5 Reasons You Should Definitely Cloth Diaper Your Newborn

5 Reasons You Should Definitely Cloth Diaper Your Newborn

Everyone says not to cloth diaper newborns.

Now if you’re a super rebellious person, that might be reason enough for ya.

But if you would like to do the right thing and make life easier on yourself, you might want some better reasons.

Don't wait... Start cloth diapering your newborn!

My Cloth Diaper Experiences

With baby number one, I never really considered cloth diapers, or at least I don’t remember doing it. At that phase of our lives, budget was the major concern, so the cheapest diapers that didn’t leak much were our choice. If I did look into cloth, I probably saw the price tag for one cover (they can range from about $12-30) and gave up the quest.

With number two, I was getting more seriously into living an eco-friendly life, but by the time I was wishing I had cloth diapers, she was about 8 months old. I worried that she might potty train by 20 months or so since I always heard that girls tend to train earlier than boys, and my boy had trained completely by 27 months.

I didn’t want to invest in cloth diapers for just one year and feel like I hadn’t ended up saving money as well as the earth (in case we didn’t have any more), so I looked into it and gave up.

Obviously we had a few more, so I wish I had jumped in and learned cloth now, looking back! But you know what? Even if number two had been our last, I would have given myself advice to go for it anyway. Even for 12 months, I think a family would spend less on cloth than on disposables, and you’d probably also be able to resell your diapers if you had no more children.

When number three came along, I really wanted to do cloth diapers, no matter what! But we were living with my in-laws (between houses) at the time of his birth, so I had to wait until I had my own washing machine, I thought. He was 5 months old when we finally jumped in, followed these great rookie tips for cloth diapers, and got started!

So I’ve only cloth diapered one newborn, but it was actually a pleasant experience (and I haven’t said that about all the stages we’ve been through with cloth).

Here’s why:

1. It’s a good time to get used to it.

In my opinion, cloth diapers are harder to switch to once you’re used to the convenience of disposables.

So I think that if you want to try cloth, you should just get started right away – after the meconium is out though. It’s worth filling the landfill so you don’t have to figure out how to get that black, sticky mess off cloth!!! EDIT: I just assumed meconium would be awful because it’s hard to wipe off baby’s bum, but readers tell me it’s no big deal, both in the wiping and the washing. Great news!

My cousins, who started cloth right away, think it’s totally no big deal. My husband thinks it’s a huge pain, but he had two babies and a few months more of ‘sposies, so he got spoiled.

He also never saw the money spent on disposables…

2. Newborn disposable diapers are expensive!

Price per diaper is so high for those teeny tiny newborn and size one diapers! They don’t come in megapacks to save money in bulk, and newborns go through sooooo many (I’d guess 12 per day), so the real cost is even higher if you track per day expenses.

Besides that, even disposables tend to have a ton of leaks in the first month, and it seems like you’re constantly changing the baby’s clothes, so why not get used to cloth and start troubleshooting leaks from the get-go? (In some phases it has felt like cloth leaks more, but right now, Gabe is hardly leaking at all, so we must have gotten the system down!)

Some would say that cloth diapers are going to leak more – urine – on newborns because they won’t fit as snugly, FYI. Many also say that cloth diapers have less poopy blowouts because they tend to have elastic around the back and legs that is more snug than disposables.

I would say that’s totally true, and it only really applies to that first 6-8 months when baby’s poop is super watery and explosive.

3. Exclusively breastfed poop doesn’t need rinsing out.

5 Reasons You Should Definitely Start Cloth Diapering Now: No poop rinsing!

Why waste a month or two of that lovely phase? Since we started with cloth at about 5 months with baby number 3, I didn’t have long before I had to start scraping solids into the toilet.

Let’s just say that’s not the most fun part of cloth diapering.

It’s the poops that result in my husband saying things like, “There’s a diaper for you on the bathroom counter.”

He boycotts scraping. Phooey.

So just like point number two, I’d say the first 6 months of a baby’s life have some unique benefits that make cloth diapering easier, and you might as well maximize the easy time. (Note: I don’t really know if this applies to formula-fed infants. Sorry!)

4. You’re home more often.

Being home means doing diaper laundry is much less of a hassle.

We finally gave up cloth with number three in the late summer when we were traveling a lot, and we just never went back. Life felt so busy in September, we loved being out of the house during the warm days, the older kids had school functions, ETC.

I felt lucky to have a winter baby this time, only because it gave me a good excuse to hole up with the newborn and not go as many places. That makes cloth diaper laundry sound a lot more attractive than going shopping (although of course you can order online, but that’s a whole new layer in the “eco-friendly” issue IMO…)

As long as I don’t feel behind, I don’t mind the laundry one bit – and because I like to hang my covers and add another load of regular clothes to the inserts in the dryer, cloth diaper laundry ensures that I keep up on the rest of the family’s laundry much better, too. (Here’s my routine for doing cloth diaper laundry.)

5. (Maybe) Baby will love diaper changes.

5 Reasons You Should Definitely Start Cloth Diapering Now: Baby might love it!

I only have a data set of n=4 kids, but this little Gabriel, who was the only one to use cloth diapers right from the beginning, is the first baby to be happier on the changing table than otherwise. Most of them have screamed bloody murder, especially in the newborn phase, when it was diaper change time.

