Bach Flower Remedies are dilute essences of plants that treat emotional, mental, and physical distress. As with homeopathic remedies, choosing a flower remedy involves dose observation of your child's emotional state, and then finding a remedy that matches your observations. Many parents report that these gentle preparations are excellent for alleviating stress and easing a sick, uncomfortable, or unhappy child.
Bach Flower Remedies
| Flower Remedy |
Primary Expression of Emotion |
Underlying Emotional Concerns |
Rescue Remedy
(a combination
of cherry plum,
clematis,
impatients,
rock rose, star of
Bethlehem) |
Fear; panic; apprehension; inconsolable crying; anxiety; tension; night terrors; unexplained screaming. |
This premier flower remedy is excellent for alleviating any crises-caused stress, major or minor. It will help calm an overwrought child, restore balance, and ease apprehension. Whether the cause is an accident, bad news, a nightmare, anxiety over an upcoming test, fear of going to the dentist, an imminent "big day," or anything else, Rescue Remedy calms and alleviates stress. It is particularly useful in acute situations where the cause of a child's distress is unclear, when a child is inconsolable, or appears intensely frustrated and begins screaming for no apparent reason. It is also useful given immediately after a child receives a vaccination. Of all the Bach remedies, parents reports being most appreciative of Rescue Remedy. |
| Agrimony |
Outwardly smiling and brave, inwardly, anguished and suffering. Look deep into the child's eyes. The suffering will show. |
A determination to appear cheerful, despite suffering going on underneath. The anguish may be due to a family trauma, a significant disappointment, or anything your child may view as "failure." |
| Aspen |
Fearfulness< |
Fears that the child can't (or won't) explain, often resulting in many nightmares or difficulty falling asleep. |
| Beech |
Impatience, intolerance. |
A tendency to be a perfectionist and to keep to oneself. This type of child is drawn to order, precision, and pure reason, has little patience with others, and rails against an upset in schedule. |
| Centaury |
Shyness, feelings of intimidation. |
A weak-willed nature. This child is often pushed around at school or on the playground, has great difficulty standing up for himself, and doesn't want to be noticed. |
| Cerato |
Need for constant affirmation. |
Lack of self-confidence; low self-esteem. This child will do a project, then ask you to check it, certain that it is not quite right. He doesn't want to try anything new or go anywhere alone. You may find yourself accompanying this child everywhere. |
| Cherry Plum |
Fearfulness | Fear of situations over which the child has no control. This is the type of child who will never venture on a roller-coaster, for example. |
| Chestnut bud |
Incorrigible behavior. |
An inability (or unwillingness) to understand cause and effect or learn from past mistakes. As a result, reprimands may go unheeded. For example, this child may continue hitting a sibling even though he has been punished for it several times. Chestnut bud is especially helpful in alleviating this kind of behavior. |
| Chickory |
Need for constant attention; selfishness; possessiveness; easily hurt feelings. |
Insecurity and fear of being rejected. This child has difficulty sharing anything, especially his parents. His feelings are easily hurt and he often feels rejected. He says "mine" a lot, while snatching toys from a sibling or playmate. |
| Clemantis |
Indifference; apathy; short attention span. | A tendency to daydream. This child doesn't seem to care very much about anything. He becomes distracted and preoccupied easily, and appears indifferent to his surroundings. It is difficult to capture and hold his attention. |
| Crabapple |
Excessive neatness; compulsive behavior. |
An inability to tolerate disorder or untidiness, which may be related to a child's feelings of shame about his physical condition or appearance. This child's striving for neatness may border on compulsive behavior. |
| Elm |
Feelings of incompetence. |
Fundamental feelings of inadequacy. This child may often whine, "I can't," and complains of being incapable of doing things he wants (or needs) to accomplish. |
| Gentian |
Need for much praise and encouragement. |
A tendency to become discouraged by any setback, no matter how minor. This child requires much encouragement to accomplish anything. He typically tries something once, and if success is not immediate, he is unwilling to try again. Gentian is especially helpful for a child who is discouraged with schoolwork.
