Sam's First Fever

A few weeks ago, Sam had a really fussy day.  He had a bit of a stuffed nose, but nothing severe.  He finally went to sleep, and had a restless night.  That was very strange, because he has been a great sleeper since he was 2 months old.  10-12 hour sleeping stretches every night, starting around 6pm.  Then, a little early morning snack, and he was back to sleep for a few hours. 

While Sam was having his restless night, I picked up one of my new favorite short story books "A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider".   It is a short story book, similar to the "Chicken Soup" books, but it's written by all Christian Canadian authors.  There are many applicable life lessons for those who are willing to learn from other people's experiences. 

On this particular night, I happened to open the book to "Live Life To The Full".  Evangeline's son, Jared, had survived incredible odds as a baby.  He just finished celebrating his third birthday and received the news that all the surgery and bone marrow transplants and hospital stays were worth it.  He now had a normal life expectancy.  One night, Evangeline left Jared at home while she went to pick up a few things from the store.  Jared had a fever, but the doctor reassured her that it was most likely just a little flu bug.  When she got home from the store, her daughter met her at the door and told her mom to rush to the hospital.  Jared had died.  

The rest of the short story is about Evangline's journey out of grief.  It is a really good story, but not a great one to read the night before your own son has his very first fever.  When Sam woke up after his restless night, he felt a little warm.  After the morning bath and feeding, I noticed he wasn't quite as lively as usual.  I took his temperature, and it was over 38 degrees (armpit method).  His eyes even looked hot and tired. 

In a way, it was good timing for me to read that story.  There was never a baby more attended to than my little Sam!  That day, he was held and cuddled all day.  And I KNEW he was sick, because he doesn't usually like to be held so much.  I also had to change more often than I normally do in a week because he was constantly spitting up on me!

Sam is also a baby that will have nothing to do with soothers or bottles.  For a short while, I was able to give him Stomach Soothing Complex diluted in warm water to help with his gas.  It worked very well, and calmed him right down.  But now, at 6 months, he looks at me and in no uncertain terms makes it very clear he wants nothing to do with a "fake nipple".  I really wanted to help his little body fight whatever infection was going on inside.  I know that suppressing the fever, unless it is at a dangerous level, is not wise.  We are given fevers when the body needs to "burn something up".  The trick is to help the body fight by increasing the immune activity. 

When my oldest was young, he was not often sick.  But I do remember one occasion when Nathan was perhaps around 1 1/2, and he had a high fever.  He really liked to eat yogurt, but could not swallow pills yet.  He also did not like to chew his vitamins.  (I found WAY TOO MANY vitamins in my furnace vents, behind the stove, and under the piano... so mom had to get a little wiser with how the vit's were given!)  So I had been crushing the children's chewable VitaLea (whole food, no sugar multi), VitaC100, Chewable Cal/Mag, Bifidus and a few other things, and mixing them through the yogurt.  He thought it was berry flavoured yogurt!  I also had him on nondairy at the time, so it was often goat yogurt that we used.  When he was sick, I added Shaklee DR to the mixture. 

Samuel is not eating solid foods yet, so I could not give him anything in food.  And, I could NOT give him anything in a bottle!  But, I discovered he likes to "eat" from an eyedropper, or straight from a cup.  The eyedropper is a favourite for him.  I often give him Bifidus, which is a chewable good bacteria for kids, by crushing it up and dissolving it in purified water.  With the eyedropper, I put it into his mouth, and he "gurgles" and laughs, and swallows it all. 

So, I decided to make a mixture of Vitamin D, Shaklee DR, VitaC100 and Bifidus.  Those are all very good for the immune system.  Shaklee DR is an echinecea complex and may not be taken for more than 10 days, but I knew it was safe for infants.  So, I crushed one of each in my coffee grinder, dissolved them in water, and started dropping little drips of it into Sam's mouth.  He gurgled, laughed, and swallowed it all.  Phew! 

And, the next day, his cold, fever, restlessness and any hint of sickness, was gone.  Not that this mixture will always work that fast, but I know it is a safe option to help his little body fight whatever was going on inside. 

