Raised Naturally: A Parent’s Guide to Herbal Medicine From Newborn to Adolescence Step by Step – Ava Green – Book Review

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I recently received a free copy of Raised Naturally to review on Book Sirens through an herbalism group I belong to. I have two boys aged 4 and 14 so this is very applicable to my life. I’ve always been a little bit hippy dippy and have dabbled with herbs and natural remedies for years, but I’ve recently been way more into it. I already knew a lot of the information in the book but plenty of info was new to me. It’s very beginner friendly and an easy read.

I like that this is specifically tailored to using herbs with children through the ages. It’s one thing to experiment on myself with herbs but it’s another to use my kids. I really have to be more careful with them because some things that are safe for adults are absolutely not for children. See my disclaimer section for more on that.

That being said conventional medicine falls short a lot of the time, particularly for younger kids. They can’t take most cough and cold medications, and they don’t work very well anyway in my opinion. I find myself looking for natural and safe remedies quite often.

Okay on to the book. The table of contents is clear and concise, breaking everything down into sections after the introduction, beginning with what is NOT safe and how to do an allergy test. I think that’s a great place to start.

Topics range from how to make formulations such as tinctures, salves, and lozenges, to postpartum support for mom. The book covers common issues that come up through the ages chronologically, like teething pain, teenage mood swings, and even ADHD.

While I was reading this my kids came down with colds so I immediately went for the book instead of my close frenemy Dr Google. I already have some go-to herbs I use but wanted something different. I tried a recipe for herbal honey cough syrup. The 4 year old doesn’t like much food as it is so trying to get him to take stuff like this isn’t easy. Well he loved it. The teenager is a different problem, he just acts like I’m trying to poison him. He reluctantly agreed to take it and didn’t complain afterward so that’s a win. All of the recipes I looked at closely are great starting points to build on.

I will definitely be reaching for this book as things come up. It’s an easy read. If you’re just curious about herbalism and you’re a parent, I think you’ll get something useful out of it. I want to try some more of the recipes like lozenges and herbal popsicles. There’s one for lavender marshmallows which just sounds amazing to ME, forget about the kids. I’ll update on those when I get to them! 

You can get a digital copy of Raised Naturally for kindle on Amazon and it’s only 99 cents. Well worth a buck! Hardcover and paperback are also available.