This one?

He loves getting changed.

This could totally be personality, but because cloth lets the baby feel when he’s wet, I felt like a few things happened in the newborn phase:

a) Gabe was likely to cry or fuss when he needed a change. I don’t remember the other kids ever caring about wet diapers one bit!

b) We were more tuned in to his needs. When baby obviously feels better after a diaper change, Mom and Dad are definitely more likely to try changing a diaper when baby fusses.

Part of me is hoping (and hoping and fervently hoping!) that Gabe will potty train sooner because he doesn’t like feeling wet. (I hoped that with John, number three, as well, but no go. Of course, we also dropped cloth at two years old, and then he didn’t train until 3 years, 2 months, so maybe we created that monster by not sticking with cloth just a few more months…who knows?)

Gabe might train sooner simply because it’s his personality, and it could be 100% his personality, which is different than the other kids, that makes him love getting his wet diapers off – so we need some more data! If you’ve experienced this in your family, please comment to share. Thanks!

Don't wait... Start cloth diapering your newborn!

The Downside

If you’re going to invest in cloth diapers and spend the money, you want to maximize your investment, so I’d say to use them as many months as possible.

The flip side of the money question is that many cloth diapers don’t size down far enough to fit newborns, so you’d have to buy a handful of covers just for newborn size. That can be a big investment with a little return, or so it would seem.

My thoughts:

• Since newborn diapers are so expensive, you still might break even. (And then the other benefits make you come out ahead overall.)
• If they’re not worn very long, you are more likely to be able to re-sell them and recoup your money (and/or use on subsequent children). As much as I’d love to say that you can resell cloth diapers and use them for multiple children, not all brands last that long before they simply wear out. (I’m sharing what we found about that next week – the brands that stretched out, leaked through, or otherwise died after one kid, plus the one brand I invested more in with baby four – the one brand that also resizes down perfectly to fit newborns!!!!)
• You can always buy diapers that will actually size down, plus all the way up to age two. Here is my TOP recommendation and updates on all the others.

More Cloth Diapering Information:

• MASSIVE cloth diaper review – we actually tried over two dozen brands all at the same time!
• Cloth Diaper Absorbency and Speed
• The Final Decision: What do I Really Recommend?
• The Longevity Reports: What cloth diaper did I buy with baby two? BEST cloth diaper, newborn to toddler!

Buy Softbums here:

• Softbums main site ($2.95-8.95 pods) and their money-saving packages
• Sweet Bottoms Baby ($2.95-15.95 for the various pods)
• Squishy Tushy ($4.25 Bamboo Mini Pod, $8.95 Large Bamboo Pod)
• The Green Nursery ($3.95-11.95 pods)
• Amazon (Not seeing single inserts on Amazon)

Do you want to give the Vitamin K shot or not?

More from KS on raising natural babies…

Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site

5 Reasons Why We Chose to Do the Whole30

5 Reasons Why We Chose to Do the Whole30

Our family’s history of figuring our food sensitivities, gut health (or lack thereof), and food philosophy has had a long and bumpy road.

There are several reasons for this, not least of which is that the last six years were fraught with high levels of stress thanks to living on a low income, frequent moves (for a variety of reasons, but mostly due to hubby’s education/training and job changes), and being in the pregnancy/baby/toddler stage for six straight years.

Related posts:

19 Crunchy Compromises I’m Willing to Make During Survival Mode

Let’s Talk About Healthy Living Burnout

Trying to deal with various health concerns (which Western medicine doesn’t recognize, for the most part) during these years was challenging, as you can probably imagine. Also, figuring out these complex health issues from a holistic approach can be a long road of trial and error and investigation for anyone.

A bit of backstory + gluten-free ups and downs

When we first figured out that things weren’t quite right (somewhere around 2010), we dove headfirst into the GAPS Diet. We did that 100% for 4 months (and felt amazing), but ultimately struggled to maintain our commitment for such a highly restrictive and difficult protocol. Looking back, I can see that we hadn’t quite hit that “pain point” of having a strong enough motivation.

We had already gone gluten-free when our oldest was just under two years old, and we continued with that for four years. At that point we decided to try him on gluten again (as I explained in this post), and it seemed to be going fine.

Many of the commenters on that post wisely cautioned me that if he truly is sensitive to gluten – it can take a while for symptoms to return, as it builds up in his system again. I tucked that advice away and kept an eye on him.

All seemed fine until a year later, which brings us to summer of 2015, when we noticed the tics. As we observed him over a few months, they intensified. They were mostly facial tics, with some in his throat as well. They continued to increase in frequency to the point where they were happening as much as every few seconds, and sometimes with a minute or two pause in between.

At one point, wanting to capture the tics on video, I filmed him talking at the dinner table – chattering away – but with the tics happening with every sentence he spoke. It was heartbreaking to watch the tics, feeling helpless as a mother.

Of course, given his history, I suspected gluten as a possible contributing factor, but felt totally over my head, having no experience or knowledge with neurological-based symptoms at all. I made an appointment with a naturopathic doctor in our new city immediately, and the first thing she recommended after hearing his history was that we cut out gluten for him immediately and strictly. We knew the drill on that one, having done it for four years.

