So it happened.  I’m no longer the mom of a baby.  My youngest is now three: not a baby, not even a toddler… a real big boy. 

 

It's not like it happened overnight, but man, the last three years sure have flown by. I clearly remember the day he was born: we drove leisurely to the hospital for a non-stress test… and left two days afterward with a baby.  Now, three very short years later, we find ourselves putting our bed back up on its frame and clearing out the baby toys, to make room for the new big boy toys. 

 

Sigh.

That’s both a sigh of relief… for the years of night waking and diapers being over; and, a sigh of wistfulness… for the time when he was tiny enough to hold in the crook of my arm.

My big boy: He’ll talk your ear off.  He loves building and singing. He’s always been a super cuddle hog. And he still thinks his big sister is the best thing on the planet.In the blink of an eye, twelve seasons have passed, and my little baby is a big kid.  Parents: hug your babies.  Time goes by so fast. 

I remember the first day we came home from the hospital, a week after the birth of our first child.  We walked through the front door, so happy to finally be home! We nearly skipped our way down the hallway, right to our daughter’s newly and beautifully painted & decorated room. Daddy unstrapped the sleeping bundle from her carseat (Stop, read that again. Yes, we moved a peacefully sleeping baby?!) and proudly laid our new baby girl in her new crib. We stood back and smiled our biggest new parent (read: completely clueless nincompoop) smiles down at her. 

We took a few photographs that first day home, right as we laid her in her crib. What a big bed for a little baby, we thought. Oh, doesn’t she look precious?  And then…  the arms started shooting out, the legs started kicking, the eyes cracked open, her face started twisting up, and then… the wail.

What!? We looked at each other; concern & confusion reflected on our faces. What was wrong?

Surely she could feel & appreciate all the obvious effort that went into planning for her arrival, and drift happily off to sleep in her princess’ palace (oh yes, the wallpaper we picked out did say princess), while we proudly watched from above?  I mean, babies sleep a lot. In their cribs.  Right?

Now it wasn’t that we hadn’t experienced her crying in the last week.  We had.  In fact, we’d been told by the nurse that our baby seemed to cry A LOT (See: Colic… another post, another time). But, we’d assumed she cried so much in the hospital because she was in THE HOSPITAL, with bilirubin lights, isolettes, nurses & doctors poking and testing, SNS & formula & breast pump ministrations at every turn.  Heck, I felt like crying myself.  But once she was HOME, well… how can she not be happy in her own bed? A baby’s bed: extra-firm mattress, completely & plastic-encased dust-mite protective covered, no extra padding (per the instructions to avoid SIDS, of course), no blankets (also to avoid the dreaded SIDS), enclosed with bars.  Wasn’t that doing it for her? Come on now, we followed the baby proofing bedding steps to the letter! Okay, maybe the crib mattress wasn’t that comfortable (I’d never want to sleep on it, personally), but, the MOBILE? Surely that would help. It was black, white, and bold primary colors – just what we’d read babies like! We turned it on, and waited, hopeful.  Nope. She squirmed, and wailed, and was, well, obviously extremely displeased with being placed where we’d placed her.  I picked her up. On to plan B.

Now, to be honest, our plan A wasn’t just baby sleeping in a crib in a separate room.  We DID have Arms-Reach co-sleeper too, because, from my research while pregnant, I determined that I wanted my baby to be close at hand for nursing at night.  And, in general, I felt like I liked the idea of co-sleeping (small letters), though not necessarily CO-SLEEPING (you know, the kind of thing that hippies do, where you give up all your personal space to your kid, and where you’re irresponsibly endangering them by obliviously rolling over on them in your sleep - hey, I've come far since then).

