1. Homeopath
Went to see the homeopath this week, primarily to try and treat the eczema that both of my babies suffer from. After an hour long discussion, forming a written 'caricature' of both of their personalities and history from pregnancy through to birth and beyond, he gave me some nutritional advice and some granules of 'Psorinum' to be taken once a week for 3 weeks, and then a follow up appointment.
The nutritional advice was as follows:
- Use rapeseed oil on salads and everything cold
- Use olive oil for cooking
- Eat sardines and salmon (all of the above to increase intake of omega 3 and 6)
- Evening Primrose oil on the skin at night
- No commercial biscuits (too many trans - fats)
- Avoid dairy, but use other milks fortified with calcium - but the amino acids are not so good in these as in cow's milk, therefore eating meat is a good option)
- Plenty of fruits and veggies for vitamins
- Avoid gluten for Maya
- Probiotics, such as Actimel yoghurt drinks for Thomas
- Spices in cooking reduce skin inflammation, except for pepper.
- Almond and other nut butters (except peanut)
- Organic foods only, avoid food colours and chemicals
- Bath only every 2 days as the water and soaps reduce the natural skin oils.
2. Acupuncturist
At one of Thomas's friends birthday parties I was chatting to one of the dads who is an acupuncturist, and he gave me some nutritional tips too:
- Avoid dairy and also avoid too much soy milk, for boys and girls
- Use linseed oil (cold pressed) swirled through food before serving
He also said that he could use acupuncture with babies and toddlers to help to treat eczema. He said it could be done in combination with the homeopathic treatment, but the only thing is that you won't know which treatment has been successful!
3. Great Read
I received my copy of 'Feeding Baby Green' by Dr Alan Green, and it is an absolutely superb read, packed with great advice on healthy, sustainable eating.
A few big pointers that I have gleaned:
- Introducing as many flavours and textures before 12 months of age for Maya, before the fussiness strikes.
- Health benefits of herbs and spices of which I was completely unaware, and to introduce them to Maya too (this week she had cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, basil .... )
- Tasty food for Maya to try - mashed sweet potato with grated ginger and orange juice!
- Flavour threads - Italian (olive oil, tomato, basil, oregano); Asian (soy, rice wine, ginger); Curry (turmeric, coriander, cumin, cinnamon) .... use regularly and then use them to introduce a new food to Maya, or for leftovers. Yesterday she thoroughly enjoyed green beans sauteed in olive oil with garlic and parsley.
- Showing Thomas and Maya the fruits and vegetables being prepared.
- Having something green with lunch and dinner every day to create a habit. Now Maya has started to have a bowl of green finger food twice a day to accompany her meal. She has been enjoying a variety of broccoli, mangetout peas, green beans and avocado this week.
- The 'one bite' rule, which is pretty much what we have always enforced - is that you must have one taste of everything on your plate and if you don't like it you don't have to eat it - but at least it must be tried. (Also it is stated in the book that a baby may need to try something new between 6 and 12 times before they like it ... so don't give up!).
- Omega 3 - in wild salmon, walnuts and flaxseed
All in all a very recommended read, with some tasty recipes thrown in.
4. Tidbits
Maya surprised me completely by happily eating some beetroot and walnut hummus that I had made from the River Cottage cookbook - it was laden with fresh garlic and was bright pink, and she loved it!
I thought I should mention something that I read also in 'Feeding Baby Green', and that is about Elimination Communication, or going nappy free - I had heard about it before Thomas was born and we used in part time for him, and also for Maya, ie. they wear nappies most of the time but we try to make it to the loo for most of the poops! I started with Thomas when he was 6 weeks old, and with Maya when she was a week old - easy to do by taking them to the loo straight after every milk feed. I was completely surprised by both of them as when I first ever took them, they obliged instantly! Slowly you get to read the signs that they need to go to the loo, and you have achieved another way of communicating with your baby. Added to this is the bonus that they will be potty trained much earlier (somewhere between 6 and 18 months, depending on how much you use the method, and I imagine, on your baby too!
I read this book which was great.
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