Within three or four days, we saw a difference. The tics were decreasing. After a few weeks, they had decreased dramatically – to the point where I could stop and watch him for several minutes and not see any. When we tried him with a small amount of gluten a month later (to experiment and confirm that it was actually causing the tics), the tics came back in full force within 24 hours, and stayed until a few days after cutting gluten out again.

He has been gluten-free ever since (that was in October 2015), and will remain as such, strictly, for the foreseeable future. (Note: he has not ever been tested for celiac, so that’s a possibility, but testing would require a gluten-filled diet for several months, and we’re not willing to do that at this time.)

As for the rest of us – well, many of the issues that first led us to the GAPS Diet continue to frustrate us on a daily basis. Given that they’ve mostly been “minor” annoyances (mood swings, weight gain, aches and pains, lower immune systems), it was easy to ignore them during our survival mode years.

Another factor is that I was diagnosed with food sensitivities years ago – the major ones that showed up on the test at the time were wheat, dairy, corn, and tomatoes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the mental bandwidth then to make such major changes in our diet, and now, having learned more about food sensitivities, inflammation, and gut health – I am realizing that I was probably causing more damage by continuing to consume those things.

Now, years later, I find myself battling adrenal fatigue with a whole host of serious symptoms. My body is telling me that enough is enough, and that I need to start prioritizing my health again.

Last fall, after we moved to our new city, we decided that it was time to make a bold move in getting our health back in proper priority.

Despite a couple of failed attempts at doing a Whole30 in the past, I wanted to try it again – this time with updated official rules (white potatoes weren’t allowed when we did our first attempt, but they are now, and low-carb does NOT work for my body), and with 100% commitment (our 2nd attempt only lasted a few days because we weren’t willing at that time to sacrifice making friends in our new community when invited for dinner).

We started our Whole30 in the second week of November 2015, and finished it successfully in early December. (And yes – we ate a lot of potatoes!)

(Okay, this is the part where I have to confess that technically, we ended one day early due to the fact that our oven broke on Day 29 when I had a roast beef dinner planned, plus we had family come from out of town for a quick last-minute visit. I’m still calling it a successful Whole30 – whether or not the official rule-keepers would agree.)

With all of that being said, I want to break down five specific reasons why we chose to do a Whole30. Later, I’ll share another post or two on things we learned and what we ate during the 30 days.

5 Reasons Why We Chose to Do a Whole30

1. Answer the abstainer vs moderator question for myself

I totally loved Gretchen Rubin’s Are You an Abstainer or a Moderator question back in 2012, but like I said already – I didn’t have the bandwidth to be making a lot of major changes during our survival-mode years. I wanted to take this opportunity to do a strict diet with 100% adherence for 30 days to find out once and for all: am I am abstainer or a moderator? (When it comes to food choices, I’m pretty sure I’m an abstainer, much to my chagrin.)

2. Kickstart some healthy changes after a stressful season

We intentionally are not following the Paleo Diet (for reasons outlined here), but we resonate with a lot of their nutritional principles. We needed a good framework to use for making an intentional fresh start, and we chose the Whole30 for its real food rules, community, and support.

3. Sleuthing out food sensitivities

One of the issues that our youngest (age 3) was experiencing was eczema around his mouth. I was hopeful that it might go away during the 30 days, but it actually got worse. That’s when we found out that eggs were the culprit. We were eating at least three or more eggs each, every day. After the Whole30 was done, we tried cutting out eggs for him, and the eczema disappeared. Aha! (He seems to be okay with a small amount, but daily consumption will bring the eczema back again.)

4. Conquering the sugar dragon

Like so many of you, we’ve battled sugar cravings for many years, trying to stay away from the stuff as much as possible (we were doing great by mainstream standards – our diet wasn’t that bad – but it was still more than we were happy with). Sugar truly is an addictive substance and we wanted to reset all of our brains’ relationships with sweet things. (The Whole30 cuts out all added sweeteners – natural or not – except for limited fruit.)

5. Reminding ourselves that we’re fully capable of making better choices

It had been a very long season of making allowances for ourselves during those stress-filled years. We had gotten the point where we were afraid that pushing ourselves to make better choices, even when it was inconvenient or hard, would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Whole30 reminded us that we are capable and strong enough to make hard changes for our health for 30 days and beyond.

I have another post in the pipeline detailing what we ate while on our Whole30, as well as a few of the lessons we learned. I have so many thoughts on this subject, and can’t wait to share more!

Have you ever done a Whole30 or other restrictive diet for health-related reasons? How was your experience?

Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site

5 Reasons To Take Your Children To A U-Pick Farm This Fall

5 Reasons To Take Your Children To A U-Pick Farm This Fall

By Sandi Schwartz, Contributing Writer

One of my most favorite memories of autumn is going apple picking with my family. I was so enthralled by all the hidden treasures hanging from the endless tress in the orchard. I loved tasting the different varieties of apples and deciding which was my favorite. I especially cherished the warm apple cider samples that the farm provided after we finished filling our buckets with apples.

This time of year is the perfect opportunity to head to a local farm to pick your own produce of the season, whether it be apples, pears, pumpkins, squash or other fruits and vegetables available where you live. By taking your children on a u-pick adventure, they will learn a tremendous amount about food and the environment, and you will build family memories that will last a lifetime.

