new with question

[raina]

Hi everyone :) I am new here so let me give you some background before my question. sorry if it's too long!
I have a 2 year old who may have asthma, has cronic ear infections (in fact is getting his 3rd set of tubes today), he has had pnuemonia 3 times, bronchitis, is allergic to almost every antibiotic out there...you see where I am going with this. I try to follow the Maker's Diet (organic fruits, veggies, meat, goat milk, goat yogart and raw nuts). His father follows SAD (very steak and potatoes - he thinks corndogs and gatorade is health food) so inbetween is the baby.
I plan to start a 2 week OJ fast Monday, then raw lifestyle after that- it seems to just make sense to me to me.
So my question is with the baby. Between daycare and his father- I could probably only get him 50-75% raw. Do you think that is enough to help get him on the track to great health?
He sees a DO for OMT therapy and the doctor said something in his little body just caused it to go haywire. Well everything started when he was 3 months old and I quit nursing him and he went to daycare. So I am only guessing the dairy and chemicals in the formula set him on this path.

[gatorgrrl]

He is obviously in a sort of health crises right now. I would take no chances on being 75%. I would at least put him on 2 months of 100% raw. I know it may seem difficult to do so, but we need to get this little guy feeling better. Make quick easy recipes and put them in a lunch cooler and give it to the daycare with clear instructions that he can not eat anything that is not raw or uncooked because it could effect his health. That is what I would do in this situation. Milk is soooo easy to make and soooo much cheaper. Just put some water in the blender and a big handful of whatever nut you choose. I wish you and your tot all the success.

[Arky]

On the possible deficiency side of things...

Other than the yoghurt, have you investigated probiotic options to repopulate your child's GI tract with more beneficial bacteria? I'm not certain what issues there might be with regard to young children in this respect so your best option would obviously be to ask a naturopath. I do not wish to pry in any way whatsoever, so please do not interpret this as a question, but, reading your post, I wonder if your child was not breast fed (amongst other benefits, breastfeeding supports healthy bacterial colonisation of the GI tract). Additionally, the remarks about antibiotics also lead me to wonder if there is a lack of beneficial bateria to protect your child.

On the possible allergy side of things...The yoghurt and milk - have you tried eliminating these from the diet for a short period of time, to see if the bronchial and ear problems alter at all? As you are doubtless aware, goats milk is considerably lower in caseine than cows milk, so, of the two, goat's milk is arguably the better choice. However, are you also aware of the problems the body has in dealing with homogenised milk? Homogenisation of milk results in the fat globules being broken down into smaller particles - particles the human body does not know how to handle, since they are of an unnatural nature. Pasteurisation may well kill certain pathogens, but it also kills many nutritious elements that are present in truly-raw milk, not least the enzymes which may assist the body in digestion and assmilation (controversial but far from implausible).

I must respect the vegan nature of these forums by not going into further detail about the issues here, but I also very much respect your right to choose how you feed your child (vegan philosophy is all well and good, if it is one's own choice, but it is, as with any other dietary path, a package of both benefits and compromises, and imposing any dietary path upon one's children, before they have the means to choose for themselves, is not something to be taken lightly, though many people do so, unthinkingly), so may I suggest that if you do feel you'd like to continue with milk, you do a little websurfing to read up on the many factors which influence whether milk is a viable form of nutrition for the body, or not. Sally Fallon would be a good name to google on the subject, but there are many others.

Please also read the following thread which, although from a vegan perspective, may still provide you with some useful information:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11662

I would highly recommend that you keep a food diary, carefully and deliberately eliminating foods, one-by-one, from your childs diet and documenting any changes in health each time. You may make some startling findings.


J.

[Ariella]

i was also goign to suggest you might try eliminating the dairy. even though it is goat, dairy can be linked with some of those health problems that he is having. it is just a suggestion! i make fresh almond or sesame seed mylk for my son (he drinks like 1/2 gallon of it a day) and he is doing really well! you might consider that as an alternative option. it also pretty inexpensive to make.

Ariella

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[jennplas]

i would have to say that from experience... not as intense as what you are going through... but my daughter used to have ear infection after ear infection and then horrible colds, and lots of mucus forming in her chest area. This was all before i discovered how milk affected children. I have cut down her milk consumption drastically, and she has not had an ear infection since. her colds are very very few and far between. i haven't cut milk products out yet completely, still working on that, however i must say she eats tons of vegetables and very very very little meat. We are slowly transitioning to a raw vegan life.

i agree with a naturopath - or even someone who does alternative medicine but who practices NAET (Nambudripads Allergy Elimination Technique). they can definitely find out what your child is allergic to (whats causing their illness)and fix it.. www.naet.com

best of luck with your little one...
jennP

[raina]

Thank you everyone for the advice!
I am very new at this and haven't even started myself- I'm still gathering info. I have the Ebooks from the garden diet and will buy Alissa's book tomorrow (payday).

As for the breastfeeding- I did it the first 8 weeks exclusive. I started then to introduce formula as I had to go back to work at 11 weeks and was unable to pump. I think had I been able to continue b/f he wouldn't have these problems- or at least this severe.

As for probiotics- he currently drinks 6 ounces of kefir a day (and loves it).

So with that- I do think I will go 100% raw with him and pack his lunches. Hopefully his dad will support us for at least 30 days, and after seeing the results keep supporting us. I plan to do a 2 week OJ fast, so will wean him off cooked foods and by the end of 2 weeks we will both be raw. He would be happy to live off fruit- he loves it so much. As for raw veggies- we'll have to work on that.

How do I make almond milk?

[adrienne]

hi there,
i just wanted to send some support to you and let you know that you are so on the right track. please be kind to yourself and know that it will be a bumpy but very worthwhile road with many one step forward, two steps back type stuff.
here are some of my opinions...let him eat as much fruit as possible esp. since he loves it, try all kinds of smoothie combos adding greens when possible, try 100% raw for him on the weekends/whenever you are not working and the other time do whatever you can to get him on this tract, but do not make yourself crazy trying to do it!, eliminate all dairy, feed him as few grains as possible
best of luck to you, he is very lucky to have you as a mom, wanting truely the best for him
oh, and this is how i make almond milk...
soak 1 cup almonds overnite
strain and blend with 2 cups of water (you can add dates, honey, vanilla to your taste)
strain thru cheesecloth/nutbag/mesh strainer

[TreeAdams]

Remember it is a process so don't be hard on yourself. You will find what works and what doesn't. Take it one day at a time and enjoy each success. Big results will show up over time. You ARE a great Mom!!

Tracy

[juliebove]

Has he been tested for food allergies? My daughter had chronic ear infections and finally at age 6 was diagnosed with 7 different food allergies. Since changing her diet, she has had only 1 infection. I believe dairy was the cause of her infections. And it's all dairy! Including goat's milk.

[Brianna]

Dairy is the leading cause of ear infections in babies. I would take him off dairy. The more raw you can feed him, the better.