This week, we provided recommendations for caring for children’s health in response to weather conditions and seasonal changes. In addition to dietary therapy, we also included massage techniques to alleviate various common symptoms in children, which parents can review and learn.
Image source: Early Education Network
Before helping children eliminate dampness, how can we distinguish between cold-damp and damp-heat? What herbal tea should be consumed in spring? What are the common massage techniques for children? How should Xiaoer Qixing Tea be used? How can we prevent damp-heat?
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All these parenting questions can be found in this week’s article.
Quick Review:
π Before helping children eliminate dampness, parents must understand this essential step!
Key Points: Before helping children eliminate dampness, it is crucial to differentiate the symptoms, teaching you how to identify cold, heat, and damp-heat, along with corresponding methods.
π As spring blossoms, the whole family can enjoy Mugua Flower Tea, which helps eliminate dampness and soothe the liver.
Key Points: In spring, prepare Mugua Flower Tea using cotton tree flowers and osmanthus to support liver function and eliminate dampness, adding rose or chrysanthemum for multiple benefits.
π For children with colds and fevers, use one massage technique to help reduce fever and strengthen the body!
Key Points: The article provides four massage techniques to help children reduce fever, eliminate dampness, promote bowel movements, and aid sleep.
π After the Grain Rain, parents often misuse a certain formula, which not only damages Yang Qi but also weakens the child.
Key Points: Misuse of Xiaoer Qixing Tea can harm a child’s Yang Qi and affect health; learn the correct usage of Qixing Tea.
π Fifteen days after the Grain Rain, use these two formulas to prevent damp-heat in children!
Key Points: After the Grain Rain, prevent damp-heat by using New Four Gods Soup to strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, and New Three Stars Soup to aid digestion and prevent food accumulation; if damp-heat is present, cook a cotton tree flower and crucian carp soup.
π A “fruit of the lung and stomach,” strengthens the lungs, boosts constitution, and alleviates cough and throat pain!
Key Points: For symptoms like cough and throat pain in children, cooking a soup with olives, snow pears, and lean meat can help alleviate these issues, while regularly drinking olive and ume soup can help prevent external pathogens.
Q&A
This Week’s Popular Comments and Answers
01 Professor Xu, my child’s tongue is always pale; what does this mean?
A pale and slightly red tongue indicates insufficient Yang Qi, deficiency of Qi and blood, and a cold constitution.
If a child has insufficient Yang Qi and an excessively cold constitution, the circulation of Qi and blood in the body is often sluggish, as if “frozen,” resulting in a pale white tongue. At this time, methods such as Xiaoer Nuandong Fang, New Four Gods Soup, and Sanqu Dou can be used to tonify Qi and blood and warm the spleen and stomach.
When a child experiences Qi and blood deficiency or an excessively cold constitution, organs like the spleen and kidneys may not receive adequate Qi and blood supply, leading to weakened function and symptoms like stagnation, spleen deficiency, and excess dampness, which is referred to as “cold-damp.”
These issues manifest on the tongue as: pale tongue color, enlarged tongue, thick white slippery coating, often with teeth marks, loose and watery stools, cold limbs, and fear of cold. Parents can first use my Fuxian Qinggu Solid Drink to awaken the spleen and eliminate dampness, clearing internal dampness and alleviating damp stagnation.
Xu Youjia Parenting Hall Β· Dietary Therapy
Xiaoer Nuandong Fang
Ingredients: 8g of fox nut, 1 walnut, 10g of five-fingered peach, 15g of Bai Zhu (White Atractylodes), 5g of lily, and 5 lotus seeds (shelled).
Preparation: Add the ingredients to a pot with about 2 bowls of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer for 40 minutes.
Effects: Tonifies the spleen and benefits the kidneys. Suitable for children with poor appetite, sleep issues, and cold hands and feet.
Precautions: For children over 3 years old, use according to symptoms, in small amounts multiple times. Can be consumed by those with favism.
02 My child often goes several days without a bowel movement; is this constipation?
Bowel movement frequency varies from person to person, and parents need not worry excessively about this.
Some parents believe that if a child under 1 year old goes several days without a bowel movement, it is “storing up.” In my view, this is not entirely accurate. If a baby goes several days without a bowel movement, it may indicate gastrointestinal dysfunction, accumulation, or even existing food stagnation; in this case, it is necessary to reduce feeding frequency and the amount of solid food to help the child digest and eliminate stagnation.
In addition to reducing dietary intake, it is also important to combine with medicinal intervention, using New Three Stars Soup and Xiaoer massage techniques, such as 1 clockwise and 3 counterclockwise strokes on the abdomen.
For older children, the frequency of bowel movements does not directly reflect whether their bowel movements are normal. Some children have fast intestinal peristalsis and may have 2-3 bowel movements daily, while others may be accustomed to having a bowel movement every 2-3 days or even every 3-4 days; this cannot be used as a definitive measure. Daily food intake and metabolic rate also affect bowel movement frequency.
If bowel movements are not difficult or straining, the stool is not excessively foul-smelling, there are no undigested food particles, no mucus or blood, and the characteristics of the stool match the child’s age and dietary structure, then it is considered normal. Even if a child does not have a bowel movement for 2-3 consecutive days, as long as there are no symptoms of abdominal distension or discomfort, it is considered normal and healthy, not constipation.
03 Professor Xu, how can I determine if my child has a phlegm-damp constitution?
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, phlegm-damp refers not only to the visible phlegm in the throat but also to the invisible phlegm.
How does phlegm-damp develop? There are two sources of phlegm-damp:
One is external environmental dampness.
The other is internal, where the spleen fails to transport fluids properly, leading to water retention and phlegm formation.
How can we determine if a child has a phlegm-damp constitution? We can look for the following signs:
β Appearance and Body Type: Pale yellow complexion, lack of vitality, swollen eyelids, protruding round belly, overweight; often feels heavy-headed and sluggish.
β‘ Tongue and Breath: Enlarged tongue, slippery and moist with teeth marks; thick white greasy coating, often with a strong odor from the mouth, sticky mouth, and less water intake.
β’ Daily Habits: Excessive sweating, sticky skin; generally quiet and inactive, lethargic, prefers fatty, sweet, and sticky foods, enjoys hot drinks, and is prone to illness and prolonged cough during hot and humid summer months.
Children with a phlegm-damp constitution should control their daily diet, focusing on light foods and minimizing fatty, rich, cold, and hard-to-digest foods; additionally, they can use Wen Dan Tang for foot baths and take Fuxian Qinggu Solid Drink.
This concludes all the content reviewed this week.
If you have any good suggestions for γXu Youjia Parenting Hallγ or are interested in any parenting topics, feel free to leave a comment below the article! The theme of next week’s informative article may be determined by you!
We will continue to discuss effective scientific parenting methods next week!
Many diseases arise from food stagnation!
New Three Stars Soup helps eliminate stagnation and reduce adverse effects!
Strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness should never be neglected!
Take care of all aspects to ensure your child’s health!
Warm Reminder
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