In reality, once we started co-sleeping, I wanted the easy access; I found it extremely difficult to sleep when I couldn’t hear her/see her breathe whenever I opened my eyes, yet the converse of that reality was the equally present and looming SIDS worry in every magazine & pamphlet I’d read, (further encouraged by the constant urging and requesting of my mother to put baby back in the bassinette, on her BACK after I finished nursing her, and clucks of disapproval as I created a space next to me on the hospital bed for her to sleep with me), that kept me from fully launching into CO-SLEEPING (big letters).

Anyhow, after about three weeks of night after night of struggling out of bed (I had a c-section) every 3 hours (to the alarm because my daughter had severe jaundice at birth due to AB/O incompatibility, so I was instructed to wake her every 3 hrs to nurse once home [for the first 8 weeks], so we wouldn’t have to return to the hospital again), picking baby up out of the co-sleeper, walking to her room, changing her diaper, sitting in the rocking chair in a sleep-deprived stupor to nurse, burping her, switching sides, changing her diaper again, rocking her till she was asleep, trying to lay her down, having her wake up, rocking her, nursing, changing diaper again, trying to lay her down again, I sat bewildered and frustrated and just plain tired in the rocking chair sometime in the middle of the night. You know that time of night when even the crickets don’t make noise anymore. This is the new mother hour. Man, it was lonely and quiet and dark and all I wanted was to be asleep like the little baby in my arms. But, awake I was, sitting straight up in a chair (because, you know, that’s how I’d been taught to breastfeed, and if I tried to move to put baby in her crib or co-sleeper, she’d wake, so I just sat & tried to fall asleep that way, only, didn’t want to fall deeply asleep in the event that I might fall out of the chair). So there I was, reading & re-reading Dr. Sears Baby Book, trying to think of why this nighttime stuff was just. So. Hard. When suddenly, bleary-eyed, I stumbled on a page about the side-lying nursing position. To this day, I owe Martha Sears a debt of gratitude.  After processing the drawing a few times, I felt a ray of hope.  Maybe I could sleep, if I tried this CO-SLEEPING? I shed my boppy and three other positioning pillows & blankets and brought baby (and the book, for reference) into bed, re-latched her on while LYING DOWN and… she fell asleep. (Asleep! Thank you universe my baby is asleep IN A BED.) And here I was, actually LYING DOWN. And would you believe folks, I fell asleep. And when I awoke, I realized that I hadn’t rolled over on my baby. No, in fact, she was still peacefully sleeping beside me.

The very next thing we did was buy a king size bed.

So there we were, a CO-SLEEPING family in a king bed with an unused crib, and unused arms reach co-sleeper (though I did realize quickly that it held diapers & wipes for middle-of-the night changes without getting out of bed, very handily! It also prevented the need for a bedrail.) finally getting some rest at night.

Of course, nap time was another story.

During the day, we couldn’t put my daughter down; because in the event that she did fall asleep in-arms, she’d immediately wake up as soon as she felt her position move towards horizontal. I tried leaning precariously over the edge of the crib (we got a non-drop side crib; again, I believe nincompoop fits the bill here), my feet off the floor, precariously see-sawing over the bar on my waist to ease baby onto the mattress (which I’d pre-warmed with towels fresh from the drier, per Dr. Sears suggestion), to no avail.  The moment she touched down, her eyelids would flutter open & she’d immediately begin protesting. What’s a mom to do? 

