The Do Nothing Approach to Illness. Fastest Ticket to Wellness?

Why the “Do Nothing” approach to illness is often the best policy for long-term health, especially in young children with a developing immune system.

You’ve likely heard of unschooling, a homeschooling philosophy where no formal curriculum is typically used and children learn based on what they are motivated to seek out and master on their own as well as natural life experiences.

While I don’t homeschool myself and so cannot attest to the validity of this educational philosophy, I would like to suggest that open-minded parents consider a similar approach to childhood illness.

When a child seems to be coming down with a cold or flu, how about this for a novel idea…DO NOTHING.

I followed the Do Nothing approach to illness for 25 years raising my 3 children (who are all now healthy adults).  

At first, I did it without even realizing exactly what I was doing.

Then, in 2004, I formally put it into practice after attending a talk at the Wise Traditions Conference by Dr. Tom Cowan MD.

He discussed how illness is actually beneficial to the body.

It is a way for valuable detoxification to occur so that an improved level of vitality and maturity can be experienced by the child once the illness is past.  

This talk was a light bulb moment for me!

I suddenly realized that my Father, a retired Family Physician, had followed the exact same philosophy while I was growing up.

Old school medicine is to do nothing and let the illness run its course, focusing on rest and nourishment alone. Intervention ONLY occurs if it becomes evident that the patient cannot handle the situation on his/her own.

My Physician Father’s rule of thumb was to wait two full weeks before doing anything therapeutically to facilitate the conclusion of the illness.  

The result?

He rarely if ever needed to intervene at all as my brothers and sisters and I got well just fine on our own within that span of time.

Even when I got salmonella at a fast food chicken joint when I was 13, Dad did nothing.  

It was a struggle, but I recovered fully within about 10 days.  

No trip to the hospital, no saline drip, no antibiotics.

I realize this might seem extreme to some people, but my Dad had his reasons, and he obviously made the correct judgment that I was strong enough to handle it on my own.

Ditto when I had strep throat the summer I turned 15.  

Do you need antibiotics for strep? In my case, my Dad never even considered antibiotics.

Home remedies for strep throat were not used either, and I still recovered completely with no complications.

Most interesting is that I have never gotten strep throat again despite repeated and close contact exposures (in college dorms, for example).

My children seem to be immune to strep too and have never gotten strep except for one instance where my youngest fell ill, but quickly recovered without meds….the same as when I was 15.

Did my immune system/no meds recovery give me a level of immunity from strep infections that I possibly passed along to my kids?

Anecdotal for sure but possible especially given that I practiced extended breastfeeding with all of them.

Too many parents in my view are far too quick to treat a child’s illness, either by running to the doctor for a prescription or by dashing to the healthfood store to obtain a natural or herbal-based remedy.

Trying to stop a cold in its tracks when it is first coming on and hasn’t quite taken hold yet is not a wise approach in my view.

Now, I don’t want to come off as anti-treatment here.  

If a child is acutely ill and clearly not handling an illness sufficiently well on his or her own, then by all means seek out assistance from the healing professional of your choice.

As for me, though, my first course of action is to Do Nothing.

Echinacea to boost immunity during cold/flu season?

No.

Elderberry syrup to ward off a cold that you feel is coming on?

Pass.

A “preventative” dose of antibiotics because strep is making the rounds at school?

Absolutely not!

Garlic drops or pills for an early cough?

No thanks.

Ibuprofen or Tylenol to bring down a high fever?

NEVER.

Why?  

A child with a high fever will get well so amazingly fast if you let the fever do its job and having the child sip diluted fruit juice to provide sufficient blood sugar to fuel that cranked-up metabolism will head off the risk of febrile seizures.

I don’t attempt to squelch symptoms and I don’t want to give my children’s immune system a crutch.

Letting the body go through the natural progression of meeting a pathogenic challenge head-on and resolving it with no outside interference is something that I have observed to improve and elevate a child’s wellness to a whole new level post-illness.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that adopting this approach resulted in children who grew consistently more sturdy as time went on.

The results?

My three children are now healthy adults with no gut issues, in my view, mainly because I never used a single round of antibiotics raising them.

I think that’s a pretty decent track record!

Again, this article is not intended to suggest that antibiotics and medications are always bad.

On the contrary, meds can be life-saving and should absolutely be used if needed in critical emergencies.

However, a healthy child who is simply achy and feverish is not a candidate for meds in my opinion!

Ok, I Want to Do Nothing, But I Need to Do Something!

If the Do Nothing approach strikes a chord with you, congratulations!  

I think you will be pleasantly surprised and amply rewarded by implementing this approach with children who rarely get sick and when they do, recover quickly with no assistance or complications.

If you are an action-oriented person, however, here are some Do Nothing suggestions that will help your child along the path to quick recovery without in any way hampering or short-circuiting the natural healing and detoxification process that is taking place:

• Rest, rest, rest. Our culture is way too busy and overscheduled. Sometimes illness is just a way for the body to say “slow down and take it easy”. Honor that message and encourage your children to just rest with no stimulation of any kind except perhaps a good book.
• Homemade broth, stocks, and soups. Nourishment is important during illness to provide the body with the ammunition necessary to win the battle and come out on top. There is no food better during illness than soup made with nourishing, mineral-rich, and easy-to-digest broth or stock. If you don’t know how to make homemade soup, you need to learn. Soups from the store are no comparison and should be avoided. Commercial soup will likely hinder the healing process instead of helping it as it contains little to no nourishment with vitality-zapping MSG in large amounts.
• Chiropractic adjustment.  Some people find that even a minor misalignment of the spine can make illness worse. Getting a gentle adjustment to the spine can free up blockages and facilitate healing in a beneficial way.
• Homeopathy.  I used homeopathy when my children all had whooping cough (pertussis) at the same time. My youngest was only 15 months old. Homeopathy works with the body, not against it, and does not stifle natural healing mechanisms. A homeopathic remedy can prove useful in certain cases of illness particularly if it is a chronic condition that doesn’t seem to resolve on its own permanently.
• Cleansing baths.   Soaking in a warm Epsom salt bath to get the elimination routes flowing via the skin and colon can be extremely helpful to natural, med-free recovery. A fever bath can also encourage the body’s natural immune response. These are typically the only things I will do if there is “a cold coming on” as they assist detoxification from the toxins that caused the cold in the first place.

More Information

Doctor-Prescribed Treatment for Healing Croup Naturally