Herbalism For Families Made Simple

Tea Dosages For Children

(if adult dosage is 1 cup or 8 oz)

Younger than 1 year 1⁄2 to 3 teaspoons

2 to 4 years 1 to 4 ounces

4 to 7 years 2 to 4 ounces

7 to 11 years 4 to 6 ounces

Tincture Dosages For Children

(if adult dosage is 2 dropperfuls, or 60 drops)

Younger than 3 months* 2 drops

3 to 6 months 3 drops

6 to 9 months * 4 drops

9 to 12 months * 5 drops

12 to 18 months* 7 drops

18 to 24 months * 8 drops

2 to 3 years* 10 drops

3 to 4 years 12 drops

4 to 6 years 15 drops

6 to 9 years 24 drops

9 to 12 years 30 drops (one dropperful)

*Glycerine only tinctures for 2 years and younger

Child Dosages

(age 12 and older)

Glycerin tinctures 1 dropperful; 3 or 4 times a day

Syrups 1 teaspoon, 3-6 times a day

Easy Elderberry Elixir Recipe

Without Water (shelf stable)

Combine glycerin extracts of 1 part elderberry (Sambucus nigra), 1 part Catnip (Nepteta cataria), 1 part Peppermint (Mentha x piperita); 1 part rose (Rosa spp.); 1/2 part licorice root (Glycyrhizza glabra) and 1/2 part raw honey* into a one fl oz amber glass dropper bottle. Label the bottle with the ingredients and the date made.

*omit raw honey for children under the age of 1. Children under the age of 1 do not have fully developed digestive systems and cannot digest honey, eating honey under the age of one can be fatal.

Elderberry is an amazing herb that does quite a lot of things. It also happens to be one of the most well researched and scientifically supported herbs in today’s herbal supplement market.

Catnip is a wonderful mint family member that is great for children’s formulas.

Peppermint is loved by children and it’s aroma is very pleasing to them.

Rose is cooling and aromatic.

Licorice is soothing!

How to determine parts in this recipe and any other herbal recipe that calls for “parts”

A one fl oz dropper bottle is 30 ml. To easily create our elixir divide ml by the total number of parts in the recipe. Since the recipe calls for 5 parts the math is 30/5, so 30/5=6, 30 ml/5 parts=6 ml a part.

13 Powerful Ways To Help Children Regulate Their Nervous Systems Naturally

• The nervous system is the most fundamental system to begin strategically nurturing as a family.

• Doing this work is actually not very hard and can be done with free tools at home even if you can only carve a few minute a day to devote to this practice.

• The nervous system basically rules the body, many things the body can do is because of the work of the nervous system.

Here are 13 ways to get started on the journey to exploring nervous system health as a family:

1. Daily activity outside: Every age group for children requires specific amounts of outdoor activities and if your children are attending licensed schools, day programs or after school programs then they are getting that time as required by law. Families can expand on this with strategic time outdoors as a family, with special recreational outings, and age specific activities that create meaningful identity forging experiences.

2. Learn and apply daily breathwork: Breath is the most fundamental thing about being human and breathwork is the practice of understand how using breath can help us be healthier. Breathwork can help children learn how to manage their own behaviors and can even help children deter serious symptoms of illnesses.

3. Movement: Again, like outside activity, there are daily physical movement requirements for all children. Expand on what services they are already receiving with special movement outings and activities, diverse approaches to movement, team sports and clubs, attending professional games to witness how games are played. Make sure to include gross motor play options to help your children stabilize themselves in movement and strengthen muscles.

4. Rest: Every age group needs a certain amount of rest and building healthy rest routines can impact everything for a child, improving academic outcomes and the ability to make and sustain healthy relationships.

5. Plant A Garden: Self sustainability, science and discovery, starting a garden is an amazing activity for children of all ages. Gardening is a well known tool in recreational therapy and is able to help reduce stress.

6. Learn How To Identify Feelings For Self And Others: There are many tools to help children identify their feelings and the feelings of others. This identification is the first step to being able to self regulate and to be able to make meaningful relationships. Tools for parents/ guardians are widely available since the pandemic and can include: feeling wheels, feeling id cards and social stories.

7. Drink herbal tea: Herbal teas are loved by children and they are such easy bonding opportunities it would be a shame to miss out on them! During the summer those same herbal teas can become sun teas or even popsicles. Many picky children who don’t drink enough water can’t say no to a cup of peppermint tea or even water that has had leaves of mint “infusing” in them. It makes water drinking fun.

8. Write and say aloud daily affirmations to develop positive self talk: Children at the age of 4 start doing self talk. Reframing moments of tension or challenging feelings with new beliefs can be done with affirmations.

9. Do a lot of sensory activities: Sensory activities are good for all children and using natural materials are some the of best things to use. Allow your children to get messy, allow them to walk barefoot in grass. How they learn is so much based in senses and these things expand the nervous systems own way of understanding the world, and what is safe.

10. Support feelings of safety: All children deserve safe and nurtuing environments. Enhance on safety whenever possible, self regulate your own nervous systems, ask for help if needed. Remind your children that they are loved and protected.

11. Eat whole foods and cook together: Whenever possible cook together and eat whole foods because these are the vitamins that the body really craves. Vitamin supplementation is far less effective than simple whole foods and your children are what they eat. Give the nervous system more to work with.

12. Detach From Online: There are limits to online exposure for healthy growth and development. Part of safety is to help our children not depend on online devices. There are serious consequences to being online too much as a child.

13. Do the work yourself: We model self care and then they do self care. It really can be that simple. Show your children how to address boundaries by practicing healthy boundaries, show them how to eat well by eating well.

Important disclaimer.

Every child is unique and every family is unique and though these are fantastic general tools they are not to be used in lieu of other measures if those measures are best for your unique situation.

Some children with diagnosed (or undiagnosed) physical or mental disorders might require additional therapies or medications besides natural tools to support their individual needs.

Not all children get the opportunity to grow up in a safe environment and self regulation if every introduced to the child would be incredibly challenging due to trauma and a lack of safety. We ask anyone who wants to apply these strategies with at risk youth to practice them with sensitivity for the child and with responsibility. If you are not sure how to handle a situation try to connect with the family, build a rapport and see if they would be open to talk about options with you.