Rooted Pediatric Healthcare

Rooted Pediatric Healthcare Personalized, functional medicine for kids 🌱| Serving families with compassion & expertise | 🌿 Nurturing strong roots to help children grow

Tasty Tuesday and we are making the fanciest looking snack that takes approximately four minutes of actual effort.Chia s...
06/23/2026

Tasty Tuesday and we are making the fanciest looking snack that takes approximately four minutes of actual effort.

Chia seeds are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. They are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids which are critical for brain development, fiber for gut health, calcium, magnesium, and antioxidants. And when they soak overnight they become this creamy pudding texture that kids think is dessert.

Breakfast that feels like a treat. That is a win we will take every single time.

Make a batch of four or five on Sunday and breakfast is handled all week long!!

It is officially SUMMEERRRRR The countdown is over. The chaos has officially begun.This is the season they are going to ...
06/22/2026

It is officially SUMMEERRRRR

The countdown is over. The chaos has officially begun.

This is the season they are going to remember. Not the clean house or the perfectly packed lunches or the structured schedule.

They will remember the lake days and the late sunsets and the fireflies and the nights where we stayed outside way too long because nobody wanted it to end.

Your kids do not need a perfect summer. They need a present one.

So here is my official summer prescription from your favorite holistic pediatric provider:

More outside. More unstructured. More boredom that turns into creativity. More meals that do not require a recipe. More saying yes to the messy thing.

Nightly tick checks, mineral sunscreen, neon orange swimsuits, and a rinse after the pool. That is the whole list.

Now go enjoy it. You earned this!!

This one is for the dads! The ones doing the 3am wake ups right alongside mama. The ones who learned how to swaddle, how...
06/19/2026

This one is for the dads!

The ones doing the 3am wake ups right alongside mama. The ones who learned how to swaddle, how to do a tick check, and how to get a toddler to eat something green (or have at least tried… IYKYK.)
You are not a backup parent. You are a pillar of this village and we see you so clearly!!

Happy Father's Day to every dad in the Rooted community. Your kids are so lucky to have you!!

I wrote a children's book!!For the past year I have been working on something that started as a whisper of an idea and t...
06/18/2026

I wrote a children's book!!

For the past year I have been working on something that started as a whisper of an idea and turned into one of the most meaningful projects of my career.

Finn's Tummy Troubles is the first book in the Oakley and Friends series and it is about something I talk about in this office every single week, gut health, and how it feels to live in a body that is not quite comfortable, and what it looks like when someone finally helps you figure out why.

I wrote it because I kept watching kids come in with tummy troubles they could not explain and parents who felt dismissed and exhausted and like nobody was really listening. I wanted to give those families something they could read together. Something that said, we see you, this is real, and there is help.

Illustrated by the incredibly talented Faith Walker, this book is warm and beautiful and I genuinely cannot believe it exists.

It is at the printer right now. Which still makes me want to cry a little honestly.

More details on availability coming very soon. In the meantime share this post with every mama you know who has a little one with tummy troubles. This one is for them!!

To the first time mama who is currently drowning in Google search results at midnight trying to figure out if what her b...
06/17/2026

To the first time mama who is currently drowning in Google search results at midnight trying to figure out if what her baby is doing is normal.

Hi. I see you. Come sit down for a second.

The first year is so beautiful and so relentless and so full of conflicting information that it can feel impossible to know what to trust or where to turn. Every app says something different. Every family member has an opinion. Every Google search leads to seventeen more questions.

I created Rooted Beginnings because I wanted to be the voice in your ear during that first year. The one that cuts through the noise, explains the why behind everything your baby is doing, and helps you feel confident instead of constantly second guessing yourself.

Inside Rooted Beginnings you will find everything from what is actually normal newborn behavior and what is not, to how to support your baby's gut health from day one, to thoughtful guidance on sleep, feeding, teething, developmental milestones, and how to navigate the moments when you genuinely do not know if you need to call someone.

This is the manual I wish someone had put in my hands when I was a new mama. Before I had the medical degree and the experience and the confidence that comes with years of practice.

You deserve to feel supported and informed and sure of yourself in this season. Not panicked. Not overwhelmed. Rooted.

Grab your copy through the link in our bio!!

Tasty Tuesday and this one is for the mama whose child survives on buttered noodles and prayers. Hidden Veggie Pasta Sau...
06/16/2026

Tasty Tuesday and this one is for the mama whose child survives on buttered noodles and prayers.

Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce. They will never know. Promise!