5 Reasons To Take Your Children To A U-Pick Farm This Fall

1. Encourages Healthy Eating

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, with nearly one in three children currently considered overweight or obese. It is no surprise that much of this trend is due to children eating too much sugary junk food.

One of the best ways to get kids excited about eating healthier foods is to let them go out and examine the fruits and vegetables for themselves. When you take your children to pick their own produce, you expose them to healthier options and make it fun for them to choose delicious whole foods.

The best part is that you can go home from the farm and spend quality time together in the kitchen creating tasty meals from the food you hand-picked yourselves. There are so many healthy kid-friendly recipes to discover, from smoothies to side dishes to snacks. When your children play this much of a role in gathering and preparing their food, it will have a huge impact on them and influence the food decisions they make in the future.

2. Provides Opportunity for Time In Nature

After a hot summer, many of us look forward to the refreshing crisp air in the fall. Taking your kids to a u-pick farm is a great way to spend more time outside in nature, which is definitely needed given the recent discussion about children suffering from nature-deficit disorder. Between hectic schedules, safety concerns, and over-consumption of technology, children have less exposure and connection to nature. Sadly, children spending less time outdoors has been linked to decreased appreciation of our environment, health problems including childhood obesity and vitamin D deficiency, diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of emotional illnesses like anxiety and depression.

By taking our children on fun outdoorsy trips, we give them more opportunities to explore our natural environment. Being in nature is relaxing and inspiring. The children will be in awe of the gorgeous scenery at the farm, from the leaves changing colors to the vivid fruit and vegetables growing. It is a wonderful chance for the entire family to enjoy a few hours strolling around an orchard or farm taking in the sights, fragrances, and miracles of nature.

3. Supports Locally Grown Food

When you pick your own produce at a farm in your area, you are supporting your local community and protecting the environment. What special lessons to teach our children! You help farmers succeed by giving them business, ensuring that there will be farms in your community in the future. You are also continuing a special connection between the grower and consumers.

When it comes to environmental protection, you are playing a role in reducing the distance that food travels to reach you, saving energy and resources. Local food also preserves genetic diversity because small, local farms often grow many different varieties and rotate their crops to provide a long harvest season. Finally, local farms typically conserve fertile soil and clean water, ensuring a safe habitat for wildlife.

Locally grown produce also has a huge benefit to you–it tastes better, is more nutritious, and stays fresh longer. This is because it is picked at peak harvest time, transported shorter distances, and sold directly to consumers. The less time that passes between farm and table, the better the product.

4. Teaches Your Children To Appreciate Where Food Comes From

When your children pick food with their own hands, they learn to appreciate where food comes from and the work involved in making every meal we enjoy. It also gives them a special connection to farmers that they can’t experience at the grocery store.

They have a chance to meet the actual farmers that grow the food and learn about the role they play in food production. Encourage your children to ask the farmers questions about the seasons, the land, different produce being grown, and the specific work they do on a daily basis. This also gives you a chance to talk to your children about choosing organic farms that avoid using harmful pesticides to grow crops.

Here are some additional ways to instill a deeper appreciation for where our food comes from:

• Eat mindfully with your children. This practice allows us to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that can come from preparing and eating food. Instead of shoving food into our mouths and never really thinking about it, mindful eating awakens us to an entirely new experience with food. We can take a moment to savor and truly enjoy what we are eating.
• Express gratitude for the food we have. When children have the chance to help create what they eat, they begin to understand how lucky they are to have dinner on the table each night. Take the time to express gratitude for the yummy food you have gathered.
• Give to others. Children can learn so much by making food and donating it to those in need. Some ideas include putting together trail mix using pumpkin seeds and dried apples for underprivileged youth, baking raw apple harvest muffins to deliver to local community helpers, or making your own apple sauce for a local food bank or childcare center.

5. Opportunity to Enjoy Seasonal Produce

The best part of picking your own produce this fall is that you will be able to enjoy nature’s mouth-watering delights as fresh as they come. When you eat the food that is grown locally in season, you save money, have access to more nutritious food, and reduce the impact on the environment.

Visiting a u-pick farm also gives you a chance to talk to your children about the changing seasons, cycles of nature, and where certain crops grow during the year. For example, if we want to eat blueberries in the middle of winter, they will have to come a long way using a lot of fuel. And once they arrive, they won’t last very long in the refrigerator and won’t taste as fresh as the berries we can pick locally during the summertime.

As the air gets chilly where you live, I hope you will venture to your local u-pick farm to give your children the treat of a lifetime that they will look forward to each year as the seasons change.

What experiences have you had with your children picking produce at a local u-pick farm?

Ready to get started living a healthier life? This complete, 50-page guide will walk you through the steps, product swaps, recipes, and more that you need to get started today!

Original article and pictures take www.modernalternativemama.com site

5 Reasons To Make Sourdough Your Only Bread

5 Reasons To Make Sourdough Your Only Bread

Sourdough Bread

I’ll never forget the first time I ate sourdough bread in, of all places, San Francisco. Whenever you eat bread, you should make it sourdough.

