Podcast 145 — Calling All Parents: “How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor”

Joette: (06:01)

So, back to the idea that Dr. Robert Mendelssohn had no understanding of homeopathy — or at least it doesn't show up in any of his books. But I'm going to read to you the back cover of this book because it's so fascinating. And so, my point that I'm making here by reading this and presenting these ideas today is that he had nothing but common sense.

We have common sense PLUS homeopathy. So, we actually have a medicine that he didn't even have access to. Yet, he still felt as though mothers could handle 90% of the conditions that befall their children on their own with just simple common sense and the release of the angst that is promulgated on parents these days.

So, this is what he says:

“Mothers, grandmothers and Mother Nature are the best doctors around.” That's the title of the back cover.

And then it says, “Dr. Robert Mendelsohn has dedicated his life to demystifying the medical profession …” [“Demystifying “is a very kind word. That's a real euphemism. He does more than demystify it.]“ … both as a renowned pediatrician for nearly 30 years and as the widely read author of ‘Confessions of a Medical Heretic’ and other books.”

“In this practical and informative guide, he turns his expertise to his own specialty, maintaining that parents tend to rely too heavily on their pediatricians and that they can take a more active role in determining which ailments require an office visit and which can be dealt with at home.”

Now, I have to say, since the eighties, this has ramped up because of social media. And even before that, with all of the television commercials when people were watching television — what is it, 15 years ago? 20 years ago? They have scared people into running to the doctor because then they insist on “Doctor, give this child — my child — an antibiotic.” Then the antibiotic sales increase dramatically so we all know where it's all coming from.

Now he says — still on the back cover — “Learn how to treat and diagnose at home.” [That's italicized: “at home.”] “Everyday colds and flus, childhood illnesses, strep throat …”

Yes, my friends, strep throat. But what if it's “type B” strep throat? My friends, it is still strep throat. And when I was growing up, it wasn't called strep throat, it was called “sore throat.” As soon as you attach a Latin-sounding name to it, it all of a sudden sounds more threatening.

“Vision and hearing problems.”

Vision! Are you listening? “Vision and hearing problems.” Must we run to the doctor if there's a vision or hearing problem? Let's think this through, my friends.

“Allergies.” Yes, allergies, yes. Should we run to the allergist? Hmmm. He says no, and he doesn't even have homeopathy.

“Emotional problems, skin ailments and everything else you'll need to know about major symptoms and illnesses.”

So, then it says “Plus” — plus/bullet point — “A complete section on picking the right doctor for your child.”

And that's paramount. You want someone, if you're even going to use a doctor — and I will say, parenthetically, my friends, I didn't. I went to a pediatrician one time when my oldest child, my first child, was six weeks old, and I learned my lesson. Now, you may not feel as gutsy as I did or confident, but I didn't have … I knew nothing about homeopathy. I employed it after that first visit.

If you happen to know my story, I employed it, but it was the first medicine I'd ever used — homeopathic medicine — and I did not know what I was doing. But I knew I was not going to go back to the doctor that caused the condition that my child was suffering. I was certain of it.

So, a complete section on picking the right doctor for your child.

The second bullet is “Comprehensive guidelines for using time-honored, age-old remedies.” And he doesn't mean homeopathic. He means age-old remedies like putting the child to bed, making them chicken soup, like letting a fever rise on its own and leaving it alone. Just make sure the child is hydrated.

The next one is “All the facts about immunization.” Well, you can imagine what he's saying about that.

The next bullet point is “Step-by-step instructions for knowing when you should call a doctor.”

That's key. You'll find that as you become more confident by reading a book such as this or at least referring to it. You may not have to read it from cover to cover, although I urge you to do so. Once you get the confidence, then, you gain competence.

And so, with that, you learn not only to relax — because that's really where much of the over-doctoring comes from, is the anxiety of the mothers and the fathers or both or the grandparents — and then knowing, in our case, how to apply homeopathic medicines that are so readily available today.

The next bullet point is “Detailed information for coping with accidental injuries.”

My friends, the real danger to a child is not childhood illnesses. Is not a cold, a flu, a fever, a strep throat, an ear infection, conjunctivitis. No, that's not where the real danger is.

The danger lies in one area: accidents. Drowning, getting burned, falling from high places, getting cut. Those are the areas that are of the greatest danger to children, and that, my friends, if it's a small enough injury, you can handle yourself with homeopathy.

If it's a dire enough concern and you need emergent help, of course, you go to the emergency room if there's a deep laceration, if there's a deep puncture wound, et cetera. That's when you do go to the doctor — when there is truly a need, not a perceived fear.

And at the very end “With Dr. Mendelsohn’s help, you can [italicized word] trust your instincts.”

And so, my concern is that today's world’s instincts have been pounded out of mothers. We're left with very little common sense because the common sense that we think is of good sense is the stuff we hear on a regular basis. And those ideas that we hear on a regular basis are paid for by an industry that wants you just enough afraid to ask for drugs and to get treatment that is often — more often than not — superfluous.