Safer bath products

Here are a few recent questions:
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Hi Terri! What cream do you use in addition to the salt baths? My daughter has very sensitive skin and usually always breaks out with any soap or creams we use even with shampoo! any suggestions on what to use and where to get them?Thanks! Kristy
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Well Kristy, I have not made the Epsom Salt lotions myself but when I do I plan to use either pure cocoa butter or some pure Jojoba or coconut oil. The skin is the largest organ so using products you would feel ok eating is best. The fewer chemicals being absorbed into your child's body is best. I try and limit any petroleum products and all the products with lauryl sulphate and laureth sulphates. The pure products are easier for the body to absorb and less likely to have a reaction. Emu oil may be another very good alternative. We use a prescription medication called Low Dose Naltrexone and it is in an Emu oil base and it has a lot of success as a carrier oil without any negative reactions. I get my stuff at either Sprouts or Whole Foods, I need to check Azure Standard to see if they carry them. I hope that helps!!
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Hi Terri! You don't know me but I was referred to your website from Shari and I find it very informative. I am trying, one thing at a time, to become more conscious about what I am putting into and on my boys bodies. I want them to be healthy and strong and to live to their potentials. I truly appreciate all the research and work that you do to help inform others. Anyways... my questions are: What do you feed your children for lunch? and What products do you use to wash their bodies, brush their teeth, lotions, etc?
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Hi Taryn,
Thanks so much for the great comments. And good for you for caring about this stuff. Your boys are very lucky!!! I covered a little about lotions above. I use California Baby body wash/shampoo/conditioner for my kids (see pictures above). I have also used some Burt's Bees stuff too. I use Spry gel instead of regular toothpaste, we avoid fluoride for the kiddos too. The Spry gel uses Xylitol which inhibits bacteria growth = inhibits cavities.

Lunches usually consist of a combo of protein, fat, veggies and fruit:

Protein:
* Applegate Farms Hot Dogs
* Applegate Farms lunch meats
* Low oxalate diet black eyed peas burgers with shredded veggies
* Left over dinners like chicken, spaghetti, salmon, bean burritos with rice tortillas, different rice dishes, etc.
* Applegate farm bacon

Veggies:
* Steamed and mashed sweet potatoes
* Steamed and mashed acorn squash (add a little cinnamon for a sweeter/different taste)
* Cucumbers and tomatoes
* Carrot sticks and celery with peanut butter
* Bubbies pickles
* Broccoli "trees" with a little ketchup for dipping

Fruit:
* Mainly pears or mangos because we are fighting yeast
* Sometimes apple slices
* Fruit cup in pear juice

My son won't eat avocado but my daughter loves them so she eats sliced avo frequently at lunch. They are so healthy with great fats. They also love yogurt (coconut milk) with lunches as well.

I hope that helps!!

Water filter for showers

I have been meaning to blog about this topic since coming back from the DAN! conference. So much to say, so little time. But, I also had not fully researched the issue. At the DAN! conference I learned about even the water we bathe in can be bad. The junk in the water can be absorbed through the skin, especially since the steam opens your pores. So, we started looking at getting a whole house filter. This was especially precipitated by the fact that the RO system we THOUGHT we had was not really an RO system, oops! But so many systems to choose from and so many sales pitches telling us each one was the "best". I asked my husband why we couldn't just get hand held shower heads with the filters on them? And then Saturday I got a mailer from Vita Cost, it is a site I used to order Candidase and Virastop from that was much cheaper than Sprouts. Their latest ad has a Crystal Quest shower head combo with filter for $49.35, retail is $69.95. Here is a link: http://www.vitacost.com/Crystal-Quest-Handheld-and-Shower-Head-Combo-Luxury-Shower-filtration-system-1-Unit

I think that is the route we will go. The heck with a several thousand dollar complete system, I am going to order 3 of these and walk across the street to my neighbor who owns a water and ice store here in Gilbert and ask him about a water dispenser and some bottles of water each month. I will solve 2 problems and support a local business, and that is always a good thing!

Along these sames lines, what you put on your skin in the bath is important too, avoid those sulphates and parabens, try and stick to natural ingredients, preferrably ones you'd feel comfortable eating, especially if you have a child on the spectrum. The purest ingredients are always a good choice, our skin is our largest organ! Keeping that toxic load down is a huge priority for them and everyone really. I have been meaning to order from Dr. Mercola's site, his stuff looks pretty good. Same goes with cleaning, especially in and around the tub. We don't want our little ones swimming in a toxic bath. Vinegar and baking soda work really well and if you need to disinfect it will help with that too, or add a few drops of tea tree oil and/or lemon oil if you really are worried about germs. I drop a few drops in my mop bucket with pure, hot water and that is what I mop with and the smells are wonderful to boot. I can be sure when a piece of food gets dropped on the floor and one of the kids picks it up and sticks it in their mouths that they are not getting the chemicals in Pine Sol or Ammonia along with that little morsel. Although I know for years I used Pine Sol (oops) and loved that smell, which now probably would gross me out. Live and learn and try and do better each subsequent day I guess, right?