Naturopathic Care for Parents and Babies in Melbourne

naturopath melbourne

As you navigate the transformative journey of pregnancy, birth and parenthood and consider how best to support yourself and your growing family, we encourage you to consider postnatal naturopathy in Melbourne as an avenue for ongoing holistic wellness. Let’s explore the principles and benefits of postnatal naturopathy, shedding light on how it can offer support to both parents and babies through the various critical life stages and big changes.

Unlocking the Benefits of Postnatal Naturopathy

Postnatal naturopathy embraces a holistic approach to health and well-being. It goes beyond addressing specific issues, focusing on various aspects such as diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management. This comprehensive approach extends to the use of nutritional supplementation, herbal medicines, and homeopathy. These tools work in harmony to enhance overall health for both parents and babies.

How Postnatal Naturopathy Works

While postnatal naturopathy can and does provide immediate relief for acute issues, its main emphasis is on holistic intervention and preventative healthcare. Naturopaths carefully assess an individual’s physical and mental state to identify areas for improvement in their overall health and wellness. Collaboration with other medical practitioners ensures thorough testing and diagnoses if needed, resulting in optimal holistic outcomes. Collaboration with your healthcare team is a key value and process at Fertile Ground and The Melbourne Apothecary to ensure you’re getting the best care. We have a wide network of collaborative health professionals from various allied health and medical professions who we commonly work with and refer to.

Naturopathy for Every Family Member

Our services extend beyond postnatal naturopathy for parents in Melbourne. We offer naturopathic care for babies and young children too, at both Fertile Ground and The Melbourne Apothecary, providing convenience through telehealth consultations so you can access naturopathic care with us from anywhere in the world. Our expert practitioners are dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of your entire family.

For Parents

New parenting often brings tiredness, exhaustion, and sometimes overwhelm. Our expert practitioners are highly experienced in helping parents navigate these challenges. Whether you’re recovering from birth, managing breastfeeding concerns, coping with sleep deprivation, or addressing issues of mood and stress, our naturopaths can provide valuable support.

In fact, the time after birth is often referred to as The Fourth Trimester, and support to help your body and mind adjust to this new terrain is critical. If this is you (or about to be you) get started with our free guide:

Download – Free Guide For Your Fourth Trimester

For Baby

Children’s health can often be maintained and restored through minor dietary changes and short-term naturopathic assistance. Our commitment is to help you strike the right balance in supporting your child’s healthy development. We also offer guidance on homeopathic kits and natural remedies for common childhood issues too.

Book a Consultation to Support Your Family Health

If you’re seeking naturopathic pregnancy care, postnatal naturopathy, or support for babies and children, our team at Fertile Ground Health Group in Melbourne is here for you. Our highly skilled naturopathic practitioners are ready to discuss your unique needs and help you achieve optimal health. Book an appointment and access the naturopathic support to help you achieve greater wellness.

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Help your kids manage stress

help your kids manage stress

How can you help your kids manage stress? Living in this day and age, stress is a normal part of modern life.

Some types of stress can be helpful, whereas other types of stress can be incredibly debilitating if sustained long-term.

Children may be exposed to some sort of stress everyday. “Good” stress might show up when your child is called on in class or when a task needs to be finished. ‘Tummy butterflies’ or sweaty hands are signs of this and can be helpful to get things done. But “bad” stress can happen if the stressful feelings keep going over time.

Children may not feel well if a family member is sick, if they are having troubles at school or home, if they are going through anything that causes upset everyday, such as just having too many activities – all of these can take their toll. This kind of stress isn’t going to help and it actually can make children sick.

Sometimes stress can be so overwhelming, it feels like it is taking over your child’s life. Thankfully, the body has an amazing, protective stress response system to help your child to cope. The stress response was historically designed to kick in to save lives; nowadays, it may be activated everyday rather than just when coming into contact with a hungry sabre tooth tiger! However, this ongoing activation by the nervous system can lead to symptoms of stress and mood disorders that are becoming increasingly common in children.

Recognising the Signs of Stress

You may already be familiar with some of these signs and symptoms. The following can occur in acute (short-term) stress or with ongoing stress. The presentation will vary depending on the type of stress, how long your child has been experiencing it, and how well they are able to manage stress already. Signs of acute stress can include:

  • Muscle tension
  • Increased heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Energy fluctuations
  • Alertness
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Tummy troubles
Getting the Right Tools

When under stress, an overworked stress response system requires even more nutrients than usual. This is because the body needs vitamins and minerals to produce the hormones and neurotransmitters (the brain’s messengers) required to adapt to the stress and bring the body back into balance.