Well, I wore her much of the time - once I found the Snugli.  (Yes, unfortunate as it may sound to crunchy parents everywhere, the Snugli is what I had because the only place remotely close to us was a Walmart, and the only thing they had remotely like a baby carrying device was a Snugli. So, the Snugli it was.)  And the Sungli DID work to help PUT her to sleep – so long as I was doing full deep knee bending squats while singing.  So, I was able to get some work done while she slept on me that way.  Unfortunately, I could only do standing work; since as soon as I’d stop moving (say, to sit down at my computer, can you imagine?), she’d wake.  Being that my job at home required computer time, this wasn’t the most convenient solution.  So, there ensued my adventure to get my daughter to lie down for a nap. I tried every way possible to ease her out of the front pack and into her crib, asleep. In fact, some days, I’d spend hours on the Sungli to Crib Transfer, only to have her wake up and start the whole process all over again.  I’d have fantasy scenarios as I was walking & bouncing her for hours, where I’d be able to nurse her to sleep by leaning over the bassinette, and then sneak away.  Or, somehow climb myself into the crib & do the same (and yes, I DID try that). Unfortunately, none of these ideas worked out so well.  Until one day, around four months, (yes, you read that correctly, I endured THREE MONTHS OF THIS) I laid down with her, completely exhausted in the middle of my bed, after myriad of failed nap “put downs” (as Adam & I referred to them), and nursed her to sleep. I had given up.  I couldn’t work at home with an infant.  I’d just lie in bed staring at the ceiling (I’ve never been able to nap well during the day) whenever she napped. Yet, somehow, between her drifting off to sleep, and myself trying to drift off, bravery (or commonsense) hit me, and I instead decided to roll away.  And… she stayed asleep.  I cleared the bed of any & all pillows & blankets, turned on the baby monitor, and - blessed be - she stayed asleep.  I think I checked on her every 5 minutes that first time, but every day, and every night, for the next three years, my daughter slept in our bed full-time.  And I was able to work successfully at my desk while she slept. And man, did life with a new baby get easier.

Every milestone brought new co-sleeping challenges.  We went through plan A, B, C, D, and on through Z over the years.  For example, as she began to roll, we put our mattress down on the floor; box springs stored away, and completely baby-proofed the room.  Once she was crawling, we taught her how to back off the end of the bed, feet first.  Once she was walking, we’d leave the gate up in the doorway.

After her brother was born, we all shared the king bed (we never even set up the crib for my son), which presented its own set of unique challenges (like, keeping two-year-old asleep when newborn noisily wakes and starts to root).  But in spite of the challenges, and occasional sleepless nights, and bed reaarrangements, we kept on keeping on co-sleeping, because... it worked.  Until one day, just after turning three, my daughter, the very same one who would never be put down, asked to start off the night in “her” bed (which was a full size mattress on the floor. From that point on, she'd start off in her room, then would join us sometime in the middle of the night.  Once my son was around 18 months, we added a twin size mattress along side of her full size mattress, and the two of them have co-slept for the last year and a half.

So...what’s the moral of my story? Well, my bed sharing babies were far happier, far more rested babies than when not bed sharing.  My co-sleeping self was far more relaxed once I brought baby to bed than when I was getting up every three hours to nurse in a rocking chair (and then trying unsuccessfully to replace baby in her crib), or, when she was (in the very rare occurance) asleep in another room, and I’d still be waking every half hour to check on her. And though we had to work through some less than restful nights of elbows in the rib cage and feet in the small of our backs, my co-sleeping husband and I loved the morning time waking up with the kiddos. And, my co-sleeping children are well-rested, happy, and so close to each other, and to us.  I'm not sure I can attribute all of this to co-sleeping, but I CAN say that sharing sleep with our children as babies and young toddlers had far more benefits than drawbacks. I wouldn’t change the experience, even for a better nights’ sleep, and only wish I’d have figured it out sooner – doing so certainly would have made those first few weeks with my first newborn much easier!

 

If you’re thinking about co-sleeping, I encourage you to do some research!  Find out why sleep sharing is so good for babies and moms.  For information on co-sleeping, bed sharing, and the family bed, and how to share sleep with your baby safely, visit these fabulous sites:

PhD In Parenting: Co-Sleeping Safely

Dr Sears: Sleeping Safely With Your Baby

KellyMom.com: The Family Bed

Dr. Jay Gordon: Safe Cosleeping

 

And, please tell me your co-sleeping stories!

