Monitoring what your child eats all day, every day is impossible. It’s also a learning process. You want your child to have an expansive eating routine, while still being careful of what their tummy can handle. Sometimes it becomes a game of trial and error. You also have to deal with what your child sneaks and eats. For example, those six chocolate doughnuts that you found under their bed yesterday. There are several all-natural remedies that should help when you hear that dreaded screech “My tummy hurts!” Here are a few to try.
Peppermint
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Peppermint tea is preferred. Peppermint tea has a calming effect on stomach muscles and the ability to improve the flow of bile, according to Dr. Sears from the University of Maryland Medical Center. If your child refuses a cup of tea, a peppermint candy will also help. However, the candy is not highly concentrated in mint and will not work as well as tea.
Reflexology
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Use reflexology to alleviate your child’s tummy ache. By applying pressure to the arch of their left foot their stomach muscles will be triggered to relax. Parents.com goes into more detail about the foot reflexology and instructs parents to “use a forward, caterpillar-like motion (press one spot, move a little forward, and repeat) to go across the foot. Switch hands and repeat from right to left, with the thumb of your right hand, and continue until you cover the center of the arch.” Hopefully this method puts them right to sleep, too.
CRAP
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This diet is recommended by Dr. Roizen the co-author of YOU: Raising Your Child. He explains the diet as, “the CRAP diet, it stands for fruits with fiber that can act to naturally ‘loosen things up’: cherries, raisins, apricots, and prunes,” It is important to keep the fruit intake in your child’s diet high. A cup of these fruits daily will help with that and decrease the chances of constipation.
Ginger
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Ginger tea and ginger ale are perfect for an upset stomach. The ginger helps balance the stomach’s acid levels and assist with digestion. I’m sure your child will love the ginger-ale over ginger tea, but push for the tea for a better result.
Activities
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Suggesting that your child goes outside to play after they’ve come to you crying in pain, may seem a little inaccurate. I’m sure your child will respond with a side eye. But according to Parents.com, it’s best for digestion. Laying down will make constipation and pain worse. Stretching, walking and active cardio movements will ease the pain.
Yogurt
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Yogurt can help with diarrhea. Bacteria are living in your intestines and are needed to regulate bowel movements. Eating yogurt helps the good bacteria stay present and working properly in intestines. Give yogurt to your child if the visits to the bathroom are frequent and irregular.
Do you have any go-to food remedies for when your little one has tummy troubles?
