> Children and Parenting > Health and Environmental Concerns > vaccinations

As long as I can remember, I’ve found the subject of natural childcare fascinating. My four children were born at home. My daughter, the oldest, was delivered by a midwife, with me as a bystander. My three sons were born at home, with just my wife and I, lots of herbs and homeopathy.

None of my children are vaccinated–no artificial immunity for them. They have never been given pharmaceutical drugs and we’ve never had to stay up at night because of an illness. As a matter of fact, my kids have never seen a medical doctor for professional reasons. They’ve grown normally, have excellent grades in school and have had most of the normal childhood diseases–minus the drugs. Their mother and I have worked together to maintain a natural, drug-free approach to our children’s health.

What have my years of training, years of private practice–and especially 10 years of being a parent–told me about children’s health? Here are a few pointers.

Healthy Vitality

Children have excellent vitality by nature. Vitality is the "living force" in all people that helps the body react to foreign intruders like micro-organisms and chemicals. Children’s high vitality means when they get sick it is fast, acute and they get over it quickly (for example, a high fever that doesn’t last long). With more vitality, your body reacts more quickly and with more force to repel intruders. In order to maintain that vitality–the basis for the body’s self-healing power–it’s important to give them foods that do not de-vitalize. Fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains help supply a variety of nutrients.

Some of you will want to tell me your kids won’t eat veggies. There have been times when mine don’t either, so I’ve found useful, fun ways to get phytochemicals (beneficial plant chemicals) into them. One of these is to mix your favorite superfood blend with a clean, organic protein source (soy, whey or both) into unsweetened pineapple juice and offer them this naturally sweet and nutrient-packed drink. Some companies have a superfood and protein blend available as a finished product. The other approach is to have them take their greens in popsicle format. I mix a green superfood blend with apple juice and make popsicles with it. It’s healthy, fun and thirst-quenching in the summer.

Immunity Without Drugs

Source: alive #215, September 2000