The Best Co-Sleep-But-Don't-Have-Them-In-Your-Bed-Forever Tip That I Almost Never Hear

As an AP/crunchy mom, I'm a pretty big fan of co-sleeping. I'm sure most of the readers of this blog are too. But let's be real for a minute- I'd also guess that most of us aren't too keen on the thought of having our kids in bed with us for the next 5-10+ years, especially if there are many of them. But at the same time, most crunchy moms aren't comfortable with the idea of crying it out, and lets be honest- uncomfortable transitions aren't exactly the funnest part of parenting, especially when they involve losing sleep. So what's a crunchy momma or daddy to do?

 

I've found a solution that's worked really well for our family, so well that I can't believe that I don't hear more people talking about it! It's a super easy, transition free way to help your kids slowly start sleeping in their own beds as they get older.

 

 

When my babies were brand new, I felt most comfortable with them right in bed with me the entire time. I'm pretty paranoid about leaving newborns to sleep(or do anything, really) alone for any length of time, so I'd always keep them close to me and bring them to bed with me as soon as I was ready to go to sleep, even if they were still sleeping.

 

 

Here's the key though. At 3, 4, 6 months- whenever you start to feel more comfortable with your baby sleeping unattended for a little while- have them start out the night in their own bed. That's it! That's my whole tip! Isn't that easy? Seriously though, have them start out the night in their own bed. Then, the first time they wake up to nurse, just bring them back in bed with you, and you can co-sleep and nurse to your mutual hearts' content for the rest of the night.

 

 

This is a great idea for so many reasons. The first is that it gets the child used to their own bed. Of course, as an AP momma I never expected my babies to sleep all night in their own beds(and I still don't). But I think the idea of getting them used to another bed at an early age, in a non-scary, non-threatening way can only be a good thing. If they've only ever slept in one bed for the first several years of their life, that could be a big transition when it's time, but if they're comfortable in a couple of beds from 6 months on, it makes for an easier transition. Also, since I was bringing them back to your bed to co-sleep and nurse for the rest of the night, I found that my babies didn't get scared when they woke up in the middle of the night. I came to them, every time, and they learned that when they woke up momma was going to be right there and get them for nurses and snuggles. I was NOT wiling to try to get them back to sleep in the other room, and get in and out of my bed several times a night, but I could handle getting up once and falling right back to sleep. I enjoyed the snuggles too, of course.

 

 

Here's the real kicker though. Typically(and your baby might be different, of course), as babies turn into toddlers and then preschoolers, they start to sleep for longer stretches without waking. If they start out the night in their room, that means that as they start to sleep for longer stretches, they'll be sleeping longer in their room. When I first started doing this with Tristan, he'd sleep until maybe 11PM or midnight. As he started getting older, he'd sleep until around 1AM, then until about 2 or 3 AM. Now? Most nights, he sleeps the entire night in his own bed, in his own room, and comes into my bed to nurse around 6 or even 7 AM. It's wonderful!

 

 

There was no transition period. There were no sleepless nights of putting him back in his bed multiple times. There was no nervousness for him about a new bed or about sleeping without mommy. He simply went to sleep in his bed like he'd been doing since he was about 6 months, except now he sleeps all night! He's totally confident in the fact that if he needs me I'll be there, and that he's welcome in my bed if he needs to snuggle, and occasionally he does need those middle of the night snuggles. But most nights, he doesn't need to anymore. My 2.5 year old, attachment parented, still nursing, never-left-to-cry-it-out toddler sleeps most nights in his own room, of his own will.

 

 

Did I mention that there was NO transition period, at all???

 

 

For the life of me, I can't figure out why more moms are not talking about this! I realize every baby is different, but this was SO easy for us and worked SO well that I can't imagine it not working well for at least some other families!

 

 

Now, if you want to take this tip to the next level, here's my other suggestion. Skip the crib. Really. I moved both of my babies into a twin bed by the time they were 13 months old, but if I ever have another, I'm planning to skip the crib altogether and just have them sleep on a twin or double mattress put right on the floor. Why? Like a lot of breastfeeding moms, I like to nurse my babies to sleep. And like just about any mom can testify to, it's SOOO difficult to nurse/rock/cuddle your baby to sleep, and then do the dreaded transfer to the crib. Just typing that makes me feel anxious! Not. Fun.