So here we are once again, “Springing forward” with our clocks, and wreaking havoc with our circadian rhythms.  In my personal experience, children respond the least well to DST, or, perhaps it’s that we adults don’t like to take things slowly, and wish kids could just “get” the concept of moving the clocks means going to bed/getting up earlier.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could gradually ease into DST – say, moving each day back by 8 minutes and 57 seconds for the week preceding?  Okay, maybe not.  

But as it is, I find the Spring forward part of the time changes particularly difficult: Bam! Wake up earlier! Slam! Go to bed earlier! No one really responds well.  I find myself wandering around in a haze in the mornings for a week or so, and unable to fall asleep in the evening.  For the children, nap, bedtime, and waketime become so much more dramatic.

 

After a particularly irritable day yesterday (granted, it has been raining here for the last three days), I decided to research a bit, to find out the reasons behind Daylight Saving Time. Really, I guess I was looking for someone to blame. 

 

Anyhow, the idea of Summer Time/Daylight Saving Time was first introduced by George Vernon Hudson in 1895. I’d imagine he’s no longer alive for me to give a piece of my mind. Harumph. It was first implemented during World War in an effort to conserve coal for war production (the theory being that by taking advantage of the greater hours of daylight in the Spring & Summer for work, less coal would be burned in the evenings, as people would be sleeping).  In 2007, due to the passing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, four extra weeks were added to extend Daylight Saving Time - extending our previously observed DST of 1^st Sunday in April – Last Sunday in October to where it stands now: The second Sunday in March – the first Sunday in November. Again, in an effort to further reduce energy consumption. While that theory of energy saving by DST still holds today, it doesn’t seem to be an open & shut case.  Wikipedia indicates that “recent research is limited and reports contradictory results” linking actual energy reduction to DST implementation.  Also that, “several studies have suggested DST increases motor fuel consumption”.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong. Of course I appreciate the extra “daytime” as the days naturally lengthen; it helps us wake with the sun, spend more time in the sun during the day, and thereby increase our ability to produce all-important Vitamin D, and improve our mood and health overall.  And certainly, if there are energy savings to be had by through the implementation of DST, then I’m all for its continuation. Yet, I wish there were a more gradual transition, particularly for the children.  Because when it comes right down to it, it’s just not easy explaining to a 2-year old, who “isn’t tired yet”, that they need to go to bed an hour earlier than they are used to because we moved the clocks forward in order that we may help reduce our country’s energy consumption by 1%. Yeah. On these first few evenings after the time change, I’m temped to go the way of Hawaii (and parts of Arizona), and not observe Daylight Saving Time at all.

But I  -
I love it when you sing to me
And you -
You can sing me anything

~Peter Gabriel

 

And to my children, I have sung pretty much anything & everything to help them to sleep.  As a teen & 20-something, I sang in several choirs.  Many of those songs stayed with me; so naturally, when I became a lullaby-singing parent (to a colicky infant who required constant motion & song) my favorite English Madrigals, Sacred Songs, and Spirituals came right to mind. I admit, to not only not knowing (or bothering to learn) many “lullabies”, but to preferring interesting lyric & melody over repetitive humdrum (think Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star – ack!). As a result most of what I’ve sung as stand-ins are neither particularly light nor baby-related.  Not that rock-a-bye baby is light of lyric. Baby falling from a tree – sheesh.

 

Yet, certain songs I love to sing, and as a bonus, over the years I’ve found really work well to help baby (or toddler, or child) sleep. (Babies don’t care one lick what the words are; just keep singing.  And toddlers think my Latin is hilarious).

 

I’ll share with you some of my most beloved bedtime songs (random choirs on you tube just so you can get the tune – I do not vouch for the quality!):

 

Ride The Chariot (my son’s favorite)

I'm gonna ride the chariot
In the morning Lord
I'm gonna ride

Ride the chariot
In the morning Lord

I’m getting ready for the judgment day

My Lord, My Lord

 

Are you ready my brother/sister?

