An Easy Tip for Diaper Rash

I've been trying to learn how to use essential oils to help keep our family healthy. Little by little I'm learning more about these amazing oils.

 

In a recent bout of the flu our baby ended up with a bad diaper rash. Normally when he gets a little pink I slather on some coconut oil or jojoba oil and it all clears up by the next change. This time though he had diarrhea and things just went from bad to worse. The coconut oil and jojoba oil weren't working. I convinced him to take a nap without a diaper on one day. He wasn't crazy about it, but sleepiness finally won out. That helped but not enough. I was getting desperate enough to go buy something from the pharmacy. I just felt so bad for his pain and discomfort.

 

Finally (don't forget I had the flu all this time as well and wasn't functioning on a full brain) I looked up in my essential oils book what I should try. One of the first oils they suggested was lavender. Let me just say that lavender seems to cover a multitude of needs.

 

Lavender can be applied neat which means directly on the skin with no dilution, but since I was using it for a baby I decided to be safe and first melt about a half a teaspoon of coconut oil in my palm. Coconut oil melts very quickly at body temperature. Then I added one or two drops of lavender and covered my baby's bum in it.

 

By the next diaper change the rash had cleared up by 50%. I am not exaggerating. I did another application and we were home free. And I was back to my happy, smiley, dimpley baby.

 

 

 

So, this may or may not work for you. I am not an expert, but if you're desperate this may work.

The Bad and the Good

 

This has been an interesting week to say the least. It started out with all of us slowly one by one succumbing to an achy flu bug complete with sore throats and headaches. I am so finished with this winter, but I have hope that spring is really just around the corner.

 

After suffering with a sore throat for about half a day, I finally got out my essential oil book to see if there was anything I could take. They suggested rubbing two to three drops of lemon oil on the outside of my throat. Since I have lemon oil I decided I had nothing to lose by trying. I kid you not - within one minute of rubbing three drops on my throat the soreness had been reduced by about 90%. Later in the day I read that rubbing a drop of lemon oil on the side of the nose it would take care of a runny nose. Since I'd been blowing my nose every five minutes I decided to try this as well. Again the result was dramatic. I simply did not need to blow my nose anymore. These things have cemented in my mind the effectiveness of essential oils and my need to learn more about how to use them for my family's health. So - some good has come from this sickness we all had.

 

Today I had real hopes of Spring. It was bright, sunny and warm. While the older children rode their bikes and scooter at the front of the house, my three little guys and I enjoyed our backyard. The baby especially enjoyed his first taste of freely running all over the yard, and the toddler enjoyed the swing.

 

always a ball in hand

 

 

Finally, we've increased our family by a count of one. Last year we had to give up our dog. Ever since then our youngest daughter (who was very attached to her) has really missed her. My husband and I talked it over and offered her a hamster. She was delighted. So tonight we took her to the pet store where she picked out her very own pet. She's been named "Chiquita" ("little girl" in Spanish) and has charmed everyone in the family.

 

 

I would like to know if anyone has any uses for essential oil that would be useful for the mother of a large family.

Fighting the Flu

 

After suffering through the stomach flu for a couple of weeks in January I thought we were finished with being sick for a few months. Apparently not. This week has been a complete write off as we've all had the achy flu - sore throats, aching joints, headaches, fevers. I think you get the picture. Monday was the only day we were able to have school.

 

I have learned that tea tree (aka melaleuca) oil helps to control coughing. We've been using it quite liberally this week, and it has kept the coughing down. I can't remember our family ever being as sick as we have been this winter, and I hope it never happens again.

 

Tuesday night we listened to a debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye as to whether Creation is a viable model of origins in today's world. It was fascinating and informative and helped us forget our aches and pains for a while. If you would like to watch it you can find it at debatelive.org. They're not sure how long it will be up so I would recommend watching it soon. It was interesting to listen to my children comment on the points the debaters were making. Ken Ham did an excellent job defending Creationism.

 

We've also been dumped with A LOT of snow this week. It was pretty to watch it falling - big fluffy flakes. It has really felt like we're hibernating this week.

 

I'm sorry I don't have any more to say, but honestly it's a wonder I've done this much. I'm just counting down the minutes to bedtime. Being sick is hard. Being sick and having to take care of sick babies at the same time is unreasonable.