What you need:
1 jar of your favorite clean marinara as a base
1 medium zucchini roughly chopped
1 large carrot roughly chopped
Half a red bell pepper roughly chopped
Two handfuls of baby spinach
2 cloves of garlic
A drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and vegetables in olive oil until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add everything including the marinara to a blender or use an immersion blender directly in the pan. Blend until completely smooth. Serve over whatever pasta your family loves.

This sauce freezes beautifully so make a double batch and freeze half in mason jars for nights when you have absolutely nothing left.

Why we love this one: you just got four vegetables into a child who would never eat them voluntarily. The olive oil helps absorb the fat soluble vitamins. The garlic supports immune function. And dinner is done in twenty minutes.

You are a kitchen wizard and you did not even have to tell them!!

Let me tell you what a fever actually is before you reach for the medicine cabinet. A fever is not a disease. It is a de...
06/15/2026

Let me tell you what a fever actually is before you reach for the medicine cabinet.

A fever is not a disease. It is a defense.

When your child's body temperature rises, it is because the immune system has identified a threat and activated a response. The heat itself is part of that response. It makes the environment hostile for bacteria and viruses. It activates immune cells. It speeds up the production of antibodies.

A fever is your child's immune system doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

So when is it actually dangerous?

In children over 3 months, a fever under 104 is rarely dangerous on its own. What matters far more than the number is how your child is acting. Are they drinking? Are they making tears when they cry? Can they be comforted? Are they having moments where they seem like themselves even between the heat?

A child with a 103 fever who is drinking, occasionally smiling, and can be comforted is very different from a child with a 101 fever who is limp, inconsolable, and not wetting diapers.

Watch the child. Not just the thermometer.

When do we treat? When the fever is causing significant discomfort that is preventing rest. Not to bring the number down because the number scares us.

When do you call us? Any fever in a baby under 3 months. A fever over 104 in any child. A fever lasting more than 5 days. A child who seems really unwell regardless of the temperature.

Save this for the next fever because there will absolutely be a next fever!!

I want to offer a different lens on ADHD today. Not to dismiss it, not to tell you medication is wrong, but to add somet...
06/12/2026

I want to offer a different lens on ADHD today. Not to dismiss it, not to tell you medication is wrong, but to add something to the conversation that I think is missing from most offices.

The gut-brain connection in ADHD is real and it is significant.

Research consistently shows that children with ADHD have measurably different gut microbiome profiles than neurotypical children. Lower levels of specific beneficial bacteria. Higher levels of inflammatory markers. Increased intestinal permeability, which is what we sometimes call leaky gut.

What does that mean in plain language?

It means the gut is producing less of the neurotransmitters that help with focus, impulse control, and emotional regulation. It means inflammation may be affecting how the brain signals and fires. It means that for some kids, the gut is part of the story and nobody is looking there.

This does not mean every child with ADHD has a gut issue. But it means it is worth asking.

At Rooted we look at the full picture. Sleep quality. Nutritional deficiencies, especially iron, zinc, magnesium, and omega 3. Food sensitivities. Gut microbiome health. Environmental exposures.

Before we label a child, we ask what the body might be trying to tell us.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD or you are in the middle of trying to figure out what is going on, we would love to be part of your team. Tap the link in our bio.

Oh no, who can help Finn?Any guesses on what's to come? The first correct guess gets their coffee order on me!
06/11/2026

Oh no, who can help Finn?

Any guesses on what's to come? The first correct guess gets their coffee order on me!

I want to talk about something that I see more and more in my practice and that almost never gets caught early enough. A...
06/10/2026

I want to talk about something that I see more and more in my practice and that almost never gets caught early enough.

Anxiety in school age kids. And specifically how different it looks from what we expect.

We expect anxious kids to seem worried. To cry. To cling. To say they are scared.

But a lot of the time what anxiety actually looks like in a seven, eight, nine year old is this:

Refusing to go to school with no real explanation for why. Stomach aches every single morning that every test says are not real. Meltdowns that seem wildly disproportionate to the situation. Difficulty sleeping even when they are exhausted. Picking fights, acting out, shutting down completely. Being described as difficult, or dramatic, or attention seeking when really their nervous system is completely overwhelmed.

Anxiety in kids often looks like behavior. And behavior is so often dismissed as a parenting problem instead of a body signal.

What I want every parent reading this to know is that a child who is struggling this way is not broken and you are not doing it wrong. Their nervous system is trying to tell you something.

And there is so much we can do. Gut health, sleep, nutrition, nervous system regulation, root cause investigation. There is a path forward and it starts with someone actually listening.

If this sounds like your kid, we would love to sit with you. Tap the link in our bio.

Address

105 E Butler Street
Manchester, IA
52057

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(563)9201515

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