homeopathic medicine for kids?

Anyone have any strong opinions one way or the other about homeopathic remedies for children, specifically younger ones (2 and 4)? I just found out the medicine my ex got for my younger son is a homeopathic one.

My one experience with homeopathy was not successful so I am semi-sceptical but don't dismiss it out of hand.

I can't say the medicine has been that helpful but it's certainly not got him worse.

Thoughts?

It's just water, if liquid, or whatever are in the pills.  Harmless, but pointless, except for placebo affect.

If you follow the whole idea of dilution, each remedy is diluted so much that it must have had every element already pass through it. 

But if that is what he wants to spend his money on it, it won't do any harm. 

It's quackery :-/ but I agree with bookgrl in that its probably harmless quackery, as far as those things go.

I'm 100% skeptical. If he needs to be medicated, take him to a medical doctor.

I'm 100% skeptical. If he needs to be medicated, take him to a medical doctor.

I already did. And got the stuff the doc recommended. It's my ex who decided to use something else.

But that's a whole other story.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

It's quackery but harmless, I agree....but you might want to check what your lad is  taking and if it has an effect with anything that he may have been prescribed as there are some dangerous herbs out there in the wrong potency. (Appreciate that homeopathy remedies are normally diluted to crazy levels but I wouldn't want my kid taking Senna, even if it was diluted to one drop in a hundred)
Ones to watch out for are - Chaparral, Coltsfoot, Comfrey, Ephedra, Lobelia, Pennyroyal, Senna, and Yohimbe as they all contain NGDA which can cause liver damage.

If it were me, I'd ask the ex to tell me specifically what this medicine is, the dilution, etc. Then I'd phone my GP and see what he/see had to say about any interactions with other meds.

Just to echo what everyone else has said, homeopathy is quackery.  Since there isn't actually anything IN it, it is unlikely to cause any issues. 

The only real harm it can do is to prevent the real medicine from being taken - will your ex give them this instead of the doctor prescribed medicine or in addition to it?

It's this product (http://www.hylands.com/products/coldcough.php) and readily available at any drugstore.

Jake isn't on other meds so I'm not worried about that right now. However, if he gave it to Sammy, that's different.

Just to echo what everyone else has said, homeopathy is quackery.  Since there isn't actually anything IN it, it is unlikely to cause any issues. 

The only real harm it can do is to prevent the real medicine from being taken - will your ex give them this instead of the doctor prescribed medicine or in addition to it?

I've told him that if Jake is no better by Monday, then it's back to the doctor. Don't get me wrong, he's not that sick. He just can't quite shake all his snottiness and has a bit of a cough still. I'm just kicking myself because I only just realized the stuff was homeopathic. I just thought it wasa store brand I didn't recognize.

The ex gave this to him instead of the OTC stuff the ped told me to get.

It's a long story.

*sigh*

It's this product (http://www.hylands.com/products/coldcough.php) and readily available at any drugstore.

Jake isn't on other meds so I'm not worried about that right now. However, if he gave it to Sammy, that's different.

I've told him that if Jake is no better by Monday, then it's back to the doctor. Don't get me wrong, he's not that sick. He just can't quite shake all his snottiness and has a bit of a cough still. I'm just kicking myself because I only just realized the stuff was homeopathic. I just thought it wasa store brand I didn't recognize.

The ex gave this to him instead of the OTC stuff the ped told me to get.

It's a long story.

*sigh*

Oh love, I wouldn't kick yourself about it, how would you know? It's not something you'd assume, especially if he's not shown much interest in homeopathy for the boys previously.

You're running such a gauntlet/minefield anyway, you can't expect to catch everything that happens.

The likelihood is that he's been taking plain pills with water in them and that he'll just be snotty for an extra couple of days.

Yes, it just sounds like a cold that'll run its course with or without homeopathic medicine. (I almost typed 'homeopathetic' by mistake!). 

That sounds like a very frustrating position to be in - I hope your little one feels better soon!

Thanks everyone. I've had to play the diplomat with this, but I hope next time he'll at least alert me to any changes he decides to make.

just a quick comment, not specifically about this case (and I hope Jake feels better soon) but to do with the characterization of homeopathy as harmless.

This is true in a way in that the act of taking a sugar pill (and that's all homeopathic remedies are) is not going to cause any harm.  However, it can cause harm in a slightly more insidious way.  It's not so much about taking the homeopathic pill, it's about what you take the pill instead of.

There have been cases of people taking a homeopathic anti-malaria vaccine rather than the regular one before going to countries where malaria is endemic, and then falling sick because their vaccine, while harmless, did nothing.

It's a hidden harm, and one that can be hard to fight against.

Apologies if this was a derail, and again I hope Jake gets better soon.

That stuff is like the old onion poultices of yore...  He might as well as stick on onion on his chest and burn some matches!

I don't dismiss homeopathy completely as some of it is based on traditional meds which can help to alleviate symptoms.

 With kids you can't give them the meds you used to so using more natural approaches can work. 

 To be honest a humidifier with vicks or even boiling some mint and eucalyptus in a pot is very helpful.  Pharmacies in Spain sell it along side other cold meds.  Saline drops are good too.  My whole family has the crud and the humidifier is great.  We have both a cold mist and a warm mist one, but I like the warm mist for chest congestion and cough. 

That and some Tylenol and Alex has been okay.   

My doctor recommends complimentary therapies not alternative. I wouldn't take anything my family doctor did not recommend or know about first.