Love Affair with Sourdough Bread

My dear friend Sue and I were college grads on a cross country adventure. We found ourselves across the bay, in Sausalito, enjoying the shops and streets filled with people on a brilliant summer day.

Strolling along, we passed a bakery emanating the siren smells of fresh baked bread. It beckoned us in.

We purchased a huge loaf of the famous San Francisco sourdough.

Once started, we couldn’t stop eating that amazing bread – had to cancel dinner plans as we were stuffed with sourdough! Since then, it’s been an unrequited love affair (because I’m mainly grain-free) between sourdough and I.

Originating in Ancient Egypt around 1500 BC, sourdough was probably the first form of leavening available. Sourdough remained the usual form of leavening into the European Middle Ages. Later on it was replaced by barm from the beer brewing process, and then purpose-cultured yeast.

Sourdough Leavening is a Traditional Preparation of Grains

Bread made from 100 percent rye flour, which is very popular in the northern half of Europe, is usually leavened with sourdough. We actually know that the people in the isolated Lötschental Valley in Switzerland, who were studied by Dr. Price, made huge loaves of sourdough rye that went through a two week fermentation process.

Fermentation Removes Phytates and Enzyme Inhibitors

Sourdough is a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture, usually in symbiotic combination with yeasts. However, the lactobacillus is much greater in proportion to the yeast.

In comparison with yeast-based breads, sourdough produces a distinctively tangy or sour taste, mainly because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.

This tangy taste makes sourdough oh so good!

Sourdough Ancestral Pre-Ferment

The actual medium, known as starter or levain, is in essence an ancestral form of pre-ferment. It is not uncommon for a baker’s starter dough to have years of history, from many hundreds of previous generations.

Folks used to always save some starter and share it with friends and family.

Sourdough was the main bread made in Northern California during the California Gold Rush. The bread was so common that sourdough became a general nickname for the gold prospectors.

Sourdough fermentation was carried into Alaska and the western Canadian territories during the Klondike Gold Rush. Conventional leavening such as yeast and baking soda were not reliable in the conditions faced by the prospectors.

Miners and other settlers carried a pouch of starter either around their neck or on a belt in order to protect the cultures from freezing.

5 Benefits to Sourdough Bread Preparation

1- Increases Beneficial Lactic Acid

The longer rise time needed for sourdough increases the lactic acid and creates an ideal pH for the enzyme phytase. This enzyme breaks down phytates (read more about the dangers of phytic acid here) more effectively than in yeast breads.

Sourdough rye has the least amount of phytates (somehow the Swiss culture mentioned above must have known this) making it a healthier bread.

2- Aids in Predigestion of Starches

The bacteria and yeast in the sourdough culture work to predigest the starches in the grains, thus making it more easily digestible to the consumer.

This is beneficial, especially to people who eat a lot of bread products.

3- Sourdough Aids in Breakdown of Gluten

Here again, the longer soaking and rising times in the preparation of sourdough breaks the protein gluten into amino acids, making it more digestible.

This is helpful for bread eaters, but people who have to be gluten and/or grain free would not be able to eat sourdough bread.

4- Acts as a Preservative

The acetic acid which is produced along with lactic acid, helps preserve the bread by inhibiting the growth of mold.

5- Better Blood Glucose Regulation

There has been some research suggesting that sourdough bread – white bread – showed positive physiological responses. The subjects’ blood glucose levels were lower after eating sourdough white bread compared to whole wheat, whole wheat with barley and plain white bread.

Interestingly, the subjects tested after eating whole wheat bread fared the worse – with spiking blood glucose levels.

Additionally, the researchers found that the positive response lasted through the next meal and for several hours after that. They concluded that what you have for breakfast will influence how the body responds to the next meal.

This is all well and good, but the most pressing reason to eat sourdough bread is the TASTE! That tangy, slightly sour taste is awesome!

If you eat grains, make sourdough your primary source of grains. And don’t be fooled by most of the packaged breads that claim to be sourdough. Most of them do not use authentic sourdough starter.

You will be able to taste the difference when it is authentic. For this reason, you may want to make your own, unless you know a bakery that is clearly using authentic sourdough starters!

You may also be interested in:

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Original article and pictures take realfoodforager.com site

5 Reasons to Let Your Children Go Barefoot

5 Reasons to Let Your Children Go Barefoot

Walking barefoot through the warm summer grass. Who doesn’t feel a bit nostalgic remembering the childhood pleasure of going around barefoot? Almost anyone would agree that it’s enjoyable to kick off one’s shoes every once in a while and feel the earth beneath your feet.

But did you know there are lots of good reasons to encourage your child to go barefoot? Not just occasionally, but as often as possible?

It’s good for all of us, but little ones — whose bodies are growing rapidly — can especially benefit from going without shoes.

Now that the weather’s warmer, I encourage my three-year-old daughter to be barefoot pretty much all the time, as I am. We keep a pair of sandals for each of us in the van, to slip on before entering a store or restaurant (It can be annoying to get hassled by a store manager for being barefoot).

Otherwise, we’re almost always completely unshod, weather permitting.

Here are 5 reasons I try to keep shoes off my little one:

1. To Allow Feet to Grow and Develop the Way They Were Meant To

You may never have noticed this, but shoes actually change the shape of our feet over the course of our lives.

