish or any other form of protein food. As the child’s digestive power is
weakened during the illness, such foods will only putrefy and acidify the digestive system and further
irritate the mucus lining. Sick children, like sick animals, generally do not want or need food. Fasting,
while drinking only water, is the best way to encourage the body’s healing response. When your child
feels hungry, give him freshly cooked vegetable purees, soups, hot cereals like porridge with a little maple
syrup, or with good quality honey (which should only be added after the food has cooled down to less
than 45 degrees C (115F) but more than body temperature. Children need to know what is happening to
them during an illness and that it is going to pass soon. They also want reassurance that you are going to
be there for them all the way.
If your child develops a fever, it is a sign of a healthy immune response. A raised temperature shows
that the body has taken active charge of the situation and is fighting off an infection. Parents should
remember that a high temperature does not necessarily mean that their child is very ill. As has been
discovered recently, even a temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, or 106 degrees Fahrenheit, and slightly
above is still not considered life-endangering. In 1983, when I lay ill with malaria in India, I refused to
take fever-reducing tablets for a temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius (106.7 Fahrenheit) and after the
fever broke at the end of the third attack, I recovered very quickly and have had no relapse of Malaria
since. The most important thing to remember is that children and babies aged less than six months who
are afflicted with fever need to drink plenty of water, as they tend to dehydrate quickly. Sponging them
down with tepid water helps to keep the body more comfortable during this phase of healing. Expose and
sponge only one part of the body at a time until it feels cool, then move on to the next one. Sponging the
child’s face and forehead also brings relief.
Another basic rule is to keep a chilly, feverish child warm and covered. This will make him sweat,
particularly at night, and help to break the fever, which indicates that the body’s “fight” is nearly over.
Hot, feverish children should be kept cool and occasionally be immersed in a bath of tepid water. If your
child has accompanying symptoms such as itchy rashes, painful swollen glands, a cough or sore, sticky
eyes, he is most likely to recover without any complications. In case he has any unusual symptoms, you
may consult a natural practitioner of Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Chinese Medicine, etc., for home treatment
remedies. It is better not to give aspirin to children during or after an illness as this can interfere with the
body’s own healing response. If your doctor insists on giving antibiotics to your child when he has one of
the above illnesses or symptoms, try to find another doctor to give you a second opinion. In most cases,
there is no need for drugs. In one large study published in 1987 in the British Medical Journal, 18,000