Honestly, it is scary stepping away from conventional methods.  It is frightening to avoid medications that are advertised as safe and as the best option for sick kids.  Ironically, if a mother gave her son Tylenol, and he had a reaction, we might blame the medical community, but the mother who administered the drug would not be blamed. However, if a mother gives a child an herb that is proven to be safe and effective from years of use, but the child happens to have a reaction, the mother would be blamed, and the herb would be under scrutiny.  Perhaps not by everyone, but in general.  So, when a mother steps away from conventional methods and opts for natural methods, it is a bit daunting.  We are a little bit on our own.  The natural industry IS NOT well regulated, unfortunately, so there ARE many products that have to be avoided.  We as mother NEED TO DO OUR RESEARCH, and be SURE that we can trust the products we are using. 

You can learn more about the SHAKLEE DIFFERENCE by clicking here.

As I type this, Samuel is quietly sleeping, Nathan is playing his guitar (and singing loudly), Andrew is at work.  So I will go outside, enjoy the sunshine, and read another story from Hot Apple Cider.  Simple, quiet pleasures!    

Cloth Diapers... again!

This is my “Life With Sam” blog.

I am 39. I have a 14 year old. And I have a 6 month old.

Yes, I know. “Oh, you are starting ALL over!” Well, life is full of funny surprises. It’s how we handle those surprises that makes us who we are. I am not quite sure what cloth diapers hanging on my wash line outside says about my career, or what smelling like baby spit-up will do for my social life, but I do know that when my baby cries, that certainly defines who I am at that moment. I am a mom, first and foremost!

And, I am a mom who does cloth diapers. Yes, I did cloth diapers 14 years ago. Back then, I found what I could at garage sales. I bought a few garbage bags full of cloth diapers, cloth liners and plastic covers. And then I washed and rewashed them! I had some fitted cotton diapers with velcro fasteners and some all in one diapers that did not need a plastic cover. No safety pins needed.

The experience was not unpleasant. The occasional leak. Maybe once or twice a diaper rash.  Then came solid food. That is what separates true cloth diaper moms from the rest ! I have been told “if I need to scrape poo off with a spatula into the toilet, I am not changing any diapers.” Well, I persisted, and it wasn’t all that bad. I had to persist, for a few factors: cost, environment, pride. Yes, pride! I had told people I was going cloth, and some people teased me… so, I was NOT going to give up! I looked around and found disposable liners that lift out and get flushed down the toilet, no spatula’s needed. And the stains in the diapers were still coming out for the most part.

I was using Shaklee’s Basic L, Basic Bright and Basic S, the old laundry trio line from Shaklee. I would soak the diapers in the Basic Bright for a day or so, and then wash them in the Basic L. The softener was Basic S, but I didn’t always use that. When I hung the diapers out to dry on the line outside, they smelled and looked… well, not like new, because they were very well used at that point… but they were very clean! When I hung them on the line inside, they were not as bright white, because the sun did not get a chance to bleach them, but they were still stain free. If I did not soak them in Basic Bright, they were not all stain free. But absorbancy was excellant, and we experienced very few leaks or diaper rashes.

So now, 14 years later, here I am again! This time, though, no garage sales for cloth diapers. My, how things have changed in such a short time! Cloth diapers now have entire stores devoted to them, and there are several websites with all kinds of funky brands to choose from. And, in the Niagara Region, we are invited to oodles of Mom2Mom events in the spring and fall of each year. Moms resell gently used items to other moms that need them. Great idea.

Since I had long ago retired Nathan’s cloth diapers, I was looking to restock our house with cloth diapers for Sam. Thankfully, I found fitted bamboo cloth diapers! They are amazing. And instead of the plastic covers from years ago, I use the breathable covers from MotherEase. Amazing line of covers. Sam has not had a diaper rash yet, and I do believe it is because:
1. the diapers are so absorbant;
2. there is no chemical residue in contact with Sam’s skin;
3. the liners allow an air flow.

This experience with cloth diapers is much more positive than the first experience. I was using up the disposable diapers given to us from the hospital for the first week or so, but found I had leaks and for some reason, they seemed to smell more. Now he’s in fitted bamboo cloth with MotherEase covers, and NEVER a leak! Not even through the night, and he does a 10-12 hour sleeping stretch. I did “double diaper” him at night at first, but I don’t anymore. Poor baby looked like a pear and wasn’t able to roll over if he wanted to. I find he’s already staying a bit drier at night, so it’s working fine to leave the one cloth diaper on over night.