At birth, the human foot gets wider as it progresses to the ends of the toes. (If you take a look at a newborn’s footprint, you might notice this feature). But the average adult’s foot is widest at the ball, and the toes pinch inward. Why is that? Because a lifetime of wearing shoes has actually altered the shape of the foot!

People who live in cultures where going barefoot is the norm don’t have feet like ours. The toes remain spread apart, like a newborn baby’s.

But in our culture, we like the appearance of a tapered toe on our shoes. We’ve actually become conditioned to believe that that’s what a foot should look like. So we don’t create shoes that follow the shape of the foot; instead, we create shoes that our feet have to fit into. Even if it means permanently changing the shape of our feet.

Beginning in infancy — when bones are still forming — we start putting our children’s feet into shoes that look the way we think they should look, ultimately changing the shape of their feet. And changing the shape will, of course, alter how effectively they work.

Leonardo DaVinci once said, “The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.”

I tend to agree. I don’t want to mess with that. That’s why I let my daughter go barefoot as much as possible: to protect her feet, and to let them grow the way they were supposed to!

2. To Encourage Children to Learn a Natural, Healthy Gait

Wearing shoes changes the way we walk. And it isn’t for the better.

When we’re barefoot, we naturally walk more gently, with a shorter stride, putting less pressure on our heels. Our knees bend to cushion the shock of each step. Our toes grip the floor and help propel us forward.

Shoes change all that.

The cushioning on our soles encourages us to slam our heels into the ground, which is harder on our knees. The stiffness of our soles prevents our feet from rolling flexibly forward, so shoes are given an upward-curved toe — called a toe spring — to allow them to rock forward onto the next step. This toe spring lifts our toes off the ground, so they can’t help propel the foot forward as they’re meant to. Our feet get trained to use the wrong muscles to move us forward.

All of these things together mean an unnatural gait that is harder on all of our joints.

If you consistently put shoes on your children right from infancy, they learn this unnatural gait from the start. They never get the chance to strengthen their toes and the tendons in their feet that are supposed to do the bulk of the work. These muscles atrophy, so that when kids finally do take off their shoes and try to run around, it hurts.

Give your kids a chance to learn the right way to walk by letting them go barefoot as much as possible.

3. Improved Safety

I know, I know, I know. The number one reason most people put shoes on their kids is for their safety. To protect their feet from hard, sharp surfaces. But it’s my opinion that in most situations, wearing shoes is actually more dangerous than going barefoot.

In my personal observations, children are much more likely to trip and fall when they’re wearing shoes – especially flip-flops and Crocs. (In my opinion, flip-flops are the most dangerous thing you can put on your kid’s feet, and he’d definitely be better off barefoot).

Many skinned knees and broken bones might be prevented if kids didn’t have pieces of foam dangling precariously from their feet as they climb monkey bars and run along uneven sidewalks. Almost every time my daughter has fallen and hurt herself, she was wearing her doggone Crocs.

Most shoes in general, but especially the slip-on variety, tend to make kids clumsier because they make the wearer less alert to his/her surroundings. They require effort to keep on, and they shift and slide under their soles as they move, making their footing less stable.

I haven’t seen any studies done on children and footwear, but a 1991 paper entitled “Athletic Footwear: Unsafe Due to Perceptual Illusions,” published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, noted that athletes who wore fancy, expensive athletic shoes are actually more prone to injury: “Wearers of expensive running shoes that are promoted as having additional features that protect (e.g., more cushioning, ‘pronation correction’) are injured significantly more frequently than runners wearing inexpensive shoes (costing less than $40).”

According to another study, people in expensive cushioned running shoes were twice as likely to suffer an injury than were people who went running in hard-soled shoes. Because we think we’re protected, we move in ways that aren’t safe for our bodies.

If I had to put shoes on my kid while she played for some reason, I would try to get flexible-soled shoes that strapped on securely, like leather moccasins, so that she could still feel the ground under her feet, but they wouldn’t slip out from under her as she played.

But what about sharp objects? you might ask. Don’t feet need protection from them?

That’s a valid question. But it’s been my experience that kids (and adults) who are used to going barefoot have a heightened awareness of their surroundings. When we go barefoot, we instinctively pay attention to where we’re putting our sensitive feet. We watch the ground in front of us. And because we step more gently when we’re barefoot, we’re apt to notice if we’re starting to put our foot down on something sharp and quickly lift it, avoiding injury.

I have been going almost exclusively barefoot for the last five years, and my daughter for the last three (except in the winter of course), and neither of us has suffered any kind of injury from a sharp object yet. I recently walked all over Toronto and Montreal without incident.

My daughter and I regularly walk all over town and the local parks, and walk to and from the library weekly. We’re never gotten anything worse than a nettle thorn in our feet.

4. Less Wear and Tear on Shoes

My daughter has only owned a few pairs of shoes in her short lifetime (all second-hand). All have gotten so little use, they’ll easily be able to be used by a younger sibling (or two).

This would probably be a silly reason to go barefoot if it was the only one, but it’s a really nice side-effect.

5. Healthier Feet

Shoes trap fungus and bacteria and hold them against your feet. They also provide a lovely, warm, damp environment for them to grow in, inviting things like athlete’s foot and toe fungus and encouraging ingrown toenails.

