When we began this journey with a very fussy, “colicky” baby girl, all I wanted to do was feed my family. All I wanted to do was nourish the little ones (and one big one) who were counting on me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Those early days were exhausting and emotionally draining, trying to breastfeed an extremely sensitive child, trying breastfeeding elimination diets, trying to sustain myself on a limited diet so I could sustain my baby, oh and cook different food for the boys who weren’t on our dietary restrictions. Not soo much fun, but worth it…because in the end we learned the POWER of food (both good and bad!), found a diet that helped our daughter begin to heal, and it is ultimately what motivated me to start this Baby FOOD steps Blog!
Now, almost 6 years later and I have been blessed to meet some amazing mothers along this journey, mothers who really only wanted to feed and love their babies too! Some of these ladies are part of The THINKING MOMS Revolution– a group of parents who are thinking and questioning everything about children’s health because they have lived and breathed their own children’s illnesses and know that recovery is real. These parents are finding answers for not only their kids but sharing that knowledge with others who need it.
This group is having a Virtual Food Conference coming up OCTOBER 7th, 2014 that I cannot wait to listen to! A star studded cast of FOOD EXPERTS including a few of my favorites (Julie Matthews and Stephanie Senefff) will be speaking and they have just given me a FREE CONFERENCE registration to give away (just leave a comment on this blog with how food has impacted your child and on our Facebook page to be entered, will draw name October 2nd)! The greatest part is that these busy moms know that WE all are busy- so if you cannot make it on the 7th you can still register and have access to all the recordings for an ENTIRE YEAR- to listen to when everyone else in your house is in bed!
Here are the details:
GMOs, Organics and Food Allergies: How To Feed Your Family Without Losing Your Mind eConference 2014
Date: October 7th 2014 | Time: 10 am – 5 pm EST | Registration Fee: US $40
Register HERE
Taking Baby{food}Steps... 
Food has been a huge key to our family’s health. I had to relearn everything I knew about healthy food when our child became quite ill following an adverse reaction to his 12-month vaccines. When I could get no answers or appropriate help from healthcare specialists, I started looking for answers and solutions on my own. A complete diet change is one solution I found. We saw truly life-changing, positive results, and we have never looked back. Few things are as satisfying as knowing that what you feed your family will protect and promote health instead of compromise it.
This conference sounds great! I have heard Julie Matthews speak before, and I am looking forward to hearing Dr. Seneff. Here’s my latest food story: My older son, Z, has a diagnosis of ADHD but at one point should have received a diagnosis of ASD. He is 11 now. A year ago we started going gluten free (and should probably give casein free another chance). Within a couple of months (along with using methylcobalamin injections), he was able to stop using a stimulant medication and did well in school. I gave all of the credit for getting off stimulants to the methylcobalamin. Over Spring Break, we took a trip to a theme park. At dinner, he begged for a cheeseburger, telling me, “Gluten doesn’t affect me!” I didn’t believe gluten affected him either. My husband and I gave in, and he ate a cheeseburger. The next day back at the theme park, he had a headache. I made no connection to the gluten, and he had another at dinner that night. The next day, his behavior was very out of character. He was easily frustrated playing mini-golf, and he acted like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum. My husband took the kids to a family reunion for a few days while I went out of town for work. He let Z eat whatever everyone else was eating. When I returned, Z was very irritable. He did not go back to school on Monday due to a migraine. On Tuesday, his teacher met me at the end of the day for a 15 minute discussion about how his day had been. I will never forget her words to me, “I don’t know what he did over Spring Break, but this is not the child who has been in my classroom the last 6 months.” She described how he could not focus on schoolwork and just sat at his desk twirling paper around a pencil. That night, it took him 4 hours to write his spelling words, an assignment that usually takes about 10-15 minutes. As we stayed away from gluten, things got better and better until he returned to the level of functioning he had prior to Spring Break.
food is everything in our family. Starting with Paleo for my husbands IBS, then my daughter who struggled with everything from birth and leading to her later diagnosis of autism, dietary changes have brought us HOPE and health.
CONGRATULATIONS Katie! You are the winner of the free conference admission!!
This sounds like such a wonderful e-conference!
My oldest daughter was predominantly formula-fed due to an undiagnosed tongue-tie that prevented her from latching. She was sick several times in her first year of life with gastroenteritis and respiratory illnesses. By chance, we discovered while weaning her onto whole milk that goat milk agreed with her system much better than cow milk did. This began a journey through a total diet change that relied on organic whole foods, probiotics, and fermented cod liver oil that has slowly spread to my husband and myself as well. My daughter is now 18 months old and has not had even the slightest illness in over 6 months. My environmental allergies are gone and I am off of anti-histamines, and we are hoping that my husband will soon experience some relief from several of his health conditions. We have learned so much, but know that we have lots more to learn!
Food alone has been a key part in recovering my 8yo son. I was losing it after he was diagnosed late after a massive vaccine induced regression a age 4.5. At 8.5 he is often indistinguishable.
I look forward to this conference. I don’t even know where to start with food. Our kids were sick from the start. Constant ear infections, sinus infections, strep, viruses galore. We gave them many rounds of antibiotics. And Tylenol. This all set them up for the sharp decline in their health. I slowly started making better food choices along the way, but got serious after watching my son eat a beautiful blue covered cup cake at a birthday party. Afterwards, the kids at the party were out of control. My son screamed for two days and then began having seizures although I didn’t know at the time that was what it was. Soon found out my son had, among other things, latent Celiac, mitochondrial issues and autoimmune thyroid issues. We have made many changes that improved our lives, but as far as food nothing has had a bigger impact than removing gluten from our diet. My son no longer has seizures. His digestive system is healing. His malabsorption issues are becoming less of a problem. He is no longer just surviving – he is thriving. My other son’s eczema and rosacea cleared. After visiting the pediatrician weekly for their first few years, neither has been sick enough for a doctor in almost two years. As an added bonus, my husband no longer takes his antacid to calm his stomach. I no longer feel twice my age and all my female issues disappeared (because they were not female related they were digestive related). I no longer get my daily congestion or semiannual sinus infections. My migraines are down to a couple times a year (when I eat MSG) instead of every day. These were all unexpected consequences to cleaning up our diet. Removing dairy, soy, food additives, fake ingredients have just been icing on the cake as far as improving our health and well being.