 

 

Once I moved my babies up to a twin bed though, bedtime got so. much. easier. I could just lay next to them and nurse them to sleep, and then as soon as they were asleep I could just unlatch them, if necessary, and get up. No transfer required. They had no idea I was even gone. Absolute brilliance! Whenever they woke up in the middle of the night, there was no freaking out(most of the time, it happened occasionally). They were in a familiar, comfortable place, and they knew as soon as they called for me I'd be there to bring them into my bed.

 

Tristan when we first moved him out of the crib. We didn't have a twin bed at first, so we just put his crib mattress on the floor. It was uncomfortable, but did allow me to kindof lay next to him and nurse him to sleep. Wasn't he cute?!

 

 

Are you catching how awesome this idea is? Laying next to your baby to nurse them to sleep, no crib transfer required, and then as they get older, no transition period required to get them to sleep in their own room!!! They just sleep all night on their own whenever they're ready! SO. EASY.

 

 

Am I living under a rock? Are there moms everywhere doing this and talking about it? If you've done this or something similar, I'd love to hear about it! I understand that this idea probably won't work for everyone, but it worked so well for us that I can't believe that there aren't moms everywhere shouting this idea from the rooftops!

 

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Health Speed Bump!

It's been a long journey towards health for me, and it's not over yet. Over the past couple of weeks, I've realized that I've hit another speed bump in my journey, and this time I think I'm going to need to get some professional help.



I started out pretty darn sick two years ago, with some pretty scary digestive symptoms and some pretty scary psychological symptoms. Both of those saw drastic improvement with a gluten free diet and the addition of fish oil supplements. After a year gluten free, I was still much improved but nowhere near healthy. At the beginning of this year, I started the GAPS diet and saw even more improvement! I was so excited.



I've been on full GAPS for over 6 months now, and while I've seen some healing I'm nowhere near where I want to be. It seems like all the symptoms that were getting so much better when I first started GAPS are now getting worse again. Either the symptoms are getting worse, or they're still improved from where they were 9 months ago and it's hard for me to remember just how bad they were- I can't tell.



I'm still struggling with allergies. Not a huge deal, but really annoying. I'm tired all the time. I'm still getting diharreah, but only right before my period. Speaking of my period, most of my worst symptoms seem to be hormonal. Remember the really bad PMS I told you about a while back, and how it was improving? It seems to be getting worse again. I'm having serious anxiety and emotional issues for about a week every cycle. It's so frustrating, and so debilitating. I'm not depressed- I just feel like I am for a week every month. I basically have to stop listening to any messages I'm getting from my brain during that week, because they all turn super negative, and just switch on auto pilot. I feel like I'm missing a whole week of my life every month. Then after I finally come out of that fog, it normally takes me a couple of days to get my equilibrium back again. It's so, so frustrating, and honestly I'm just really tired of dealing with it! I want my life back!



Last month, I got some spotting mid-cycle. I know that's normal for some women, but it's definitely not normal for me. I've been having some nausea and dizziness off and on too. All red flags that are telling me I definitely need to get some outside help.

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After looking at all my symptoms, I'm guessing I'm dealing with hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, or both. I'm really not comfortable trying to mess with anything hormonal without professional help. I also want to get some levels checked and find out for sure what I'm really dealing with. I've been able to do a lot to improve my health on my own, but if I can find a professional who knows a lot more than I do and has the tools to help me get better, that would be amazing. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but after feeling bad for so long even just the thought of feeling great sounds amazing. I get a week or two each month where I feel great- if I could feel like that all the time, I can't even imagine how awesome that would be!!!



Yes, there are things I haven't tried yet. I haven't done the GAPS intro. I'm not even sure if I should do the GAPS intro while I'm still nursing. I haven't cut out oxalates. I haven't cut my fruit back drastically. I haven't gotten Pickl-it's for fermenting in. Maybe some or all of those things could help me. But honestly, I just don't have enough energy left to try to figure it out on my own. On the bad weeks, it's all I can do just to make it through the day and attempt to interact normally with people. I don't have enough energy left to keep searching for answers on my own. My first priority now, health wise, is to find someone that can help me get healthy again.



