Following on from discussions on our Natural Parenting Tips facebook page, I’m inspired to share this chapter from Naturally Better: ~ kristen

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On Immunisation
What a very controversial subject this is.

When Bronte was a tiny baby, I asked a parent friend of mine, whose opinion I valued, whether he had immunised his daughter.  He said that he wouldn’t tell me, that I needed to make up my own mind but that I shouldn’t tell anyone what I had decided – end of conversation.  I found this answer strange and unnecessarily secretive, but of course this made me think I should really do some research.

At the time, we were living above my retail store in St Kilda, a part of Melbourne with a colourful population.  I had Bronte in my shop and workroom with me most of the time and people were in and out all day.  Because of Bronte’s exposure to so many people, I decided to immunise her.  I left the shots until later than is usually advised, to let her body get stronger before giving her these horrible injections.  When Pelé came along, soon after, I was still unsure about the issue and so she had her first round of shots; by the time her second ones were due I had decided not to continue with either of the girls.  We were moving out of St Kilda by then and I had found out that homeopathic immunisation was an option to replace the injections I now knew to contain poisons.  I discussed this with many friends, some of whom as adults were fit and healthy having never had immunisation.

Our girls were rarely sick.  We went to the Naturopath periodically to make sure everything was tracking along OK, but apart from the odd cold, our little girls were strong as the rest of our clan.

Then Gryffin arrived, with his ‘manifest weak immune system’ and barrage of advices from just about everyone I spoke to.  My mothering confidence out the window, I thought that I should probably immunise him for protection.  Our Naturopath was adamantly against it when I told her.   She told me that there was evidence to suggest a link between immunisation and Autism… that she had seen many patients whose bodies and brains had been very badly affected by the heavy metals contained in the vaccines and she had helped them to undo some of the damage but why take the risk with a little guy who is already compromised?  People with Down syndrome are often on the Autism spectrum anyway… immunisation might trigger something which may not be presenting?  She gave me some literature to read, including the following:

• Vaccines contain formaldehyde. ‘There is no safe amount of formaldehyde if being injected into a living human body.  It is a toxic substance and should be avoided at all costs’. Poisons Information Centre, Qld.
• Vaccines contain mercury, a known brain poison which has been linked with many forms of brain damage and which is believed to be partly responsible for the 1300% increase in Autism (in developed countries) over the last 10 years (as of 2001).  Whilst the (Australian) government has licensed mercury-free and mercury-reduced vaccines, unless a parent specifically requests these newer vaccines, they will not be used until the old stocks are used up.
• Vaccines do not guarantee protection from disease, furthermore vaccines such as polio, measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox are carried in the body for up to 90 days after vaccination and can be transmitted.  The only cause of polio in Australia for the last 30 years has been the polio vaccine.
  -      www.avn.org.au

So the decision was made; no vaccines for Gryffin.  And as I have explained, his health is excellent.

When Gryffin was 3 months old, the Paediatrician wrote to our family GP and included the following comment:

‘One area where I guess philosophically there is a difference of opinion is that of immunisation.  His mum is keen not to have him normally immunised and we have basically come to a compromise in saying that we know we have different perspectives.’

There is a school of thought that to not vaccinate a child is to put the rest of the population at risk; that those of us who choose not to immunise have the luxury of doing so only because of those who do; that if everyone on the planet were immunised there would be no polio, no diphtheria, no whooping cough, etc.  This is probably all true, but with all of our modern advances, could we not find a more humane way to protect our race than injecting known poisons into a baby at just a few weeks old?  I absolutely respect a doctor’s or parent’s decision to vaccinate, but as an untrained idealistic parent, I can’t help feeling that to  inject poison into a tiny baby’s body is more like a Human Rights violation than responsible parenting.

‘Homeopathic immunisation is effective against poliomyelitis, chickenpox, meningococcal disease, hepatitis (all types), Japanese encephalitis, Hib, influenza, measles, pneumococcal disease, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, typhus, whooping cough, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, malaria, tetanus, yellow fever, dysentery, and many other epidemic diseases. Communities around the world have used its protective effect for over two hundred years.

Homeopathic immunisation is safe for all ages. It protects babies through to the elderly and can even be used during pregnancy. It has none of the adverse reactions or side-effects associated with vaccines. ‘

-      www.homeopathyplus.com.au

Homeopathic immunisation is definitely worth looking at.  Some other sources of information on the subject are:
www.welladjustedbabies.com
www.avn.org.au
www.pilgrimsmovie.com

If your child has been immunised, there are things which can be done to help remove some of the heavy metals from their bodies.  A good place to start is to have a hair analysis test done, from which a report will be provided showing any areas which need attention.  A Naturopath can then help with these areas and strategies for improving health.

