I strive for wellness in this house. It’s time consuming and expensive on the front end. But I don’t pay for sick visit co-pays, prescriptions or miss time from work much less have to deal with sick kids and sleepless nights very often. Don’t get me wrong. We have had our share over the years with 2 kids of stomach bugs, flu, runny noses, ear infections, but not in large amounts. And we don’t rush to the doctor anytime someone spikes a temperature or coughs. I barely even know where our thermometer is. I can look at my kids or feel them and know if they have a fever and when they don’t. And when they do, we treat accordingly to keep them comfortable. The following will be a list of things we do, don’t do and items they consume to stay more well than sick. This season has been our best yet as we have dialed in all of our nutrition and added juice plus to the mix!
- Young Living’s Mighty Probiotic (like a pixie stick!) Age 2 and up. (healthy guts y’all) https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/kidscents-mightypro?al=mighty%20pr
- Vitamin C gummies (Mama Bear vegan, off amazon, no corn syrup) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2CWV4T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Juice Plus veggie, fruit and berry gummies (my sweet friend Robin introduced us to these and the kids LOVE them!) http://robinwood1.juiceplus.com
- Diffusing thieves, digize, and frankincense in their rooms nightly. RC if needed for respiratory support http://www.youngliving.com
- Adding tea tree, lavender and roman chamomile to epsom salt to their baths nightly http://www.youngliving.com
- Only drinking water and almond milk (all the water they want)
- Abstaining from dairy products (dairy promotes mucous and not to mention has all kinds of research of how humans do not need to consume other types of milk other than that from humans) https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/health-concerns-about-dairy https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/physicians-group-demands-aha-withdraw-new-beverage-guidelines-children https://www.forksoverknives.com/7-ways-milk-and-dairy-products-are-making-you-sick/#gs.sanj3x
- Avoid others who are sick. I don’t care if it’s a birthday party, family event, church, whatever. If I physically know someone there will be or has recently been sick, we just simply won’t go.
- Thieves roller ball up their spines every morning, afternoon and night. More so if sick. https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/thieves-roll-on?al=thieves%20rol
- Using thieves cleaner, thieves hand soap and hand sanitizer often. Especially when out in public in winter. If we go somewhere like the aquarium, I reapply hand sanitizer almost every 5 minutes. https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/thieves-waterless-hand-purifier?al=thieves
- Avoiding refined sugar/candy/no gum
- Getting enough rest. My kids both sleep 11-12 hours a night and Josiah takes a 1-2 hour nap daily still. We don’t compromise on missing sleep. https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/article?contentid=645&language=english
- Keeping lots of fruit in the house/car. Unsweetened applesauce pouches or the ones with veggies snuck in will travel. And my kids grab apples, clementines or bananas from the rack in my kitchen and bring them to me often to peel/consume. The answer is always “yes” when they ask.
- If they have to go to the doctor and happen to need to be on the “sick side”, for something they have non contagious, I keep Josiah in the stroller and make laps around the waiting room. Otherwise, we do not sit down or touch anything. Stay away from others and use hand sanitizer every minute or so if we have to touch something.
- No juice except Ningxia Red wolfberry blend from Young Living or “red juice” as they call it. I drink this daily myself and its so good! It’s basically elderberry on steroids. This is especially good to use when they are dehydrated or as a good sub for Pedialyte or powerade. http://www.youngliving.com
- Sunlight/vitamin D. If the weather is decent enough, even if still somewhat cold, they are going to go outside, especially in winter when the sun doesn’t come out nearly enough.
There are other things out there like elderberry syrup, zinc and cod oil but we haven’t taken it that far. Kids are only going to let you do so much and I feel very comfortable with our regimen. If you are more interested in any products I have mentioned, feel free to message me.
Love your guts and your kids guts,
April
The Gut Gospel 