So keep your kid’s feet healthy by keeping them bare! Sunshine and fresh air are great for feet, too!

Resources for Further Reading/Learning

Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site

5 Reasons I Altered My Expectations for My Kids

5 Reasons I Altered My Expectations for My Kids

Each child is different, but if I have positive expectations for my kids, they will more than likely find a way to make it happen.

By Will Odom, Contributing Writer (and Erin’s hubby!)

As parents, we always want the best for our kids, but as a parent, I don’t always know how to make that happen. For me, this includes the expectations that I set for my kids.

Children need clear expectations and guiding principals in many areas such as discipline, respect, chores, and other parts of life.

On one hand, expectations can be a dangerous thing when misplaced, overextended, or inflated.

On the other hand, healthy expectations can challenge us and drive us to try new things and accept new adventures.

As a parent, I often find myself struggling to focus on the second of the two and not place faulty or extreme expectations on my children.

Yes, I have high expectations for them in certain areas, and while they are very capable in some areas and growing more independent by the day, at times I expect too much of their little bodies and minds.

While being in Costa Rica this summer, I have seen them blossom and grow. They have tried new things, sometimes willingly and sometimes with a little encouragement.

I have also seen them exhausted and overwhelmed with new surroundings, food, language, and culture.

Being introduced to a new culture when you can’t communicate is particularly difficult (especially for my social butterflies), and I have forgotten what it was like when I first came to Costa Rica.

I was reminded when my oldest had a very hard time with kids camp at first, but after a little while, she did fine.

My middle child did great at first, but hit a wall about halfway through. She had enough Spanish and was very frustrated with not being able to express herself.

After seeing their reactions, I remembered my own struggles with this and realized my expectations for them may be unrealistic.

While the lessons I have learned are specific to my children and our situation, I believe there are some general takeaways that can be applied to any circumstance. Here are 5 things that I have learned about my expectations for my kids:

1) I need to know their limits.

As our children grow and undertake new adventures, we should support and strengthen them. They will need our reassurance to bolster their confidence at times.

However, at some point, they will probably reach their limit. A point at which they may need to back down, regroup, and try again later.

If they are tired, we need to let them rest. They often may not have the stamina we do, so we cannot expect them to keep up with our pace.

To push them beyond what they can truly handle can do more damage than good. It may actually push them the opposite direction.

I am not referring to just letting them back down from everything difficult situation that comes their way, but as parents, we can often tell when they have reached the extent of their strength.

Sometimes we need to lend them some of our strength, and other times we need to allow them to retreat to try again another day. There is no shame or guilt in that.

2) They may not always be excited to try new things.

Trying new things is not always fun or exciting, especially when it comes to food or speaking a new language or anything they are not naturally good at doing.

We, as parents, need to consider their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses when we ask them to try new things.

They may not always like new foods. They may not always desire to make new friends. They may not always want to try a new activity.

Insecurity sets in, and fear creeps into their minds.

But we can try to encourage our kids to try new things one step at time.

If it’s a food, at least try one bite. If they don’t like it, that’s OK. We don’t all like the same things. They can decline politely and should be taught not say “yuck” or make strange faces (which I have to remind myself not to do as well).

If it’s a new game, play one round. They may like it, or they may not. They may need a little practice in order to improve.

If it’s making new friends, at least say hello and be polite. They won’t be best friends with everyone, but it’s important that they learn appropriate social interaction skills.

3) They may not like the same things that I do.

Our kids are not always going to like the same things that we do.

I love the Spanish language as well as Latino culture and food (most of it), but my kids may not.

They have been brave to try new things this trip, but they don’t like many of my favorite dishes.

To try and push them to like the same things that I do could dampen their own personal interests and hinder them from developing individually and independently.

Kids may not like the same music or play the same sports, so we need to let it go and stop trying to live vicariously through our children.

They need to become the person that God created them to be.

4) I should expect them to make mistakes.

Though I have met some parents who think their kids are perfect, none of our kids are.

They make mistakes, and they mess up.

They are going turn their nose up at something they don’t like.

They may act out if they are tired or over stimulated or out of their comfort zone.

Yes, we should have clear expectations for their behaviors, but they are not always going to meet those.

Yes, we have standards that we live by, but they will not always be able to live up to them.

We need to be prepared with how to handle those situations when they arise.

I often find it easier to think ahead about how will I deal with a certain circumstance it if does some up. Now, I don’t always do this and end up thinking on my feet a lot of times, but that’s often when I find myself expecting too much of them.

5) They can and will step up to a challenge.

Throughout the summer, my kids have surprised me time and time again.

When I thought they would have a hard time, they jumped right in and enjoyed themselves.

When I expected timidity, they showed courage and heart.

At times they may be shy or timid, and it may take them a few minutes to warm up. But I have found that if I gently encourage them instead of getting frustrated, it frees them up to step forward and try something new.

They have shown me that they are capable of great things when allowed to pursue things in their own manner and time.

Children are amazing blessings. Each one is different and will handle things in their own style, but if we expect positive outcomes from them, they will more than likely find a way to make it happen.

