Soothing preparations for children and alternative methods

Recently, I have formed a strong feeling that our whole society, from young to old, is hopelessly chronically ill. Queues in pharmacies, in any case, sometimes there are more bursts at the cash desk of the cinema.

Almost half of the people standing in them, according to my observations, are young parents or grandmothers, grandfathers, who came to be sedative for their young child or grandson. Well, what do you want: nervous and hectic time generates a restless generation.

The increased nervousness of our children is not our problem, it is our responsibility. I agree that a screaming, jerking and stomping baby, especially in a public place - a park, a shop or a cafe - is a stress factor not only for his exhausted parents, but for everyone around him. But to feed a healthy, but just a few restless kid with sedative pills, agree, somehow cowardly and unsightly, and sometimes even criminally.

Is it worth it to replenish the accounts of already non-distressed bosses from the pharmaceutical business, buying at exorbitant rates sedative or nootropic advertised means? Let's try to figure out when children need sedatives, and when they can do without them. And do traditional medicines have non-traditional alternatives?

The depressants in the understanding of modern official medicine are drugs that normalize and balance the nerve processes of arousal and inhibition in the cerebral cortex. Often this balance is fragile, and braking "outweighs". This mainly occurs when it comes to the use of synthetic sedatives.

In addition to them, sedatives are of other origin - homeopathic and vegetable. Drug sedation is usually prescribed by a doctor. For all other drugs, it is also advisable to ask the doctor for advice in order to avoid negative consequences.

In relation to homeopathic remedies, discussions in society do not abate. Someone considers them a “dummy” with a placebo effect, someone is convinced that the small doses of substances used in them are the most suitable treatment for children. In any case, parents, according to reviews, are more inclined towards homeopathy. As for the doctors, there are as many opinions as there are, as there are the doctors themselves - each specialist has his own opinion on the problem of restless children.

Parents need to start worrying and write down a baby to see a doctor to get a prescription for sedatives in the following cases:

• If the child is hyperactive and easily excitable.
• If he has disturbed night sleep (1-2 awakenings per night are not considered a deviation).
• If the child "rolls" strong, frequent and rather long tantrums.
• If the baby behaves extremely restlessly 80% of the time of wakefulness (runs, screams, speaks loudly, does not know how to listen and remember. To concentrate, while almost always actively gesticulating).
• If a the child is closed, anxious, depressed and depressed.
• If a teenager has a markedly impaired motivation to learn, he has memory problems, he has antisocial behavior, unmotivated aggression, irritability,
• If the child is written at night (after 3 years), suffers from nightmares, falls far short of his peers in development, suffers from tics.
• If a child hardly transfers new conditions for himself - he began to attend kindergarten or school and these changes in his life are very painful.

There are situations in which it is certainly impossible to do without sedatives. But let's leave the right to draw conclusions to the specialists, to diagnose the baby on their own is unacceptable. After all, a capricious and hysterical child may be due to the fact that he has the same parents, because of the peculiarities of his own temperament or because of pedagogical omissions - in other words, he is very poorly educated. In these cases, the drugs will only exacerbate the problem, and certainly will not benefit.

Soothing preparations for children are available in different dosage forms:

• Pills;
• Ampoules for intramuscular and intravenous administration;
• Capsules;
• Syrup;
• Drops;
• Mixtures;
• Herbal Fees;
• Suspensions and powders for the preparation of suspensions.

Requirements for sedatives for children:

• No toxicity
• The drug should not cause physical (drug) dependence,
• The list of contraindications should not be on three sheets with applications.

Watch a video in which the highest category psychotherapist, Candidate of Medical Science Alexander V. Galuschak tells in detail about one of the children's sedative drugs Phenibute:

The most common soothing preparations for children today are usually composed of a plant base. Doctors try to prescribe synthetic means in extreme cases with fairly serious diagnoses of a neurological and psychiatric profile. But herbal and homeopathic remedies, including nootropics - you are welcome. Let's look at the most popular children's soothing, which you can meet in any pharmacy:

Samples for allergic reactions are not included in the standard examination of the child in the clinic, and you can not reliably know which of the herbal components of the drug can cause allergies to your baby.

It happens that even a harmless pharmacy chamomile causes a rash, allergic rhinitis, and swelling of soft tissues. It is better not to risk and consult a pediatrician. He will give you a dosage based on the age, weight of the child and the general characteristics of his state of health.

So, now we know which drugs will help calm the child. Are there any alternative methods? Of course, there are quite a lot of them. Some you may remember from your own childhood. Some have spread relatively recently. What will help calm the child?