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Click here to watch an interview with Dr Isaac Golden, PHD in childhood homeopathic immunisation.

I’ve been looking for months for a suitable replacement for the ebook version of Naturally Better – ever since the company hosting the original ebook edition went broke! But since Amazon’s most recent update to their ebook product, I’ve finally decided just to stick with the one format – Amazon Kindle.

For those who don’t know, Kindle books can be downloaded in 2 formats – either for use with the Amazon Kindle e-reader, or – if you don’t have a kindle e-reader, you can purchase the ‘Kindle Cloud’ edition, which allows you to read Kindle books on a Windows PC or Mac using the Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari web browsers, on Linux computers using Google Chrome or Firefox, and on an iPad using the Safari web browser. You can even download a free app and read this version on your iPhone.

Click here for Naturally Better, Kindle edition, just $9.99 USD, and if you’ve already purchased the original ebook and would like to upgrade, send an email and we’ll see what we can do for you!

~ kristen.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt these last five years, it’s that one person, one organisation can make a difference. And when something like this letter arrives in my inbox, I think about just how many of us feel the same way and how we must work together to help bring about change in our world.

Homeopathy works. Thousands will testify to that. But right now Homeopathy is being attacked here in Australia, and one homeopathic clinic in NSW wrote the following letter explaining what we can all do to help. Thank you to Harbord Homeopathy for allowing me to publish this. And please, if you feel this is a fight work supporting, do write a letter. It all helps.

Dear friends of homeopathy,

You will in all likelihood have heard or read about homeopathy in the media recently. It is largely a part of an organised effort to discredit homeopathy, to reduce the practice of homeopathy in Australia and to prevent homeopathic education in Australian universities and educational facilities.

If you are concerned, want to show your support and ensure that your health fund will continue to rebate your homeopathic treatment, please consider the following:

Please write to your Federal Member of Parliament. Health is a federal issue and your Federal Member has an obligation to represent your concerns in Canberra.

Write to:

The Federal Minister for Health
Ms Tanya Plibersek
House of Representatives
Parliament House
PO Box 6022
Canberra
ACT 2600
Australia

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is currently conducting an investigation into homeopathy in Australia. Homeopathic professional associations have made excellent submissions, and the NHMRC will make its decision some time in 2012. This may have implications for the provision of professional homeopathy in Australia. You may wish to write to the NHMRC.

Similar inquiries in the UK House of Commons and the Swiss government in 2010 concluded that homeopathy would not lose support.

Write to your health insurance fund – they provide your rebates and will only continue to rebate homeopathy if they know that fund members care about their choice of services.

If you’ve got the time and the space in your weekend please send off those three letters. If you’ve got a little time send at least one:)

Thanks for your ongoing support,

Warm regards,

from all of us at the clinic
Harbord Homeopathic Clinic
Brookvale, Sydney NSW.
www.hhcc.com.au

After several months of looking for the right practitioner to join us for Online Consults, we are excited to announce our newest team member here at Naturally Better Kids – Dr Helen Smith!

Many parents take it upon themselves to do their own research into ways to help their children.  The internet has made this accessible to most of us, and the quest for information is of course common to parents of children with or without special needs.
I know from my own experience that shopping for nutritional supplements for your child can be extremely difficult and overwhelming.  Which ones to buy? Which brands are the best in quality, dosage, form, value for money?
I often wished I could hire an independent practitioner – with no brand loyalties – to help me select the most suitable products for my son. Now Dr Helen can do this for you.

Dr Helen is an holistic medical doctor who has completed post graduate studies in nutritonal science. We’ve been searching far and wide for the right person to join our team in the capacity of offering nutritional advice to parents anywhere in the world, and we found her ‘across the ditch’ in Auckland, New Zealand!

With 20 years of clinical experience, Dr Helen’s areas of specialty include Well Woman Health Checks, Energy and Hormonal Problems for Women, Nutritional Medicine and Dietary Therapy. Dr Helen has attended Mindd Foundation training and has a special interest in children.

Dr Helen has done radio interviews, writes for a health magazine and has appeared on TV with her work as a medical doctor. She has done many hours of work helping educate others including giving health talks to nurses and other community groups on holistic (nutritional) medicine.

Dr Helen has a wealth of experience in the medical and natural health field and we are absolutely thrilled to welcome her to our team. Click here to read more about Dr Helen and how she could be of help to your family’s journey to optimal health.

