Summer's here! It's time for scraped knees and swimmer's ear. Herbs for Kids has a new ointment out for boo-boos--it's a green salve and has echinacea and other good herbs to help keep infection out and speed up healing. When I was growing up, we used to mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol and drop it into our ears after swimming, and it worked--it got rid of swimmer's ear. There's probably something even more natural to use; remind me to look that up.
Don't forget to keep giving your children friendly bacteria supplements, such as acidophilus and bifidus. These nice bacteria help kill bad bacteria!

Try to keep the sugar out of their diets too--an especially tough challenge in summer! Even if you use whole, unrefined sugar, cut down on that too. Sugar weakens the immune system. Visit the Health Choice Network's Page on Sugar to see a huge list of illnesses caused by sugar!

Try to avoid dairy products, especially cow's milk. Cow's milk is a common allergen which produces mucous in the body. Goat's milk is less irritating since it's closer to human milk. Rice milk or soy milk are really yummy on cereal...your kids may not even be able to tell the difference. Lots of healthful foods have lots of calcium; even maple syrup has more calcium than cow's milk! Of course, we don't want to drink maple syrup by the glassful, but switching from fake syrups to real maple syrup will add to your good health habits.

Garlic is a natural antibiotic/antimicrobial and can shorten the duration of colds and flu. The only problem is getting the garlic into your child. Try crushing some and mixing with a teaspoon of honey. Arizona Natural makes "Koala Kids," an herbal blend just for kids which includes odorless garlic. Their number is 1-800-255-2823.
Make sure your children get lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and whole grains. There's not enough nurition in white bread!