Rating: 
Summary: Be your child's BEST health advocate with this awesome book!
Review: 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!
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