Oh yes

Are you ready for the journey

Oh yes

Do you want to see your Jesus

Oh yes, I’m waiting for the chariot ‘cause I’m ready to go

 

I never will forget that day
When all my sins were taken away
My feet were snatched from the miry clay

 

 

Blow The Candles Out  (my daughter’s favorite)

When I was ‘prenticed in Plymouth

I went to see my dear

The candles they were a-burning, the moon shone bright and clear

I knocked upon her window to ease her of her pain

She rose to let me in, then she barred the door again.

 

I like your good behavior darling, thus I often say

That I cannot rest contented while you are far away.

The winds they are so cold, that we cannot stay there out

So roll me in your arms, love, and blow the candles out.

 

Now Father & Mother in yonder room do lie

A-hugging one another, so why not you & I

A-hugging one another without a fear or doubt

So roll me in your arms, love, and blow the candles out.

 

Psallite! 

Psallite unigenito
Christo, Dei Filio,
Psallite Redemptori,
Domino, puerulo
jacenti in praesepio.
Ein kleines Kindelein liegt in dem Krippelein.
Alle lieben Engelein dienen dem Kindelein
und singen ihm fein.
Psallite unigenito...

 

(English Translation: Sing Your Psalms!

Sing your psalms to Christ,
the begotten Son of God,
sing your psalms to the Redeemer,
to the Lord, the little Child
lying in a manger bed.
A small Child lies in the manger.
All the blessed angels fall before Him
and sing.
Sing...)

 

The Silver Swan

The silver swan who living had no note
When death approached unlocked her silent throat
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore
Thus sung her first and last and sung no more:
Farewell all joys oh death come close my eyes
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise

 

 

If Ye Love Me

If ye love me,
keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may abide with you forever,
e'en the spirit of truth.

 

Please share with me YOUR favorite bedtime songs!

Last night, my 2 yo had his first night terror. My 5 yo has not had them.  She’s awoken scared, had nightmares before, but last night was something different.  My son came running down the hall, screaming.  Blood curdling scream, like the kind that rips you out of a deep sleep in a sense of complete panic. I didn’t know where I was, where he was, I just knew he was terrified and I needed to save him – NOW. He was silhouetted in my bedroom doorway – the hallway nightlight illuminated behind him – he was rigid in fear – looking behind him and I ran to him & picked him up.  He was so terrified, gripped my neck in a panic & didn’t even cry for a couple of minutes – I believe he was still sleeping.  I just held him & let him know it was okay.  In a few minutes, I could tell he’d fully awoken and I helped him back to bed.  I told him he’d had a scary dream.  I asked him if he remembered it. He said yes.  I asked what it was about & he said: “Something was coming.  Something scary.”  My heart ached for him. I laid next to him while he settled back into sleep – and thankfully he slept peacefully the remainder of the night.

 

I have had night terrors my whole life.  My father had night terrors. I’d always assumed my children would.  Yet, when my daughter had not, I thought: hey, maybe we lucked out!  Maybe this peaceful, attachment parenting thing really works!  You’d think I’d have been ready for this.  Yet, when it happened last night, I didn’t feel ready.  I empathized with his terror, yet I felt so helpless.  I don’t want my children to have night terrors yet I can do nothing to stop it. Its not a good feeling to have.

 

I’ve posted on message boards & on twitter, sympathizing with & trying to reassure mothers who have experienced night terrors in their children; thinking somehow that my own personal experience would offer some help to them.  However, I’m not sure, now, having experienced one with my son, that anything really helps you get comfortable with being awoken by the panicked scream of your child. Experiencing it makes you want to know why & what. All those things that I’ve just gotten used to in myself, and dismissed as just part of my life, now I want to FIX for my baby. Yet, I know this isn’t something to be fixed.  It just is what it is. Its not damaging, and its not indicative of anything other a hereditary propensity towards an overactive mind in sleep. There’s some comfort in that.

