It’s Time To Rethink How We Protect Our Children

If your kids are anything like mine, they are wild by nature. They love to run and jump, go exploring, get adrenaline rushes, and learn all the new things. Plenty of what they attempt to do (especially my son) terrifies me. My job as a parent is to encourage them to explore their body limits and give them the space to truly trust themselves, and their capabilities. My fear is not an adequate judge of whether my kids can or can’t do something. 

Somewhere along the way for a lot of parents, I think that the idea of protecting our kids got skewed. Instead of giving our children the tools they need to succeed, we started removing obstacles for them so that there is no chance of failure. What this introduces is the energy field of fear of failure and a lack of trust in oneself for the child.

The most resilient children are those that have been given the opportunity to fail over and over. Each failure is a learning opportunity, and it normalizes failure. Every successful person that you meet is successful for one big reason; they failed again and again until they found a way to make their plan work. Children need to be given this opportunity too. As parents, we need to let them test their physical limits and fail. We need to let our children’s immune systems do their job until it fails. And we need to let them work problems out on their own, exploring all avenues of success until they fail. Failure is the biggest lesson.

We limit our children’s opportunities for failure in a lot of different ways.

There is a whole movement of parents who are choosing to not allow their children to have trampolines or go to trampoline parks for fear of broken bones. Trampolines have so many benefits for children: they support the lymphatic system, they build strength and coordination, they are fitness disguised as fun, and they are the perfect opportunity for children to test their physical limits.

So if the worry is about potentially broken bones, rather than removing the potential danger (trampolines), our job as parents should be to support our children’s bodies so that their bones are not fragile and easy to break. Teaching our children to listen to their bodies is a huge part of this, as well. The body will usually signal if something is off or wrong before a traumatic event like a broken bone happens.

Vitamin D and Selenium are great ways to support your child’s bones, joints, and cartilage. I discuss the importance of both of these in my post, Naturally Support Your Child’s Body.

Many parents worry about flu season and how being in germ-filled environments (i.e. school) is going to affect their children’s health. The go-to action for this worry is constant hand sanitizer and hand washing. This eliminates the good microbes on the hands just as much as it eliminates the bad, essentially not allowing our children’s immune systems to do their jobs. 

Instead of fearing the germs, we should be protecting our children by bolstering their immune systems. 

I use a few different supplements and strategies to support my children’s immune systems, especially during flu season. Vitamin D and Vitamin C are great overall immune system boosters. Probiotics help maintain quality gut health which is about 70% of the backbone to the immune system. Echinacea and Stinging Nettle are my go to supplements to support their immune systems and are very effective in helping stop sickness in its tracks even if it has already hit. I discuss all of these, with links to products, in my post Naturally Support Your Child’s Body.

Immune boosting is a great protector for our kids but we aren’t going to win every battle and they eventually will be sick. Typical parent strategies for dealing with illness are over-the-counter meds (full of dye and other yucky additives) and antibiotics. Antibiotics wipe out all of the good bacteria along with the bad in the gut and should be a last resort used alongside high doses of probiotics to repopulate.

When my kids are sick, I use essential oils to fix most of their ailments alongside herbal tea and supplements. 

*The American Pediatric Society does not recommend the use of essential oils for kids until the age of two. I have used specific essential oils on my kids since they were born and will continue to do so. Many natural baby products advertise the use of essential oils so it is easy to see that the information may be skewed and overcautious. Herbs and essential oils have been used for hundreds of years and I honestly believe that doing so in specific manners is safe and effective. Parents should do their own research and trust what feels right for their families. 

I use a combination of different essential oils for my kids, depending on what is ailing them. Lavender and Frankincense and Myrrh are both great oils for overall body wellness and illness in general. Frankincense itself is a great essential oil for daily use and I love it for clearing my children’s auras. Chamomile is an herb I use in essential oil form or in tea to combat stomach issues. And I use eucalyptus and oregano oil, both sparingly, as heavy hitters for really getting rid of illness. I go more in depth about how and when to use each oil in this post, Naturally Support Your Child’s Body.

What other ways should we be rethinking how we protect our children?

If your child climbs a tree or a rock, first, let them do it! Offer silent support, dont voice your worry or let it show on your face, and be nearby if they slip.  When they inevitably get to the top and are freaking out about how to get down, don’t immediately save them. Talk them through it, and ask how they think they should approach getting down. Even with your verbal support, if they are able to physically make it down on their own, not only are they going to have a huge sense of accomplishment, but they are also going to trust their abilities so much more next time.

If your kid is going outside to play, let them have some time in the sun without sunscreen. The sun is the most natural method of vitamin D and the more time that your children spend in the sun, the more their bodies will naturally protect them from the downsides of the sun. 

Let your kids get dirty!!!! Soil is full of wonderful microbes that boost the immune system and have powerful effects on mental health. Getting washed up before bed is enough, they can be dirty the rest of the day if it means they are having fun!

Water, water, water! None of us, but I think especially children, are not drinking enough water. Water can solve almost any issue that a child is going to have. If they’re bored, let them play outside in a water table. If they’re cranky, have them drink some water or go take a bath. If they’re exhausted or seemingly over-hungry, have them drink some water or eat hydrating foods (watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, etc). Water is one of the simplest fixes for the body that we often forget. 

And on a final note, make your kids figure out as much as they possibly can by themselves. Start from an early age. If they can’t figure out how to open something or get their snack out, make them work through it before you fix it for them. If they’re arguing with their sibling over a toy, have them try to work it out amongst themselves before you are ever willing to step in. If they have this full idea about something that they want to do but they’re scared or they’ve never done it before, talk it through with them so that they can use their brains and their bodies to figure things out.

Children are born geniuses and they have the ability to safely test the limits of their bodies and to explore options as they work out problems. Our job as parents is to support them and their bodies but to otherwise get out of their way. This is how we raise strong capable adults that trust their bodies and their own instincts. This is how we protect our children.

*I am going to post links for all the products that I mentioned throughout this blog. I do earn a small commission if you purchase through these links. 

Vitamin D gummies for kids: https://amzn.to/4e6flcC

Selenium liquid drops: https://amzn.to/459v32t

Echinacea liquid drops for kids: https://amzn.to/459vk5v

Histamine Shield Plus for kids: https://amzn.to/3XrLPZ9

Kids probiotics: https://amzn.to/3xb0ugf

Lavender essential oil: https://amzn.to/4aQrGyT

Frankincense essential oil: https://amzn.to/3yMbYHP

Frankincense and myrrh essential oil: https://amzn.to/4bIuejD

Oregano essential oil: https://amzn.to/3Kv59Nh

Chamomile essential oil: https://amzn.to/3wZkZg1

Eucalyptus essential oil: https://amzn.to/3yNwMyw