I still use Shaklee Laundry Products, but with better technology and more HE wash machines, they upgraded their cleaners line. It is now called Get Clean (click here to learn more). There is a predominant CAUTION on the label, but when I researched that, it is there due to labeling laws.  I have had children and pets from clients ingest the Get Clean cleaners (not on purpose), and when poison control is called, they say "don't worry" when they hear it's from Shaklee.  So, "don't worry" about that CAUTION label! 

I store the wet diapers in a diaper pail that has a charcoal filter in the lid. The charcoal filter is essential to keeping the rest of the family at home!! The dirty diapers I put in a big red bucket in my laundry room. I fill it with warm water and 4TB of Nature Bright Laundry Booster.

NATURE BRIGHT vs BLEACH?  I am confident that I can soak the diapers as long as I like, and the fabric strength will NOT be effected.  If I used bleach, the fabric would get very weak.  However, I can soak colours or whites for months, and the plant enzymes would only work at "eating away" the stains. 

WARNING AGAINST PLANT ENZYMES?  Some people warn against using laundry products that have plant enzymes in them.  However, there is NO RESIDUE left in the clothes after using Fresh Laundry, so NO WORRY about rashes!  Most laundry products do leave a residue. 

If there is a residue, first of all, your machine will have build-up in the lines.

Little tip:  when switching to Shaklee Get Clean laundry trio, be sure to do a load with a cup of vinegar and warm water, or a few loads of towels with warm water and Fresh Laundry concentrate.  The Fresh Laundry does not leave a residue, but it also will break down residue in your machines lines.  This can cause the first few loads to be grey or smelly, if you have used other products in your machine. 

Second, if there is a residue in your clothes, that will be sitting on your skin.  90 seconds after something is on your skin it will be in your body!  That fast.  So any lotions, cleaners, perfumes... your liver eventually has to filter all of that.  It's best to avoid chemicals when and where we can.

Okay, back to Sam and his bamboo diapers!  Sam is not on solid foods yet, so I don’t have the disposables liners in use at this point. However, when that comes, I’ll be flushing the soiled liners down the toilet, and soaking the dirty diapers in my big red bucket with Nature Bright.


The wet diapers, that have not been soiled just go into my wash with the towels. I find I do not have extra laundry due to diapers. I might wash a few more loads due to an extra person in the house, but I would not say cloth diapers is giving me oodles of extra laundry. The “poo” diapers are soaked for a few days, and then go into the wash with 1 or 2 oz of Fresh Laundry Concentrate and 1 scoop of Nature Bright. I usually throw in my other whites along with them. And, the same as 14 years ago, if I hang everything outside, the whites are brilliant and the diapers look spotless. If I hang them inside, they are still spot free, but not quite as brilliant.

Overall, I am satisfied with the financial savings, environment safety, and general effectiveness of the Get Clean line.  I find they work better than chemical cleaners at a fraction of the cost. 

Little note: Nathan, being a 14 year old who loves grass stains and dirt, gives me a challenge with his clothes. I have to put Fresh Laundry Concentrate as a spot remover on the grass and dirt stains before adding those cloths to the wash. I have had stains I cannot get out, and I still have not had a straight answer about where those stains came from! Yellow paint? Grease? On his white school uniform shirts

And then there is Andrew… my outdoor loving, firewood cutting, grease magnet, farmer husband. He wears his jeans until you could grow a garden in the dirt on them. And he only wears white t-shirts! So, I could work very hard to get those t-shirts clean, but it’s honestly easier to buy him new white t-shirts each month. And, I thought his jeans were hopeless. BUT, I thought I ‘d give the Shaklee Laundry trio a really good test, and soaked the work jeans for several days in Nature Bright. The water was almost greasy enough to reuse as grease by the time the soaking was done. Ew. So, then I put the jeans in the wash… and a few days later, we were looking for his work jeans. I couldn’t figure it out. Where did they go? We found them. In his GOOD JEANS pile! They had gotten so clean, I accidentally put them all in the wrong jeans pile.

TIP: if you use a dryer, you can use the veggie based dryer sheets from Shaklee, or you can use the economical method of mixing 1 part Soft Fabric Concentrate to 3 parts water in a spray unit. Spray the drum of your dryer, or a cloth that you use for only this purpose, about 10 or 12 times. Use that as your “bounce sheet” alternative!