|
| Gorse |
Feelings of deep despair, usually after a serious family trauma. |
Following a traumatic situation, such as death or divorce, this child knows that "nothing will ever be the same again," and fears that he will never be able to be happy and carefree again. Without denigrating him or denying the child this period of grieving, supply much reassurance. Gorse can help to ease the feelings during this period. |
| Heather |
Self-centeredness. |
Utter self-absorption. This child believes the world begins and ends with him. He will talk exclusively (and at length) about his cuts and bruises, problems and concerns. |
| Holly |
Anger; fits of temper |
Insecurity and jealousy, such as a feeling of being displaced after the birth of a new sibling, that come out in displays of anger and bad temper. |
| Honeysuckle |
Obsession with happy times from the past; homesickness |
A feeling that past times were perfect, and an obsession with comparing them to the imperfect present. This child typically talks of times when he was particularly happy, such as when the family went to grandmother's house on holidays, when his parents were still together, or when an older sibling doted on him. Honeysuckle is also helpful for a child who is homesick, perhaps because of being away from home for the first time. |
| Hornbeam |
Exhaustion. |
Fatigue and tiredness that keep a child from joining in family activities or play with other children. As a result, this child misses out on a lot of fun times |
| Impatiens |
Impatience; nervousness; hyperactive behavior. | Feelings of impatience and tension. This child is easily irritated and nervous. Impatiens is also an excellent remedy for a hyperactive child who can't sit still. |
| Larch |
Lack of self-confidence. | Low self-esteem. This child is self-effacing and fears calling attention to himself. Standing in front of the class and giving an assigned presentation is an ordeal for this child. Larch will help bolster a child's self-confidence before taking a test or giving an oral report. |
| Mimulus |
Frequent expressions of fears of one thing or another. |
Fearfulness, shyness, and timidity. This child typically talks of being afraid of specific people and/or things, whether teachers, other children, animals, accidents, or monsters. He blushes easily. Unlike the Aspen child, who has fears he can't name, the Mimulus child has fears that are indentifiable and articulated. |
| Mustard |
Sadness | Sorrow and depression. The cause may not be readily apparent, but often these feelings are related to a loss of some kind. |
| Oak |
Constant busyness and bustling. |
A 'type-A" personality; a relentless drive to achieve. This child seems to feel that he must be a role model for others; he is an over-achiever who presses on without letup. |
| Olive |
Exhaustion |
Continual fatigue; a series of being exhausted to the very core. Gently stimulating Olive is the remedy of choice for this child. |
| Pine |
Feelings of guilt. |
A deep, internalized sense of shame and remorse. This child may feel he has done something so awful it can never be forgiven; he may blame himself for everything that goes wrong. Even when the fault lies elsewhere, this child feels guilty inside. |
| Red chestnut |
Inappropriate worrying. |
Excessive concern over the well-being of others. This child worries constantly. |
| Rock rose |
Absolute terror; panic. | Irrational fears. This child often suffers from nightmares. |
| Rock water |
Inflexibility, unwillingness to forgive. | A rigid, unforgiving nature, and a need to strive for perfection. This child is very hard on himself, as well as on others. |
| Scleranthus |
Feelings of uncertainty; vacillation. | An inability to make a decision, to choose between different courses of action. This child feels torn between choices and often asks, "Should I do this?" or, "Should I do that?" |
| Star of Bethlehem |
Emotional shock following a life-changing experience. |
A traumatic and possibly life-changing event, such as sudden or shocking sad news, a severe scare, an accident, or a significant disappointment, that causes feelings of shock and loss. Star of Bethlehem is excellent for alleviating the physical and emotional shock associated with traumatic experiences. |
| Sweet chestnut |
Anguish and torment. | Feelings of exhaustion and alienation. For whatever reason, this child is in torment and feels very much alone. |
| Vervain |
Tension; drivenesss. | Perfectionism that causes a child to strive so hard that he becomes nervous and tense. This child may have difficulty sleeping normally. |
| Vine |
Selfishness; ruthlessness. |
A need to have one's own way, no matter what. This child will do and say anything to swing others his way, and can be utterly ruthless in pursuit of his desires. |
| Walnut |
Tendency to be very easily influenced. |
A nature that is sensitive and easily cowed. Even if a proposed course of action is not to his liking, this child will "follow the leader" rather than following the dictates of his own head and/or heart. |
| Water violet |
A tendency to be alone, removed from peers. |
An asocial nature that feels no need or desire to to associate with other children. This child prefers to be alone, aloof, and removed, "above" the daily hurly-burly. |
| White chestnut |
Obsessive thinking. | A tendency to dwell on ideas or events without letup. Long after you thought the subject had been forgotten, this child may still be fixated on the same idea. This remedy is very helpful for a child who obsesses about being accepted into a particular group or clique. |