Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Paleo Toddler Series: Background and Prelude to An (Almost) Drastic Change

We spent the entire first year of Baby B's life battling illness, one after the other.  First, it was months upon months of colic, gasiness and upset tummy.  This coincided with ear infections, sinus infections, a bout of pink eye, and just general malaise.  He was a trooper though, always wanting to play and explore and talk.  It breaks my heart to think of everything he was going through.  




After moving down to Texas we started with a wonderful pediatrician, but ultimately switched as he was practicing outdated intact care for boys. We ended up with a holistic practitioner when B got a horrid case of pink eye. As the PA was examining him, she was explaining that in addition to the fluid in his ears, she had a hunch that his gut flora and Ph was all wonky and was keeping him susptible, as well as his Vitamin D reserves being depleted.
 

A few months later, we went back for a zyto scan since he was still not sleeping well, extremely gassy, and had upset tummy a lot, as well as just general lethargy (well, lethargic for him). We were expecting that conventional dairy and gluten would be cut out, just like it is for me. The look on both the PA's face and mine as we started going through the list was incredulous.  EVERY dairy, including raw, goat and sheep milk. All grains, including corn, soy, even oats.  Certain spices, peanuts and pecans.....the list literally seemed endless.  Most kids have a range from the teens - hundreds that their bodies are ok with while they fix the gut.  Mine had a range of 5.5.  You read that right people, he was in single digit territory.  His numbers for what his stomach was rejecting was well over 2,000.  I was numb, then incredulous.  How was this possible?  I ate literally nothing except vegan Shakeology, almond milk, peanut butter and bananas for MONTHS because he couldn't handle anything that I ate.  I ate organic, non-GMO as often as possible. I took plant based digestive enzymes, all natural pre-natals.  HOW had this happened?  

Well, it happened, and here we were.  Even though we were a Paleo leaning family before, we just got a violent shove into full-on Paleo.  I've been scouring my trusty Pinterest for recipes that are suited to toddler status, learning how to make breakfast quinoa, and finding suitable replacements for his snacks.  It is absolutely insane how much crap, even the gluten free ones have in them.  HFCS, soy starch, modified corn starch....I mean, WHAT?????  So it's back to the kitchen with an arsenal of whole, clean food ingredients to start over with his diet.  We've also been prescribed the following supplements and probiotics to help heal both his and my gut since I am still nursing and pumping.  

Over the next few days, and weeks, I will be posting on supplements, recipe and snack ideas for the Paleo Toddler, while also managing to do so as frugally as possible,  and keeping updates on progress and changes we see them.  I'm actually looking forward to this journey, and ready to get back into the kitchen! 

Cheers!

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