On immunity
This article applies to all children. The whole issue of runny noses and coughs becomes a bit more complicated in children suffering from allergies (atopy) or with more or less serious immune deficiencies. You can usually distinguish these children "fairly" easily—healthy children typically don't develop complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia, or middle ear infections from simple colds.
On the left, you can see hematopoiesis—that is, a diagram showing the transformation of a stem blood cell into various more or less mature blood cells (platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells—of which there are many subtypes). Forget the idea of a "pill for immunity." Just look at how complex hematopoiesis is. With what syrup, and at which point, do you really want to intervene in such a process?
After starting daycare (along with that younger sibling who's not in daycare yet but has an older sibling who just began attending), a child will typically be sick fairly often for the first 1–2 years. It's not unusual for them to attend preschool for one week and then be home for two. Prepare for it. What's important isn't the number of infections, but how they progress—whether they lead to complications (as mentioned above) or not.
I understand but don't support today's consumer-driven model of society and employment, where your employer expects you to work even when your child is sick. A child has the right (just like you did) to go through infectious illnesses without being rushed or disrupted. They have the right to recover fully before returning to a group setting—not while still coughing. This process takes time, patience, and a few key things I've listed below.
If you want to help your child build stronger immunity and resilience:
• Stay calm and composed – parental stress transfers to the child, and it's been proven many times that stress weakens the immune system and its response.
• Surround the child with love = relational warmth (immunity likes warmth—that's why the immune response is many times stronger during a fever). Minimise interpersonal conflict at home, don't divorce—and if you do, seek what unites you, not what divides. You're teaching the child mutual respect, understanding, sensitivity, and empathy.
• Read (and if you're struggling with parenting or partnership, meditate daily on) Khalil Gibran's writings about children and the relationship between partners.
• Don't treat fever with antipyretics (more about fever here).
• Use antibiotics only as a last resort.
• Teach moderation in everything—number of toys, amount of food…
• From the start of complementary feeding, give your child plenty of local, seasonal fruits and vegetables (ideally from a pesticide-free, herbicide-free local grower), and continue this all the way into adulthood. Be firm and principled in your dietary choices, but not forceful. Don't be lazy to cook at home. Avoid regular or frequent fast-food consumption. Prioritize and ask for biodynamic (DEMETER-certified) foods in stores.
• Ensure lots of daily movement and outdoor time in fresh air.
• Gently and sensitively practice cold exposure (strengthening the body's resilience).
From my perspective, the above is the best thing you can do for your child's immunity.
What else helps in prevention?
For children who frequently suffer from laryngitis, give:
• Pyrit/Zinnober (available in our clinic) daily during the cold season,
• and Hepar sulfuris calcareum 30C, 5 pellets once a week.
Generally, to support immunity in children from age 3:
• Meteorisen (also available in our clinic),
• Schuessler's cell salt Ferrum phosphoricum D6 – 1 tablet 3x daily.
What to do with runny noses and coughs?
Children who were perfectly healthy in spring, summer, and autumn, and then get colds and coughs in winter, are often treated with:
• Kaloba, Sinupret, or Bronchipret (thyme and ivy),
• Mucoplant (plantain),
• sometimes Stoptussin, Mucosolvan, or Solmucol,
• and occasionally Paxeladine, Trifed, Ventolin, etc.
• Antibiotics are rarely used.
And it will stay that way. We'd rather see you for checkups on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday than give your child antibiotics for a runny nose and a three-day cough right away.
Because the gut and mucosal microbiome is an integral part of the immune system—its interaction with immunity is intense, poorly understood, and heavily studied. This same microbiome also affects mental health and may contribute to depression, ADHD, autoimmune diseases, etc. And antibiotics destroy it.
What else helps support immunity?
Besides fruits, vegetables, warmth, cold exposure, fiber-rich diet, physical activity, and sports, these also help (to varying degrees, possibly partly due to placebo effect):
• Kaloba – herbal extract of pelargonium – for prevention, give 2x daily (instead of 3x for treatment), max 3 weeks, then take a 2–3 week break and repeat during flu season.
• Vitamin C – ideally in liposomal form (e.g. LipoC askor) + zinc (e.g. Rinimun akut)
• Probiotics – important for the microbiome, but you must rotate strains and feed the gut with variety
• Beta-glucans (e.g. Imunoglukan akut)
• Prevention – avoid contact with sick individuals as much as possible
• Homeopathic prevention (more info [here])
• Let illnesses run their course properly, allowing for individual recovery time—at least 24h after complete disappearance of symptoms
• Golden Altai Mumijo – from 3 years old, dissolve one tablet in a shot glass of milk and give in the morning or evening. If the taste is too strong, sweeten with a teaspoon of honey and dilute in a larger volume of milk (e.g. 150 ml)
Physiological – Natural Illness Frequency:
• 1–5 years old: 6–8 upper respiratory infections per year
• 6–12 years old: 2–4 upper respiratory infections per year
⚠️ Note: The information presented here reflects my personal views and may not align with evidence-based medicine (EBM). You don't have to agree with me—but I will always strive to find a common path in what is best for your child.