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

In This Podcast, We Cover:

01:00   Introduction: “How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor”

01:51   Dr. Robert Mendelsohn
           
Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

            “How to Raise a Healthy Child… in Spite of Your Doctor”

            “Confessions of a Medical Heretic

            “Male Practice

04:30   Childhood illnesses: We just have to take them with a grain of salt and not worry.

06:01   It’s just common sense.

12:40   Fevers

            Get Your Kids High: Fever Is Good

18:21   The takeaway? Relax.

Additional Resources:

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 145, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let's link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you've been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

Introduction: “How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor”

Kate: (01:00)

Hi, this is Kate and Joette here today. Hi, Joette.

Joette:

Hi Kate.

Kate:

Hi. It's always great to be with you. And when we were talking just a minute ago about the topic that you're going to cover in today's podcast, I was kind of giggling to myself because every time we meet, you have so many ideas and topics that you want to share with everyone. And so, it's just great. We're overflowing with information to share!

Joette:

Oh, it never ends because this topic of taking control of your family's health — yourself — and homeopathy and even foods and meals and philosophy about family, as never ending. Those are some pretty heavy-duty topics that we could go on for decades with. Yeah.

Kate:

Yeah. But also, you are a very avid reader. You continually go through books and have new ideas.

So, you have one of those here. But it's not necessarily new, is it, Joette?

Dr. Robert Mendelsohn

Joette: (01:51)

No, it's not. It's actually an old book, but it's one of my favorites, and I encourage everyone to own this book. The last printing … last copyright was in 1984. And so, the title of the book is “How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor.”

Now, this was authored by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, who was a pediatrician. And I actually remember when he was on television back in the eighties — the early eighties, before I even had my children. I remember him going on Phil Donahue and some other programs like that, those talk shows. Yes, he was on talk shows.

So, if you look him up, if you go to YouTube, you'll find him. You'll find snippets of him — maybe the entire … Actually, I think one of the entire interviews of him is still up there with Phil Donahue. And he did more than one.

He was celebrated partly because of this book and because he was questioning the status quo. And you know how we feel about questioning the status quo.

Kate:

Now, for those people who have done Gateway to Practical Homeopathy® I, you're familiar already with this book. You might have read it. That's part of the curriculum, at least a section of the book. So …

Joette:

Yeah, so this book, “How to Raise a Healthy Child… in Spite of Your Doctor” is on Amazon, and I've bought it for as little as $2, and then it goes up, and then it goes since $8.

And I must have, I don't know, five copies? I've given them to my daughter-in-law, and I have a copy in the car and one in the office because this man was an eloquent writer … and prolific, also. He's written some other great books, too.

I have to say that “Confessions of a Medical Heretic” and “Male Practice,” MAL-E Practice … It's the practice of OBGYN practices, and how they have gone too far — even back in the seventies and eighties —with how women are treated in these specific practices.

So, I like everything he's written. But this one particularly because it's so useful for mothers. A

And what I love about him is that he's very practical; he's easily read. He's got a bit of a caustic edge, which I love. He's sarcastic, and he's fun. And if you watch him on YouTube, you'll see what I'm talking about. He's got a great personality — or had, he's no longer with us.

Childhood illnesses: We just have to take them with a grain of salt and not worry.

Joette: (04:30)

So, what's particularly interesting about this book, there's not even a whisper of the word homeopathy. Never does he say anything about it. And it's fascinating because here's a man who's teaching mothers and encouraging grandmothers for their daughters and daughter-in-laws to follow this way of thinking.

And his line of thinking is that you can do this without a doctor. You can do 90% — I think that's the number he chose of the conditions that afflict children — on your own, without a doctor involved, without a pediatrician involved.

Such as childhood illnesses: We just have to take them with a grain of salt and not worry. We don't have to see the doctor every time. And that's basically his message.

And he goes through the book by telling us what do you do for eczema? What do you do for sleeplessness? What do you do for food intolerance? As he's covered the main conditions, chicken pox, measles — and now, of course, we're living in a world that has frightened the bloomers off of moms about measles.

And I will tell you, I'm here in my seventies, and I'm a measles epidemic survivor. As was my brother. So were all my cousins. So were all my classmates. So were all my churchmates. Everybody in the neighborhood survived measles, and it was not a big deal. No one even gave it any thought at all.

Kate:

I just saw a posting recently where they compared on a TV show and the Brady Bunch. Do you remember the Brady Bunch?

Joette:

Yes, I do. And I remember that that came up a while ago. Yes.

Kate:

Yeah. So, the Brady Bunch … the kids came home, and they had measles, and they celebrate like a party. “Oh, we're having a fun day off of school,” and it was no big deal. And then they compared it with today and media, social media about today, and how it's just very deep and scary …

Joette:

Dark. It's a dark disease. It's a very dark disease.

Kate:

Right? It was funny.

It’s just common sense.

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.

Fevers

Kate: (12:40)

Yes. I think that also the idea of the family unit staying together. And the grandmother teaching the grandchildren or the mother, and it's being passed down. That's not there as much anymore.

I recently saw a post about someone asking a question about their child. They were saying that their child had a fever of, I think it was right around a hundred or 101, and they said, “Should I take my child?” (It was only for a day.) “Should I take my child to the emergency room?” is what they were asking.

And I was thinking, “The emergency room for a fever of 101?”