Our kids are not always up for the challenges that we present to them, and we cannot force them to take those challenges.

We can encourage them to try new things, but we also need to be there for support if they are not ready.

I’m not talking about babying them or never letting them fall and scrape their knees. They should to be challenged and need to fall sometimes in order to find their strength to get back up again.

But they also need to know that I am there to support them.

I can lead them, point them to the One who removes fear, but ultimately, they have to decide how they will handle it.

I have learned to let some of my expectations go and just watch my children bloom and blossom where they are, and it has been a truly unbelievable experience. At times, it has been a difficult one, but fascinating nonetheless.

I also pray that the Lord will use these experiences to broaden their worldview and give them a heart for the nations.

Have you ever altered your expectations for your kids based on an experience or situation?

Original article and pictures take thehumbledhomemaker.com site

5 Proven Methods for Choosing the Best Brand of Essential Oils (We Love Number 3)

5 Proven Methods for Choosing the Best Brand of Essential Oils (We Love Number 3)

Choosing the best brand of essential oils for what you want and need can be a huge hurdle, so I especially appreciate how Dr. Julie has explained this with her 5 proven methods. I’m especially a fan of #3! Enjoy! ~Ann

Two of the biggest questions I get, and usually at the same time, are:

• What brand of oils do you use? AND
• How did you choose a brand?

There is not one essential oil brand for everyone out there, but there are brands of essential oils that provide better therapeutic support. That’s why it’s important to know what to look for when you research which is the best brand for you.

I did a lot of research and tried several different brands before settling on the one that I felt provided the best support for my family.

I also wanted a brand I felt comfortable recommending in my psychology practice. I have continued to research and I am always learning from research studies, various practitioners in healthcare forums, and conferences about the options in essential oils and other natural ways to support my body.

Here are the 5 proven methods for choosing the right brand of essential oils for you and your family.

1. Know the quality and purity of the brand’s essential oils.

The quality and purity of the essential oils must be your first concern. It is easy to find “essential oils” on the shelves of local stores, big box retailers, and in products such as lotions and perfumes.

But, in reality, most of those oils are not pure therapeutic oils and have been created from synthetics or adulterated to make selling them at that price cost effective.

Sometimes those old sayings really are true: You get what you pay for.

But how can you know if they are pure?

Read the label. Oils made from dried herbs or with added ingredients will not give you the best benefit. Labels that say “pure” or “organic” do not give you the information you need. You want oils that have a Supplemental Facts label that lists out what is in the bottle just like you want labels on your food telling you all the ingredients.

2. Find out what testing is done before the essential oils are sent to market.

What tests are completed before the oils are sent to market? Will the company send you a list of tests they complete? Will they provide information and test results of specific oils? Will they provide test results for the specific batch that you have bought?

Even if you can’t read all the scientific results yourself, this level of transparency helps you feel confident in the oils you are purchasing.

I recently heard a speaker at a conference discussing how sophisticated the adulteration of oils has become. As the product becomes more desirable to the public, people will find ways to capitalize on this and they become better and better at hiding their dishonesty.

Make sure you work with a company that is becoming more sophisticated in their testing to offset these frauds.

3. Learn about the sourcing of the essential oils.

Where does the company source their oils? Do they go through a middle man or do they work directly with the farmers? Do they source from around the world or have their own farms in one location?

Plants grow better in certain locations than in others. I live in West Texas and I do not try and grow pineapples here! We can grow cotton and sunflowers but not pineapples or mangos!

In the same way, I look for peppermint from the North West, frankincense from Somalia, lavender from Bulgaria, and lemon from Italy. Those oils are going to be vastly different than oils produced from less ideal locations.

4. Discover what essential oils education is offered by your brand.

Essential oils are becoming more and more mainstream. I was able to attend a doctor panel with 8 physicians from various fields discussing how they use oils in their practice.

I am looking at providing support for mental health professionals to incorporate oils into practices. It is hard to throw a stick without hitting someone willing to tell you about their essential oils experience!

Even so, it is still new to most people, and there are safety concerns to consider as well as methods to learn in order to get the best benefit from your oils.

If nothing else, you don’t want to be wasting oil by using it ineffectively!

Find a company that values education and support. Connecting to someone willing to help you choose your oils and then develop plans for using them effectively will boost the effectiveness of your oils right from the start.

5. Insist on a positive impact in the world with your essential oils brand.

We all want to help others. We all want to support the planet. No one is pro earthquakes or slavery or poverty, right?

So, once you discover that essential oils can change your life, why not support others as well? Many companies producing essential oils use their platform to impact poverty in the countries where they source their oils, or to support humanitarian efforts through their charitable organizations.

Whether you are sharing one drop with a neighbor or going on a mission to Haiti to see the vetiver fields, you can align yourself with a company that shares this vision.

It is a win-win for everyone — the power of essential oils for you, and life changing support for the world. One drop at a time.

How do you go about choosing the best brand of essential oils?

I am always glad to share my experiences and I love collecting information to produce these simple checklists. If you would like more support or would like information regarding the specifics of my research and the brands I tried, please feel free to contact me at Julie@DrJulieBates.com. I hope you find the perfect fit for your family and you start seeing the impact today in your life!

Original article and pictures take keeperofthehome.org site