Natural Health and Herbal Remedies Blog – information on herbal medicine

The active ingredients in fly and wasp killers are often powerful toxic agents such as dichlorvos, fenitrothion or lindane. Some use pyrethroids, which are natural toxic agents derived from plants. All of these can cause unpleasant reactions and should be avoided.

If you have a troublesome wasp nest which has to be removed, get professional help from your local authority and see if they can use means such as smoke or water to remove the nest before using chemicals. If you have to kill ants, you can do so by pouring boiling water on the nest.

To repel and deter insects, keep all dustbins and wastebins sealed. Empty and clean regularly. Wipe up food spills. Keep food covered and cupboards closed. To remove insects, use a fly-swat or a fish-slice. Open the windows and chase them out.

Lavender and citronella are natural insect repellents, as are many herbs. If you tolerate plant oils, hang dried lavender and herbs around. You can also dab lavender oil or citronella (available from pharmacies) on cloths and hang them in the kitchen.

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Some babies and toddlers develop sudden passions or aversions to particular foods and they can also develop temporary intolerances -due to viruses, gastric upsets or sometimes coinciding with teething. Allow for these temporary preferences and intolerances – foods and preferences will come and go in and out of a child’s diet. Stay flexible and ready to try new things.

Appetite also can go up and down day by day. Temporary loss or surge of appetite is a normal feature in toddlers.

If you can keep up breastfeeding for 12 months or longer, then stick to it. If you have to wean from the breast from nine months onwards, you may be better to wean the baby on to a soya milk formula milk rather than a cow’s milk formula.

If you wean from the breast after 12 months, you may still find that a soya milk formula suits your baby better. You do not have to give it in a bottle – you can give it in a cup or as an ordinary drink.

If your baby has been on a cow’s milk formula without problems, continue giving this for as long as you wish – many young children tolerate an infant formula much better than they tolerate ordinary cow’s milk.

When you first try cow’s milk on a breastfed child who has never eaten it before, try heat-treated milks as follows. Either use a cow’s milk infant formula, or bring cow’s milk to the boil, simmer for five minutes, and then cool, or you can use diluted evaporated milk. Heat treatment modifies the proteins and can make cow’s milk less likely to cause allergic reactions.

If your child is lactose intolerant. If your child is very severely sensitive to any form of cow’s milk, goat’s milk or soya, one other option is nut milks. Sheep’s milk is less prone to cause reactions than cow’s or goat’s milk (>FOOD AND DRINK for more advice). Always get a doctor’s and dietitian’s advice if your child has a very restricted diet.

If your baby has multiple food sensitivities, he or she may be advised to go on a rotation diet.

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Keeping a constant warmth helps to prevent sudden surges of mould growth. A steady average, but lower temperature, is probably better than having cold and hot spots around the home, or than having a few hours a day only when the place is well heated. If you are exceptionally sensitive to moulds, and obliged to take extreme care, there are many things you can do to eliminate moulds from your environment. Even if this applies to you, no-one would expect you to do all of the things suggested below all of the time. They are things you might try that can be helpful. Pick and choose what seems relevant to you and do what you feel you can. These more intensive measures cover:

• Damp control

• Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry and clothes

• Plants and gardens

• Paper and books

• Foods and diet

• Antibiotics

Damp control

Keep your home as warm and dry as you can afford. The threshold for most mould growth on the organic materials on which they feed is a relative humidity (RH) of 65 per cent. As a guide, keeping the temperature indoors a steady 5°C (10°F) above the outdoor temperature should achieve this.

If you are seriously affected by moulds, your target should be to keep your environment, or at least one or two rooms where you spend most of your time at home, at between 50 per cent and 65 per cent RH. In most summers in the UK, the heat of the sun should be sufficient; heating will be required in the winter. If your house has penetrating damp, however, or is in a damp location, you will need to keep a temperature difference of more than 5°C (10°F) between indoors and outdoors, to achieve the maximum 65 per cent RH level, and may need to heat more. Use a humidity meter (from garden centres, DIY shops or jewellers) and a thermometer to guide you.

Use insulation, such as roof lining, double glazing and lined curtains, as far as you can to conserve energy and warmth. Do not cut out draughts altogether; keeping your home ventilated and aired also helps to keep down damp.

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