 

Over the years, I’ve done some research into night terrors.  I’ve wanted to know why I have them, or at least know if other people have had them & what they are like for others. 

Unfortunately, the “why’s” of what really causes night terrors are still mostly unknown. Here’s what I do know about night terrors:

 

They are most common in young children, and usually go away on their own with time (typically by age 12, though many adults have them as well).

There is a hereditary component:  Parents who have/had night terrors often have children who experience night terrors.

They occur only in stage 4 (non-REM) sleep (which makes them different from nightmares which happen in any stage of sleep)

They don’t signify an underlying psychological problem.

Some people remember their night terrors after waking, some do not.

People having a night terror are typically not aware of what’s going on around them, and may not be able to be awakened.  They may appear awake, breathing quickly, high heart rate, but are still sleeping.

Many people see animals or people threatening them; but the things they see (spiders, etc.) are not the things they are typically afraid of during waking hours.

They tend to happen more often when a person is overtired or over stimulated.

Night terrors on their own are not harmful though they can occur with sleepwalking – so room should be safe from objects on which children could hurt themselves; top-of-stairs gates should be closed.

There is some evidence of a link to hypoglycemia.

 

Some tips from my own experience:

Comfort & hug the person having the night terror – speak & move gently.

Gently waking is okay, though never force a waking – its sometimes even more frightening to be woken during/after a night terror, because at least in my experience, it takes me time to reacclimatize to “reality” vs. dream state, I’m very agitated (heart rate can get up between 160 – 170 in studies done on night terrors) and I can’t fall back to sleep easily.

Sleeping with an air purifier (for white noise), and no nightlight helps me immensely because my stage 4 sleep is not interrupted by sudden noises or light (these are both triggers for me).

Unfamiliar places tend to trigger my night terrors (say, on vacation). Before sleep in these instances, I make sure to familiarize myself with the room. 

I try to eat something small before bed – some yogurt, a banana, etc.

 

I do hope that my son will outgrow night terrors – he’s only had one so far.  And maybe it will be the only one! In the meantime, I feel comfortable that they aren’t damaging, and from my experience, as annoying as they may be long-term, there are certainly worse things someone could live with.

 

A few sites about night terrors that may be helpful:

Night Terrors Resource Center

Dr. Sears – Night Terrors

Wikipedia: Night Terror/Pavor Nocturnus

National Institute of Health

 

 

With cold weather fast approaching, and the children back in school, the thoughts of staying healthy, avoiding the dreaded flu, and keeping our immune systems at their highest level have been forefront in my mind!

So I’ve been mulling over all the things we’ve done in the past, the things we are planning to do this year, and have been soliciting ideas from my irl, facebook, & twitter friends.  All this adds up to a pretty darned good list, if I do say so myself. Though, I’m sure there are plenty more things I could do better!  Here it is (not really in any order other than how they came to my mind):

(and this photo isn't me - just looked like how I'd like to feel all year 'round!)

Fresh Air & Sunshine – Getting outside every day, even when it’s really cold, if just for a few minutes, is so important.  Not only do our bodies need the sunlight so they can make vitamin D (which is VITAL to staying healthy – please read what Dr. Mercola has to say about vitamin D & sun exposure – it may change your perspective on the sun; it did mine!), but we also need fresh air to clear out our lungs from being cooped up indoors all winter day.  Most of our indoor air contains pollutants – carpet fibers, paint offgassing, cleaning products, etc. So, in addition to getting outside, periodically opening the windows throughout the winter to get some “new” air in, I recommend switching all cleaning products used indoors to natural products – castille soap, vinegar, baking soda, and tea tree oil for example, or safer chemical cleaners – like 7^th Generation.

