One thing I will never regret doing with my second son is a food journal. I wish I had started it during pregnancy or even at birth but I didn't, I started it a little over a month after birth. When people tell me babies are fussy, I have to shake my head. It is not my experience nor is it my reality. If my son is fussy, it's because I (ME) ate something that this little being doesn't like in my milk. I can show you the notations in my food journal. If he won't sleep or has lots of gas, it's because of me. The only nourishment that goes into him is from me. So in an attempt to understand what my body was (or was not) doing I keep a food journal and it is a blessing. JJ Virgin, author of "The Virgin Diet," has a saying. Her saying "You are what you eat ate." So if we think about that for a second, breastfed infants are eating milk made by mom, by what mom ate. In my experience, both with this new one and my older son, this is the case. My older son reacted to what I ate but he also reacted to poultry that was fed soy. It was temperamental and I often wonder what I missed by not doing extensive, from birth, food journals with him.
As a result of my food journaling I have discovered that my infants over productive sebaceous glands (cradle cap) seem to be a direct result to me eating any form of sugar/fructose. Kombucha that hasn't aged long enough even bothers him and I get a "flare up." Well, he gets a flare up...of cradle cap. Another thing I would have never known was an issue...my fermented cod liver oil (FCLO). The cinnamon FCLO was bothering him because when I ran out, his temperament improved. Before I had him I cut out eggs and dairy completely. I was only doing butter and ghee and our corn/soy free eggs but I cut them out. To my dismay, on trialing eggs, he produced green in his poo within hours. I literally had two bites of my son's tuna with home made mayo. I'm sure I would have noticed that but am curious what would have happened had I never cut out eggs. There have been other things I have gained tons of insight on but I will stop there for now. I would highly recommend any new mom cut out eggs and dairy as well as gluten, sugar, soy and corn and keep a food journal. If you aren't already on a whole foods diet also cut out artificial sweeteners and colors. Do this for 2 weeks to a month. Three weeks is better then two. See what happens. It may save you MANY sleepless nights. I am sure it would have with my older son. Or colicky days for that matter. The things I would highly recommend tracking (in any food journal) are: - Time and what you consumed including water, other beverages and supplements. - Temperament - Physical Symptoms (fussy, having a hard time sleeping, colicky, spit up, etc). - Bowel Movement's and not if there is excessive urination - Sleep schedule (this one is optional) I really can't tell you how powerful this tool has been for me and how much stress it has saved me. I still have some "trauma's" from baby one...specifically a few of the symptoms that I now know to be symptoms and not just "a baby." I have to stay very present if there is a lot of crying and I find myself pouring over my journal to see if there is a correlation. If I can be of any help in this venue or you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Comment or shoot me an email. Happy Journaling! namaste
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
The Author
Hi there, Wysteria here. I will be writing as regularly as possible on behalf of my family and regarding our adventures in farming, food, health and things of the like. My interest range widely and my brain wanders far. Namaste. Archives
July 2016
Categories
All
|