epsom salt baths | Autism PDD

I had read a few years ago about a woman who claimed the epsom salt baths really helped.      My oldest  liked them quite a bit.....but he loves a good soak in the tub anyway.    The salts did help draw out infections in his in grown toenails    but I couldn't be sure if the salt actually had any more calming effect than a bath with out it.     We used just plain epsom salt ......no scent to it.     lavendar is supposed to have a calming effect .     I imagine if the salts are not fully dissolved your kids may not have liked the gritty feeling on the bottom of the tub! i like to use the lavendar baby bath i also use one called original source it doesn't seem to have much effect on sleeping but i find a bath in the morning with that helps calm jack a littleWhat does your doctor say about him swallowing the water with Epson salt? It sends me to the toilet. Otherwise, it just be part of the soothing properties. Janeti had a mom suggest epsom salts for my daughter, mainly because she wanted to help get rid of the constant dark circles under my daughter's eyes. she said the dark circles are caused by food allergies, and somehow the epsom salts would rid my daughter of the circles. my daughter does not have any food allergies. she, unfortunately, inherited them from my family. i naturally have very light blonde hair and a very fair complexion so the dark circles are quite noticeable on me, but i tend to wear enough makeup to cover them up!  also, my daughter has very large, round, brown eyes (oh man, i'm so jealous!!! she didnt get them from me!!) so the circles are much more dominant on her face.

i had wanted to try the epsom salt baths anyway, just to see if they did any good, but my daughter is also a child that likes to swallow bath water and i did not know if it would make her sick so i never tried it.

I just found these websites...maybe it might give some good info.
FYI, I heard that you can swallow Epsom Salts as a laxative...doesn't sound like the effect you're looking for!

http://www.enzymestuff.com/epsomsalts.htm
http://www.afrikanalouisiana.com/epsom_salts_baths__candace_ start.htm

HI everyone,

 well Logan is still in constant motion at bedtime. Good thing is when he does fall asleep he stays asleep. i'm really grateful, so i'll deal with the hour long movement. I read in Karen Seroussi's book that she gave her son Epson salt baths to calm him. Has anyone else tried this and do you think its safe if he swallows some water, he's 2 and loves the water.

Danielle

I know my children love baths They didn't like epson salt in there bath water i could tell cuz they would want out about 5 min. later i tried the huggies lavender bath and they love that!!!!Is the active ingredient in epsom salts magnesium? If it is maybe swallowing the bath water helps our kids! We know that magnesium is something many recommend for our kids. I don't think swallowing a bit of epsom salts is any worse than bubblebath or bathwater that has had grimy bodies in it. 

Maybe you could give him a drink bottle of water while he is in the bath so he has something appropriate to drink.

Good luck I hope it helps relax him.

Thanks, I'll check out those websites and let you know how it turns out.

Danielle

[QUOTE=DERNST]

HI everyone,

 well Logan is still in constant motion at bedtime. Good thing is when he does fall asleep he stays asleep. i'm really grateful, so i'll deal with the hour long movement. I read in Karen Seroussi's book that she gave her son Epson salt baths to calm him. Has anyone else tried this and do you think its safe if he swallows some water, he's 2 and loves the water.

Danielle

[/QUOTE]

I do the epsom salt bath for my son.  I got a great recipie online for them and went to make my own.  As I was at walmart buying everything I turned around and there is a huge selection of natural epsom bath salts sold there for under 3 dollars a jar!  Just make sure you pick a scent you and your child like OPEN THEM UP!  Some stink so bad I wouldn't put my dog in them!  I got a great one that everyone in my house loves and my mom even comes over and grabs a baggie of it to soak my dad in once in a while.  I will make one suggestion and that is I microwave a coffee cup of water good and hot and disolve about a 1/4 cup of salt's in it before dumping it into the tub.  They are harder to disolve and to get the water hot enough Zach can't stand it!  So I pre disolve my salts and then put them in a cooler bath. 

As for the effect's he seems to be much calmer and sleepier after a salt bath vs. a reg. bath.  He also seems to sleep just a little deeper.  But he still wakes at night nothing has "cured" that.

 

I don't know if this is true but I was told by a teacher at my son's school that some beleive that an over abundance of metals in the body may have something to do with the being autistic. She was told that an epson salt bath was used to help draw out those metals. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I found this site when tried to look up some info on it. Thanks.

I used to give my son epsom salt baths, but stopped, because there is a possiblility he may have an allergy to sulfites and/or sulfates.  (Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate.)  Then I read that SEA salt baths also help draw out the body's impurites and toxins, including heavy metals, and so I am eager to try that.  If I can remember where I read that, I will gladly post it.  I'll let you know how it turns out.
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