 

Fruits, veggies, and berries – particularly berries -  We try to eat organic as much as possible to avoid chemical exposure, and to boost antioxidants (organic produce has been found to have higher levels of antioxidants than conventional food)! We also are fortunate to have a juicer  – and try to use it often in the winter to get the most out of our veggies in particular.  I believe that food is better for you when it is raw & unpasturized; though the thought of raw veggies isn’t that appealing to most – particularly kids, so juicing makes eating your veggies easy!  It also helps cut down on the amt. of food wasted – when your strawberries start to get soft, or your apples bruised, for example, I just throw them in the juicer – and no one’s the wiser – but they sure still taste great!  When we can’t get to the juicer, or don’t have fresh fruits/veggies on hand, the next best thing we’ve found is Nuriche LiVE.  And we like it so much, that we decided to start selling it!  It’s a super-easy way to make sure we’re still getting the benefits of fresh fruits + probiotics… and it tastes good too.

 

 

Water -  Water, of course, is important to keep everything working in our bodies & I always feel it just flushes out the toxins… the more water you take in, the more bad stuff it takes out.  We have a water filter, and I’m trying to wean myself off of bottled spring water.  However, while rated highly “clean”, our township water is fluoridated, so its been a mental battle for me to switch completely off of bottled spring.  But I am trying!  For my birthday, my good friend got for me 5 reusable BPA-free plastic water bottles: one for each day of the work week. And I plan to get the children each a Kleen Kanteen for Christmas.  So this should help!  

 

Washing Hands – We use herbal antibacterial soap by Cleanwell at our sinks, and just regular old olive oil soap in the bath. We wash before meals, after going outside, and after getting back from school/work.  When we’re in the car, and can’t get to a sink, my favorite antibacterial spray is Burt’s Bees Aloe & Witch Hazel Hand Sanitizer. I don’t consider myself too much of a germaphobe, and don’t chase the kids around with antibacterial spray (oh wait, maybe I do), but these two things are free from toxic chemicals like triclosan & SLS, so I feel comfortable using them.

 

 

Exercise – Okay.  I’ll admit, I do not exercise enough.  Or, well, at all. Sometimes we’ll get on an exercise kick where we’ll get on our running machine & elliptical every evening once the kids are in bed but we’ve never been able to get into a real routine!  The kids, on the otherhand, always get plenty of exercise – of course, they always have boundless energy too.  :) Its so important to long-term health, and its important for the children to see US placing a priority on exercise.  This is something we ALL need to work on. 

 

Supplements – Aside from the healthy foods, getting outside, and drinking lots of fluids, we also supplement our diets with the following things; most vigilantly in the Winter:

• Probiotic – I use Jarro brand because its what I started with when my youngest was an infant & had thrush. Comes chewable for the kids, capsulated for me, and powdered which I use to mix into smoothies, sprinkle on oatmeal, etc.
• Elderberry concentrate – we take this daily because it is so tasty, easy to mix into the kid’s water, and packed full of natural nutrients! Additionally, it has been shown to have anti-viral properties.
• Garlic – Adam & I take garlic in capsule form, and we make homemade garlicky hummus & soups for ourselves & the kids.   
• Echinacea – We all take this two weeks on, two weeks off throughout cold season
• Astragalus – We all take this daily throughout cold season
• Vitamin C – We all take this daily in the form of chewable tablets, but also unpasteurized orange juice.  We boost our daily intake during cold season.
• Vitamin D – we get out in the sun every day when its possible, but even when it is, we all also take vitamin D – in the form of cod liver oil for us, and Carlsons Baby D drops for the kids. With all I’ve been reading about vitamin D lately, I’m even considering  starting to regularly visit a tanning salon in the winter months.  Yes, crazy, right? And I’ve never in my life tanned, and do use California Baby sunscreen in the middle of summer when we're going to be out all day in the sun, yet the more I read, the more I’m convinced vitamin D deficiencies are the link to so many health problems… and that dramatically increasing vitamin D would be the link to much better health! 

