In September, we leave the carefree summer days behind and return to classrooms, playgrounds, team sports, and birthday parties. With the return to routine, parents’ want to feel confident that they have done what they can to protect kids’ health.
To help with this, we’ve pulled together a simple kid’s version of our holistic S.E.E.D. guide for helping kids stay healthy, one that’s also easy on parents. Now is the time to focus on proactively supporting a strong immune system and getting prepared to fight back, should infection from common viruses take hold! Here’s how….
S = Sleep and Stress Management
Well rested, worry-free kids are happy kids – and healthy kids! When they don’t get enough sleep or are feeling anxious, it can throw immune function out of balance – just like grownups!
- Establish a consistent bedtime with ample wind-down time (and no screentime leading up to bedtime!) – getting back to routine can be exhausting.
- Check in with kids about their feelings as they return to regular group activities, which can sometimes trigger stress and anxiety in kids … encourage them to tell you in their own words!
- Use herbal support! TiliaCalm® Kids tincture is a soothing herbal formula designed specifically for children who suffer from anxiety. It works to calm nervous energy and helps them get to sleep – PLUS helps relieve mild digestive disturbances.
E = Eat Well and Exercise
Exercise aids healthy childhood development, and physical fitness also lets them blow off steam. Support athletic hobbies and physical play and encourage family exercise – preferably outdoors!
Pack lunchboxes and prepare snacks with plenty of nutrient-dense foods, including lots of colourful fruits and veggies. Try using cookie-cutters to serve melon, bread, and cheese slices in fun, enticing shapes.
Avoid high sugar, processed convenience foods.
Supplement with Vitamin D3 – a crucial nutrient for immune function. Canadian kids are especially at risk of deficiency when the days get shorter and there’s less sunlight exposure. Vitamin D3 for All is a unique liquid vitamin that is suitable for the whole family, with convenient, tasteless drops that make it easy to take and adjust dosage to the right amount for each person.
E = Establish Equilibrium
A balanced immune system is a child’s strongest immune system. Supporting balanced health in kids is the best way to improve their resiliency to infection – and plant medicine is uniquely suited to help with this!
Adaptogens are plant medicines that support crucial immune responses against illness and infection. They increase general resistance to threats by adapting their function to the body’s specific needs to regulate either an overactive or an underactive (prone to colds and flu) immune system back to its balanced, strongest state.
Immune-specific adaptogens, astragalus and codonopsis, are the two highly effective herbs in the #1 selling Deep Immune® Kids daily formula
- Astragalus strengthens both innate and adaptive immunity for a robust defensive system.
- Codonopsis is immune restorative, improves resilience to fatigue, and defends against frequent infection.
Deep Immune® Kids is a safe and mild-tasting formula that Canadian families have relied upon for over 20 years – and is the winner of the prestigious Alive® Gold Retailer & Consumer choice Award.
Now is the perfect time to incorporate Deep Immune® Kids into your daily routine to fortify your child’s natural defences, helping to prevent viral infections, colds & flu.
How best to take Deep Immune® Kids
Ideally, this is taken daily as part of a regular routine 3 weeks on, 1 week off, starting several weeks prior to high exposure times. But it’s never too late to start strengthening your child’s immune system.
We always recommend checking with an ND who specializes in herbal medicine to determine what is best for your child.
For the most effective support it should be taken twice daily – ideally in a little water on an empty stomach, just before breakfast and dinner.
Note: Deep Immune® Kids contains dairy (in the form of whey in trace amounts) but is lactose free. For complete product credentials, visit the product page here.
D = Defend
When symptoms strike, being prepared with plant medicine on hand to fight back against infection is key. Echinacea is a powerful and well-established herb that’s safe for kids and works to stimulate the immune system and treat cold and flu infections at the source. Taking it at the first signs of symptoms is crucial to help nip illness in the bud and reduce its severity and duration.
Most kids’ echinacea formulas are made with one strain, but Echinacea 2+Kids contains 2 species: Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea. Combined, they effectively reinforce the therapeutic action of one another for the most powerful and bioavailable kids’ echinacea formula available – one that’s also easy-to-take!
Tips for Parents: Helping kids take tinctures!
St. Francis Herb Farm’s children’s formulas are formulated with a mild taste, so they can be taken straight from the dropper, or mixed in with a little water. Taking “shots” as a family can also be a fun way to get kids on board.
It’s ideal to take tinctures on an empty stomach for absorption, but it is totally fine to mix with juice or put into a smoothie – if kids prefer it that way. Whatever works to make it a part of the daily routine.
Plant medicine is not just a band-aid treating immediate symptoms. It works to activate the body’s natural resources to defend against illness – so consistency is key. If a dose is missed, just take as soon as you remember.