  • B group vitamins: B vitamins are needed for healthy mood, motivation and wellbeing. They are vital for producing energy, as well as the neurotransmitters that promote happiness, relaxation and sleep.
  • Magnesium: When stressed, the body may require more magnesium than normal. Magnesium can be beneficial for many things including managing stress and improving energy. You may also know that magnesium is used as a muscle relaxant. Due to its relaxing qualities, it may improve mood and sleep. Ask your Naturopath about the best form of magnesium for your child that is both well absorbed and well-tolerated, minimising the risk of potential gastrointestinal effects.
  • Taurine and glutamine: These amino acids are required as building blocks for your neurotransmitters. They can also help to calm the nervous system, as well as protect against the damage that stress can cause.
Setting Up the Foundations

Now that you know which nutrients can be great to help your kids manage stress, aiming for a nutritious diet goes a long way to assist your child to maintain the health of their nerves, digestion and immunity long-term. What happens to your child’s diet when stressed? Do they eat a lot, or do they make poor food choices when stress means being short on time, patience or energy?

  • During times of stress, sugars and refined carbohydrates are a no no! While they provide quick energy, they do not fuel the body with nutrients it needs to cope with stress, and can ultimately lead to mood and energy fluctuations and even weight gain.
  • Protein from fish, lean meats, eggs, legumes and nuts can provide your child with amino acids to fuel their brain function whilst sustaining them for longer, minimising those stress cravings.
  • Fish, in particular, contains both protein and essential fats, otherwise known as omega-3 fatty acids which can support a healthy stress response and healthy mood.
  • Eating healthy food is a great start, other great ways to encourage your child to handle stress may be:
    • Getting enough sleep
    • Relaxation exercises such as inhale (breathe in) slowly through the nose, and then exhale (breathe out) slowly through the mouth. Repeat two to four times – anytime!
    • Establishing a balance between school stuff and time to play: sleep, exercise, leisure (something fun), and food.

Talk to your Naturopath to help your kids manage stress. How well do they handle stress over time? Signs of ongoing, longer term stress can include:

  • Fatigue
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Worrying
  • Sadness
  • Irritability
  • Poor concentration
  • Weight loss or gain
  • Weakened immunity
Be Strong Against Stress!

With guidance from your Naturopath and these simple tips, your child can stand up to stress – strengthening your children’s mind and body to become more resilient to the effects of everyday stress. Talk to your Naturopath today about how you can best manage the stress that life throws your way.

Written by Paediatric Naturopath, Sarah Harris

Sarah Harris is available for one on one digital consultations. You’re welcome to book in with Sarah.

When it comes to children’s health, make sure you’re not wasting your money or your time

By Sarah Harris, FGHG Paediatric & Family Naturopath

Did you know Australians spend more on vitamins and supplements than on prescription drugs? With over 11,000 complementary medicine products for sale in Australia it’s no surprise to find bewildered parents doing their best to choose a supplement that might help their child feel better, healthier or happier. As a naturopath I often feel compelled to stand beside these parents in supermarkets and chemists to offer assistance; but ultimately it is better to direct my focus toward lovingly consulting with children and parents to determine their real treatment needs.

Children’s health requirements are special given their immature physiology and varied nutritional requirements. Self- prescribing, whilst appropriate in simple cases, could end up costing more than you expect in time, money and results if you make the wrong selection. In many cases it is very important to seek advice on individual treatment. When you are clear about the real needs for your child’s health, you can be confident if and when you choose to buy natural medicines off the shelf.

Different stages of development require a tailored approach for every age and size, degree of fussiness, absorption ability, and consideration given to any possible underlying health condition. Professional prescribing for your child ensures appropriate dosing, directions and advice on various ways to get the right medicines into kids, with more fun and palatable options.

Spending time with a naturopath to understand your child’s health can be both educational and reassuring. Along with prescribing appropriate treatments, we often share fantastic traditional remedies that can have the same or better effect as some of the off the shelf remedies found in the chemist or supermarket. Many traditional remedies have been confirmed by scientific studies to have healing effects and they are readily available, if you know what you’re looking for. For example:

German Chamomile tea enhances sleep and is well known for its calming effect. Beneficial for children who are distressed and unable to sleep and many children enjoy the taste. Research shows that it improves the ability to fall asleep without affecting daytime functioning and cognitive performance. It is also useful for teething, and for irritable children with “nervous tummies”, having a soothing effect on digestive upsets, a common symptom of stress in children.

Using food as medicine is also a fabulous way to improve the long term health of your child. But with so many different opinions in the media and online, it can be difficult to know whose opinion you can trust. Many issues can be resolved through proper assessment and appropriate recommendations for your child’s diet. When a child has a nutritionally balanced diet and you use foods as medicine; naturopathic advice, supplementation and herbal medicines can be the additional layer of treatment when you need the big guns to prevent illness and treat acute or chronic conditions.

When there is so much to know and understand about your child’s health, it makes sense to seek tailored naturopathic advice and invest in child-friendly medicines, suitable for even the fussiest of kids. Taking the guess work out of choosing remedies for your family can give you peace of mind, better results and reassurance that the medicines going in will be safe and effective.

SarahHarris_edited_colourSarah Harris, FGHG paediatric naturopath and nutritionist

Sarah is a qualified and experienced naturopath, herbalist and nutritionist with more than a decade of knowledge and practice in complementary medicine. As a mother of three children and highly skilled in providing  naturopathic care, Sarah has a special interest in treating children of all ages. Her empathetic and kind nature instills comfort and confidence when providing advice to parents about their child’s health and she works well with families and individuals to find solutions for health concerns.