 

Chiropractor – We try to visit the chiropractor once a month.  Its been a while because our  favorite chiropractor has relocated to a not-so-convenient location, but we really need to go back, particularly through the winter! I believe that having our bodies aligned improves circulation, posture, and communication of the brain with the body.  Basically, if our body is comfortable it can heal itself. So I’m working on finding a new chiropractor.

 

Sleep - With young children I know this can be a tough one.  And even WITHOUT young children, with so much to do in the evenings - internet, movies, games, blogging, reading, cleaning, working... well, getting enough sleep is just not easy.  But as adults we're supposed to get 8 hours of sleep per night.  EIGHT!  Even with both of our children now finally "sleeping through the night", I often find myself averaging closer to 5 or 6 hours per night during the week, rather than 8 (when's the last time I got 8?!).  But our bodies do much of thier healing while we're sleeping.  So its another thing, like exercise, that really needs focus.

 

Air Purifier

– We've always slept with a HEPA air purifier at night.  Mostly for that lovely white noise sound which is so helpful in keeping little ones asleep. But also because it removes any allergenic or irritating particles in the air while we're sleeping - and we do spend a large portion of our day in one place - our bedroom - so best to make the air we're breathing (and rebreathing) as clean as possible.

Flu shots – I think I’m back on the fence with this one.  Last year, we all got the flu shot. I had to switch doctors in order to make sure everyone got the mercury-free dose, and no, we didn’t get the flu last year.  But we never got the flu any other year either, and had never gotten the flu vaccine.  This year, I’ll have to special order the mercury-free one (Sanofi Pasteur makes the pre-filled vials this year) – my doctor is willing to write a script for it – because neither of the practices we visit received the themerisol-free version this year.  Which is another topic for another day.  So, I’m still not sure about it, or the H1N1 vaccine.  I’m considering getting it for myself, but since my understanding is that they haven’t produced a mercury-free version, I just don’t know that I can feel comfortable giving this to the kids.  Particularly in light of my understanding of H1N1 as not being that severe in most cases of healthy children who contract it.  And because I believe that things like the flu are probably GOOD for your body in the long run, because they make your immune system stronger over time, where as vaccines only boost your immunities for a brief window.  But really, I’m still just not sure.

 

 

**Update: We've decided a definitive NO on both the seasonal flu shot & the H1N1 vaccine this year; opting instead for more vigilant adherance to the above vitamin & sleep & exercise regimens to boost our immune systems naturally!**

 

In spite of all of this prevention (flu shot or no), we still do get sick.  So, we take: 

Umcka – It works so well (and is all natural)… it’s eerie.  Of course, it could just be power of suggestion.  But even still….  You start taking it 4 – 5 times per day, AS SOON AS you start feeling even a little bit ill.  And then for 2 days after you’re well.  I am convinced it has reduced the length of my colds, and made them easier to weather. I give it to the kids as well (just at half/quarter dose).  It IS expensive, but when you’re in the midst of a cold/flu, you do what you can to feel better. And this really does help me feel better.

Elderberry Concentrate - Yes, I listed this above.  However, when we do get sick, we take this 4x per day (1 tsp at a time for adults, 1/2 tsp at a time for kids) because of its antiviral properties.

What I don't yet do, but would like to do: 

Find an ayurvedic doctor for all of us.  Its difficult finding a regular old doctor here in Southern NJ that is even willing to honor requests like special order vaccines or understands the value of extended breastfeeding, let alone being able to find a more holistic practice. I've been looking, and am still looking.  I hate feeling like we're settling for second best (or third, or...) when it comes to health practitioner, but my inquiries IRL & online for a more holistic doc in this area have so far been fruitless.  I'm certainly open to referrals! I think a less traditional-medicine doctor who looks at the whole person, not just treats the symptoms, would be really beneficial to us all.

 

 

So that’s it (just a couple things, right?)! I encourage you to add to the list anything you do that isn’t mentioned, or to tell me what I’m doing doesn’t work!  I’m open to new ideas, and to improving what we already do.  Here’s to a healthy Winter ahead!