~ kristen

I’m thrilled to announce that we are putting together an Event on March 25th, for parents of children of any age, and of any ability.

Want Healthier Children? is our first event which is NOT Special Needs focussed, but rather it will go over matters of concern for any parent in helping their children achieve their absolute best health in life – through both prevention and treatment.

Working together with Don Chisholm is an honour, as he has travelled the world lecturing and helping parents to help their own children – with fabulous results.

I’m especially thrilled to have been offered a totally gorgeous Yoga Studio for the event. Flavours of Yoga is owned by a friend of mine and it’s a wonderfully relaxed and stylish space. Because it’s not massive, we’re asking parents to bring their own cushion to sit on – just for something different!

Of course we’ll also provide a delicious organic fruit platter, tea and coffee in the breaks…

Click here for details!

~ kristen.

Dearest Kristen,
I want to thank you for such an amazing and inspiring read. I too work with babies with Down Syndrome and this allowed me to give a copy to my mums.
There are many other points and other therapies I now integrate {into my practise] because of your book – thank you so much. You are a wonder woman. Well done

Warm Wishes
Dr Andrea Parisio
Paediatric Chiropractor

It’s been a while since I blogged. It’s been busy, to say the least!

Apart from a whole lot of wonderful new projects on the go for this year, too early to announce, our Online Wholefoods Foodstore has started the year with a bang – as of today we have 80 Members, including some internationals! And the quiet January our family anticipated has evaporated before our eyes!

But in the scheme of things, we couldn’t be happier as more and more families are getting their Wholefoods and Organics through us.

Our new shopfront is also up and running and melbourne home deliveries of fresh produce are on the rise each week.

But I have to confess I am stunned (and not very happy!) to have just found out that the company which hosted the ebook edition of my book – Naturally Better -  went out of business over Xmas, and took my ebook with them! No email, no contact at all – just disappeared.

So, while I work towards republishing it – in a better format – I’ve just created a Coupon for people to buy the paperback edition of the book with a $10 discount. This means that if you live in Australia, you could buy the book for $22.95 including delivery.

The Coupon is valid until the end of March – just enter the code JanPBack at checkout.

Cheers to a brilliant New Year!

In the spirit of sharing their story to help other families, Lester Spears’ family has given us an update on his progress, and it’s quite something. Lianne Spears’ email was published yesterday on the Grow Foundation website:

Changes in Lester (22months)

We have seen a massive change in Lester in the last 6 months. It is hard to explain the exact change- it is like something has shifted in him cognitively, Lester’s Osteopath has noticed this too. He now understands simple requests and his problem solving and fine motor skills have improved dramatically.

I remember the day when I was making him his lunch and I heard his piggy bank toy singing away in the lounge room as Lester slipped the slim coins into the little slit with ease! Something Disability Services said was too advanced for Lester and maybe we should just put blocks in ice cream containers.

His communication has improved and whilst we are still having moments of yelling at dinner time he is starting to communicate more consistently, like saying ‘ta’ when we give him something, calling for mum and dad and signing for eat and drink, pointing at the dog and yelling ‘dog’. Every day he will surprised me with a new word.

Last week he read the word clap.

I have attached 2 hair results and a list of Lester’s supplements. (see below)

The first hair results (from March 2011) show the high Aluminium in Lester’s system. The bottom graph shows how many minerals have sky rocketed out of control. He also has really low (almost no) selenium and low zinc (this is very common in people with Down syndrome).

If the above results were left untreated it would (more than likely) mean Lester would face a life with the following problems:

Low immune system, frequent colds and flues, chest infections, allergies, itchy skin, disrupted sleep, memory loss, confusion, temper outbursts, pre-dinner tantrums, ear infections, gastroenteritis, low white cell count… what does that sound like? It sounds like Down syndrome to me.

We have been supplementing with the attached list and the results speak for themselves. The toxic elements have been decreased and the Zinc and the Selenium have  increased.

We still have a bit of work to do a tweak here and there but we are definitely on track to making Lester a HAPPIER and healthier child. I can’t tell you how much better he has been in the last 6 months. He only had one cold this winter, he hasn’t had any gastro issues in the last 6 months which he is prone to due to his Hirschsprungs.

Read the rest of this post and see the test results at the Grow Foundation website – click here.

As of November 1st, we will donate $5 to the Grow Foundation from the sale of every copy of this book.

This only applies to books purchased from this website or the Naturally Better Foods site, ie directly from us, not from third party stores.

Click here to purchase.