Complementary and alternative medicine: when should parents decide?

It is best settled 6–12 months.

Complementary and alternative medicine

Q: Complementary and alternative medicine: what are the options?

There are 3 main approaches: None; Adjunct with the pediatrician's knowledge; Primary reliance.

Q: Complementary and alternative medicine: what does the evidence say?

Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. The AAP's common-sense frame is to encourage treatments shown to be safe and effective, tolerate those that are safe but ineffective, monitor or discourage those that are effective but raise safety concerns, and discourage those that are neither. Evidence varies by remedy: a Cochrane review found honey probably reduces cough frequency better than placebo or no treatment (moderate-certainty), but it must not be given under 12 months because of botulism risk; Australia's national research council found no health condition for which homeopathy is reliably effective; probiotics reduced crying in breastfed babies with colic in a meta-analysis. In 2012, 11.6% of US children aged 4-17 used a complementary approach. Tell your pediatrician about anything you give

Whether you use treatments outside conventional medicine, such as herbal remedies, homeopathy or acupuncture, and how that fits with your pediatrician.

Should we use complementary or alternative medicine for our child?

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: None; Adjunct with the pediatrician's knowledge; Primary reliance. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: 6–12 months.

Evidence: Your call
Best settled: 6–12 months
Part of: Raising the child

Complementary and alternative medicine: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 3 approaches.

1. None
You use only conventional medicine.
2. Adjunct with the pediatrician's knowledge
You use some alternative remedies alongside regular care, and tell the doctor.
3. Primary reliance
You rely mainly on alternative medicine.

Complementary and alternative medicine: what does the evidence say?

Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. (Values, with safety limits)

The AAP's common-sense frame is to encourage treatments shown to be safe and effective, tolerate those that are safe but ineffective, monitor or discourage those that are effective but raise safety concerns, and discourage those that are neither. Evidence varies by remedy: a Cochrane review found honey probably reduces cough frequency better than placebo or no treatment (moderate-certainty), but it must not be given under 12 months because of botulism risk; Australia's national research council found no health condition for which homeopathy is reliably effective; probiotics reduced crying in breastfed babies with colic in a meta-analysis. In 2012, 11.6% of US children aged 4-17 used a complementary approach. Tell your pediatrician about anything you give

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

This covers remedies outside conventional medicine, such as herbal products, homeopathy and chiropractic care. Evidence varies widely from one remedy to another. Whatever you choose, tell your child's doctor, because some products interact with medicines.

Questions to ask each other

Are there remedies or practitioners we already trust?
What would we need to see before trying one on our child?
How would we tell our pediatrician?

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First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.