Nursing Mom and 8 Month Old Immune Systeme Need Help!

I've been studying up a lot on ph balance and the American diet. Appartently, many of us (myself included) who eat "healthy" really eat quite an acidic diet. Eating a more alkaline diet is tied to getting sick much less frequently. In short, less meat and more veggies...however, there is a lot more to it than that. There are many supplements, such as Superfoods drink mixes, that can help boost one's body alkalinity.

take your prenatals again... also add in more Vit C and Zinc. Who are you spending time with that is repeatedly getting you sick? Is your child in daycare? If so - that's the culprit right there.

Breastfeeding actually increases your immune repsonse to keep you and baby more healthy - so I can only imagine how bad it would be if you weren't breastfeeding!!

If you've been on any anibiotics... look into chewable probiotics.

We use PB8 (you can find locally) and we use Immune Support from Apex.

http://www.worldlifesupplements.com/products_main.html

We also do not eat sugar or sugar substitutes, are in bed by 7:30 for the kids (10pm for us), very little dairy (as it causes inceased mucus) and we use therapuetic dosages of vitamin A (which many people will grill me for the dosages, but might not understand vitamin A and it's true toxicity issues).

I give my kids 1/2 PB8 each night, as well as Nordic Naturals DHA Junior, 1 teaspoon of Bluebonnet CalMag and 1 A&D every 2-3 nights each week. The A is in 25,000iu and the D with it is 1,000iu for each capsule. Vitamin A is the primary nutrient for epithelial tissue, which is what the respiratory system is made of. if we start to have symptoms, I start the A&D before anything really starts and I get us all adjusted by our chiropractor. I'll give the kids 3-5 of them for a few days and then I'll take 6 or 7 of them for a few days and then maybe 1 for a week. Too much A will give a bloody nose....but once stopped ALL toxicity issues go away. (Retinal palmatiate is what causes problems with "vitamin A" toxicity in pregnancy, not acutal vitamin A.)

http://icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor/

http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/sec01/ch004/ch00...

We also use Herbs for Kids Echinacea/Goldenroot or Echinacea/Astragulus for bacterial issues and Oscillococcinum for viral issues.

My kids haven't even had so much as a runny nose in over a year, although they are around sick kids and adults constantly.

Onions, garlic and ginger are great immunity boosters. Onions and garlic can be eaten raw or cooked (I prefer cooked). You can cook with ginger root also but I prefer making ginger tea. Here's how:

Grate ginger into a cheesecloth.
Tie cheese cloth up and put it in a pot of boiling water.
Allow to steep for about 8 minutes.
After done steeping, try to take two spoons and smash out all the ginger juice out of the ginger cheese cloth bundle.
Add some milk and local raw honey to it if you so desire.
Drink up.

With more natural based immunity builders, you have to make it a part of your way of life for it to be effective. With pills, you take the prescribed number and then you get quick relief (with possible side effects). With the food as medicine option, you pretty much have to make it a life style. There's some pretty good books on integrative health that you can read. Dr. Andrew Weil has written some pretty good books on the subject and his website is very informative as well.

Hope this helps and that all of you are feeling better very soon.

Do you have access to a chiropractor or an Applied Kinesiologist? They can prescribe vitamins you might be lacking in your diet. A great immune boosting supplement is Congaplex. I get mine from my Chiro and when I (or the kids) get sick I take 5-6 a day. It works great. If you can stomach it this is a great recipe to fight off colds: http://www.zimbio.com/Recipes/articles/12807/Making+Herba...

Good luck!

Wash your hands and look forward to next year when you've built up an immunity to it. Honestly, I get healthier every year, even with my oldest starting school this year and working with toddlers. This has been my best year yet. Little ones really do add a lot of sickness, but as you deal with it, your immunity does grow. Hope you get better soon!

I second the handwashing--not that immune support won't help--I just don't know much about that sort of thing. I have an in home daycare and handwashing is the only way to stop the spread of germs. Just think about surfaces like doorknobs and phones that don't get cleaned much--everytime you touch them you can pick something up and if you don't wash your hands before eating or touching your mucous membranes you could contract something. At our house , its wash before meals and after bathroom use--no exceptions. Do the kids get sick sometimes yeah--but mostly colds and even though 2 of the 3 daycare kids were in my care before I realized they were coming down with the vomit flu, weeks apart,--spiked fever here, I credit the handwashing for the other children not contracting it as well. That and vigilantly storing any toys another child mouths so it can be sanitized. Good luck!

I'm so glad you posted this!! Everything you've said is me & the baby exactly! Down to the throw up flu to cold, healthy lifestyle, very good vitamins...and so on. I'm looking forward to reading what everyone else says.

The best defense against sickness is vigilant hand washing. I would talk to a doctor before giving anything at all to an 8 month old baby. I would, likewise, consult a physician before you take anything.
That said, it's winter. We always get more sickness in the winter. It's because we're stuck in the house with the germs just breeding everywhere. Scrubbing the house, while a good way to get things clean, isn't really going to stop the spread of germs. We have germs all over us. We pick them up from everything we touch and everyone we come in contact with. That's why hand washing, or using hand sanitizer, is the best way to prevent the spread of germs.