• Herbal tea. Soothing gathering You can prepare it yourself, or you can purchase it at the pharmacy. Anxiety and nervousness are well removed tea on the basis of chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, mint, motherwort.
• Soothing baths. They can be made to children from birth. Herbs and decoctions of herbs that you add to the water may be different (most often it is motherwort, pine needles, chamomile, St. John's wort, lemon balm), but you must carry out the procedures strictly according to schedule. Soothing therapeutic baths should be repeated after 2-3 days for 1-2 months.
• Soothing massage. Massage for hyperactive children should include a set of exercises aimed at relaxation. This stroking, patting, tingling, circular movements of the hands. The use of soothing ointment or cream (this is a children's cream with chamomile, melissa) is welcomed. Contraindicated - sharp, deep and tonic depression, painful effect during a massage session. It is the best of all to do the calming massage shortly before evening bathing before going to bed.

• Music therapy. This method is based on the positive effects of sounds on the psyche of the child. If the baby is restless, often makes tantrums, is naughty, make him several "musical pauses" per day. Do not make him sit and listen, let the music sound in the background. Let the preludes and fugues of Bach, the composition of Mozart, the Beethoven symphony, the works of Grieg, Mussorgsky, Chopin appear in your playlist. The main thing is to choose slow and melodic compositions, as fast and energetic have the opposite effect (brisk swinging with arms and legs without a hint of calm my son causes Vivaldi music, for example). Scientists have found that the most beneficial for children are only mom's lullabies, so more often sing your child songs. In second place is classical music, and children's songs from cartoons took only the third position.
• Aromatherapy. Inhalation of heated vapors of essential oils (aroma oils) is a great way to relieve anxiety and stress in a child. But here it must be remembered that it can be harmful for newborns and children up to 3 years old, because at this age kids are especially sensitive to strong odors. They may have allergies, respiratory diseases. Therefore, it is better to temporarily install aroma candles and aroma lamps in the rooms of children 4-5 years old and older.

This video contains music that received a large number of grateful feedback from parents. They claim that under her children quickly calm down and fall asleep with a strong and peaceful sleep.

• Game therapy. Social and child psychologists are always ready to help you in drawing up games that will relieve tension in your child. The treatment received in the course of the game is most favorable for the growing man. Most often, hyper-excitable children use quiet games that require concentration. In children with depression and neurosis, role-playing games are better suited to help them harmoniously adapt to the world around them.
• Art therapy. Treatment by art and creativity.Very helpfull children modeling, drawing, creating applications. Any creative process that stimulates fine motor skills has a positive effect on brain function. If no one in the family can draw and sculpt, it does not matter. Now there are so-called soothing coloring. You can buy them or download the child on the Internet. They differ from other types of colorings by pictures with an abundance of fine details, by analogy with mandalas for adults, by sacral practice in Buddhism and Hinduism. It is not necessary to assume that a nervous and restless child will immediately start enthusiastically for soothing creativity. But if every day something to draw or make little by little, then, as they say, patience and hard work will be done.

• Fairy tale therapy. You probably already heard about the incredible healing and educational impact on the child of fairy tales. Believe me, these rumors are fully justified. Children love to listen to fairy tales, especially good fairy tales for the night, and restless children are perfectly suited to fairy tales in which the characters could overcome their excitement. Tell the kids in more detail exactly how the characters managed it, what they felt at the same time. “Ivan Tsarevich went to search for his arrow. He was very worried if he would be able to find her, and he was worried about how he would then return home, his hands even got sweaty and his head hurt ... ” power of age is not always able to express in words.
• Vitamins. Do not underestimate the benefits of vitamins in the correction of restless behavior in a child. Some nervous disorders arise precisely from a lack of vitamins and minerals. These "important" for the child's psyche are magnesium and calcium, B vitamins, vitamins D, C, E. Therefore, choose a vitamin complex for your child by age, and make sure that his diet is also saturated with foods containing enough vitamins.
• Folk "secrets". There are folk secrets and little tricks to cope with the tension and nervousness in a child. My great-grandmother, who raised 8 children, always read prayers to them before going to bed. And also washed the spring water. She believed that the healing properties of spring water and prayers help remove from the child "any evil misfortune."

We started talking about child sedatives with a review of drugs, but in practice they should be the last thing worth resorting to. Any pills - a necessary necessity, not a voluntary choice. If your child is healthy, the pediatrician and the neurologist find no serious cause for concern, accept the baby as it is and use alternative methods. Moreover, in a situation with alternatives, you can always combine them or practice everything at once.