 

Hopefully you've had good health this week and we will next week.

A Good New Year 2014

We had a wonderful day together as a family. We exchange gifts at New Years and not Christmas so the excitement was pretty high around here while we were waiting for Grandpa and Grandma to get here. We make a lot of our gifts so December is a very busy time for us making things. My middle daughter and I really nailed the gift we made for my oldest daughter - a French cockade. She is a HUGE Les Mis fan so she loved this gift. My daughters also made a fishing game for our toddler that he is really enjoying. It's so much fun to see things you made being used and loved.

I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to accomplish in 2014. I would like to really get sourdough baking learned. I've played around with it, but I want to thoroughly learn it this year. I would also like to learn how to use herbs and essential oils for our family's health. I would like to use my dehydrator more. I have an Excalibur and really enjoy using it whenever I get it out.

I'm also thinking of topics I'd like to cover here on the blog. I'm coming up to a year on the blog and have enjoyed doing it. I still feel like a newbie. I enjoy reading the comments especially if something I have written has been a help or encouragement to someone.

So is there anything you would like to see me talk about? What are your goals for this year?

A Busy, Fun Week

 

This has been a good second week of school. I signed up for a blogging event where I have to visit about 50 other blogs and about 50 bloggers visit me. Wow! I've been busy visiting, commenting, learning and having fun. If you check out my post "School and Grace" you'll see that I've been getting a lot of comments.

 

I was finally able to sign up as a doTERRA associate and my introductory package came today. Along with some start-up info I ordered two bottles of lemon, two of TerraShield (an insect repellant) and Deep Blue (for rubbing into sore muscles). I am excited to have these. I know that there are dozens of ways for using the lemon so I'm going to be doing a lot of experimenting in the next several weeks.

 

I also had another fun package in the mail. In August I signed up for a giveaway on Facebook with "foodforthewarrior". Surprisingly and happily I won. Part of the giveaway was her cookbook - Food for the Warrior: Mission to Cook Healthy. I've had fun looking at it and I'm looking forward to trying some of the great whole food recipes.

 

I'm trying to do one or two things every week that I've pinned on Pinterest. I mean, why pin things but never use them? So today we made "Nut Butter Sourdough Cookies".  Next time we'll double the batch. I had sourdough starter because one of my goals this year is to make good sourdough bread. I'm not there yet, but I keep trying. This was a fun and easy way to use some starter.

 

I also accomplished a craft project. I made a valance for my kitchen window and covered the chair I use in the kitchen for sitting at my computer. I should have taken a before picture of the chair. I'm sure you all know what a ripped up vinyl seat looks like though. It's been ripped for months now so I was glad to get that covered.

 

 

 

 

I've been using my mai tei wrap more and more. Today I used it in the morning while the baby was sleepy but I couldn't take the time to rock him because I had to get some bread going for lunch. He was totally content on my back while I was kneading the dough. He didn't go to sleep then, but as soon as I took him down he nursed and drifted off - so sweet. I never tire of having my babies fall asleep in my arms.

 

I'm also gathering ideas for things I can make/do that will keep my toddler busy during school with minimal attention from me. I'll let you know how those go. Right now he's really into Mega Bloks. The only problem is when he gets frustrated when pieces don't go together the way he likes.

 

Anyway, that's my week. I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have more my toddler. He's really not one to play with toys. Legos and Mega Bloks have been the first toys that he has consistently played with day after day. How was your week?

Essential Oils

Friday again! They seem to come so quickly. We had another good week. We’re inching ever closer to being finished with school for this year which is always exciting. The weather if slowly starting to warm up and it has been nice to get outside and into the sunshine. I love walking when the weather is nice and walking with a baby snuggled in the wrap in front of me is even better.

Walking with my oldest and my youngest

This year I have a goal of learning how to use essential oils to aid my family in being healthy. Happily for me one of the blogs I follow is offering the opportunity to learn about essential oils one oil at a time for the next ten months. This is an online course on Facebook and it’s free – so good for our health and good for our wallet. 

I signed up for the course this week. It starts in May with the first oil being peppermint. I’m excited to start learning about these oils. A couple of years ago a friend tried to get me interested and I just felt too overwhelmed. I’ve come to the place though where I’m very interested and eager to learn. If you’re interested in signing up here is the link.

So how about you? What have you done this week for your health or your family’s health?