But these people aren't taught about that fevers … they occur with illnesses, and it's helping the body. It talks about that in the book, doesn't it, Joette, how …

Joette:

Yes, it does. Yes, it does.

Kate:

Tell us about that a little bit.

Joette:

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics, who for years — because I watched them. I followed them even before they were online. I would get their information because I wanted to see what they were teaching mothers.

Even they, who said, “If your child has a fever, get your child to the doctor.” Even they now admit — in the last, I'm going to say, maybe it was five years ago, online — they admit that fever is a curative action of the body, and we need the child to get a fever in order to cook it all off. It's a very positive thing for a child to get a fever.

And when a child's fever is suppressed by, well, used to be aspirin, then Tylenol and antibiotics, steroids, and even, my friends, tepid baths … we should not be suppressing a fever. A fever needs to get good and high. A hundred is nothing.

When I learned about all of this, my first child, the one that I took to the pediatrician for a well-baby checkup — there's a real euphemism if I ever heard one — was given a vaccine. And he went to a fever the following day, maybe a day and a half later of 105.5. Still, that is not dangerous.

And so, parents need to know how high a fever is dangerous. And there is, as far as I can read in all the literature that I've read — and I've not read it all, but I've been doing this for a long time — there is no fever that is too high.

And those of you who know anything about this, look it up and start reading and don't believe what you were taught in nursing school or medical school. Look at the studies, look at the research that shows that if there's a head injury, if there's a concomitant condition, a disease, that's not the fever, that's the problem. It's the condition that's driving the fever. That's the problem that needs to be treated.

So, we don't treat the symptom that fever is a symptom, and it's a beautiful symptom, and it's a symptom that we want our children to experience.

Now, having said that, you see, I'm focusing on children. When adults get fevers, it's a whole ‘nother arena, and we're not going to even talk about that today.

But for children, a high fever is within the range of normal. The only fear that we should have is that the child becomes dehydrated.

And so, I have talked about this before. We coat the bottoms of the feet and the palms of the hands with olive oil, and we make sure that child is drinking, or you're giving them ice chips. Or you get some fresh lemons and make some lemon ice chips and let them suck on those.

Do whatever. Make your own lemonade, bone stock, whatever you can do to keep the child hydrated because they're perspiring heavily. And that's the danger, especially in very young children.

But other than that, we love fever.

I've actually written about it. I have an article out there. It's been published in a number of places. I think “Wise Traditions” for the Weston A. Price Foundation … I'm pretty sure they've published it. It's called, “Get Your Kids High.” And so, it's been out there for many years. I'm going to say a good 12, 13 years ago I wrote that. And it's all about the importance of allowing a fever to spike and resolve over days, not hours. Even if it goes for days; is that a problem?

No, it's not a problem.

Kate:

Getting back to what you were alluding to before about there may be times when a fever can be a symptom that is as a result of something …

Joette:

… that needs to be tended to. Yes.

Kate:

And that could be overexposure to sun, or I think there were a few other things. But yeah, I just wanted to point that out that there are a few things that fever might …

Joette:

Might, but it's not the fever that's the problem. It's the condition that's the problem.

The fever is just a symptom of that condition. So, it is important that we understand the difference.

Now, are there exceptions? There are exceptions to every rule because we're all a little different. We're mostly alike, but we're still all slightly different. And so, you need to know what those exceptions might be.

But most parents, because they have anxiety (especially this generation and even the grandparents who are around have been trained to be frightened by conditions such as fever), are eager to believe that their child is the exception.

Or maybe it's not an “eager to believe,” but fall into (during those anxious moments) thinking, “Well, what if my child is the exception?”

If you understand what they are, and you have this book, “How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor,” by Dr. Robert Mendelssohn, then you'll know how to handle it.

So, that's why I urge parents, when mom is pregnant, this is when the book should be read and then looked into every few months and checked again. And I have a pink tab in mine, and mine is all marked up. I have writing along the sides in the margins.

And that's when you've personalized the book so that you know how to get to it quickly when you're in need. And that need is usually when the parent is very frightened.

The takeaway? Relax.

Kate: (18:21)

So, Joette, summarizing what you said today, can you give us an overall upshot of that book and your message?

Joette:

Yeah, my message is relax. Parenting is fabulous. It doesn't mean it's not a lot of work. It doesn't mean you're not going to be up at night, or that you're not going to be dealing with a child who's ornery or difficult or uncomfortable or et cetera.

But what we're doing by parenting in this fashion — using Mother Nature, as he says — is we are setting the stage for a lifetime of not only keeping the child away from drugs and treatments, but also setting the stage for you as the child grows.

And, the third stage we're setting is that the child understands that, “Yeah, it's perfectly normal to be sick.” Yes, let's just make this child comfortably sick. It's okay to be sick for a few days, a week, 10 days.

Yes, my friends, even 10 days. Even two weeks is not abnormal. That's within the range of normal.

So, we're setting a stage, and we're getting control of our own worries by doing one thing: reading. Just read, my friends. Don't let someone tell you what the answer is. Don't outsource the most important job you'll ever have in your life, and that is raising your children. Don't outsource

You go to the best sources, read up on it, and then, make your decisions and then, choose your lifestyle based on your research.

That's my message.

Kate:

Great message, Joette. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and tips with the listeners today.

Joette:

Yes, thanks, Kate. Talk to you soon.

It's my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it's critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.

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