In saying that, there's a part of me that's really nervous about looking for help. I need to find a doctor that can help me. I need to find a doctor that understands about the gut-brain connection and that understands natural healing methods. I'm convinced that my body can heal itself with the right tools and given the right opportunities. I need to find a doctor that will respect all the hard work I've done on my own, that will listen to my incredibly long story, and won't blow off my instincts about my own body. And I have no idea where to start looking for someone like that.

Why am I so passionate about real food?

"Why is this all such a big deal to you? You didn't used to eat like this."

 

My father in law asked me that a little while back. He's right- I didn't used to eat like this. Ever heard of the S.A.D.- the Standard American Diet? That's what I ate growing up. Fast food (still remember those off menu cheese sticks from Long John Silvers), biscuits from a can, fried bologna sandwiches on white bread, Kraft mac'n'cheese from the orange box, and Lay's potato chips with onion dip. You name it, we ate it. The nutritional value of the foods we were eating never really factored into the equation. It just wasn't something that was discussed or talked about.

 

 

It's ironic, really, because my parents were outside of the mainstream in many ways. My sister and I weren't vaccinated. My mom breastfed back in the 80's when it wasn't as popular as it is today. We were homeschooled. I even remember, as a teen, my dad explaining to me that he believed that the unhealthy American diet was responsible for the drastic rise in chronic disease and infertility over the past several decades. The truth was right there, so close, but somehow it never made it's way all the way into action.

 

 

My dad is the reason I'm so passionate about eating real food and feeding it to my family. He passed away at only 39 years old, when my sister and I were still teens. He was morbidly obese, and died in his sleep one night due to an enlarged heart. He weighed about 350 lbs when he died, and that was after losing about 300. We had no idea that he was in trouble or that his heart was enlarged. I never got to say goodbye. I just woke up one morning and he was gone.

 

 

I wrote this back in April and shared it on my facebook wall, on what would have been my dad's birthday:

 

Do you think that what you eat doesn't really matter? Or maybe you're meaning to start eating healthier, but you keep putting it off? Can't seem to make time for exercise? Think it's all not really a big deal? When you see me talking about cleaning up my diet, do you think I've taken it just a little too far? When I tell you I don't feed my kids sugar or grains, do you really think I've gone off the deep end??? Does it make you uncomfortable when you hear about the risks of eating fake food and not exercising? Are you feeling uncomfortable right now, reading this status?

Good. I hope you are feeling uncomfortable. I hope you're feeling uncomfortable enough to DO something about it. Because you know what else is uncomfortable? Missing your dad. Watching his favorite team win the NCAA championship without him. Knowing you'll never get to introduce your kids to him, at least not this side of heaven. My dad should be turning 47 today. But instead we lost him to obesity at the too-young age of 39.

Please don't make the same mistake. Please don't think that it doesn't matter, that it won't happen to you, that you have plenty of time left. Your family needs you. Please honor my dad today and think about what kind of changes you can make to be healthier. You don't have to change it all at once. Take baby steps. Do a couple of things at a time. But please, don't keep putting it off. Do it for you, do it for me, do it for your family.

Does that seem shomewhat inappropriate? Would it still feel inappropriate if my dad had died from lung cancer, and I was pleading with you to stop smoking? What if he had died in an auto accident, and I was spreading the word about how seatbelts and car seats save lives? Would it be ok for me to spread those message? Why is it different just because I'm talking about food? Fake food kills. Obesity kills. And I'm going to keep sharing that message with as many people as I can.

 

 

I don't say all of this to defame my dad. He was amazing in many ways. I could go on and on about all of his good qualities and things that he taught me. But today I'm sharing the source of my inspiration, and hoping that maybe you're feeling inspired too. I don't want to just remember the good about my dad. I also want to remember the ways that he fell short- not so that I can be bitter about them, but so that I can learn from his mistakes and hopefully not make the same ones. I do what I do in honor of his memory- not to defame it.

 

 

So this is why I'm so passionate about real food. There are other reasons, and I'm sure I'll talk about them later. But my dad is one of the main reasons I eat the way that I do. I never, never want to get so unhealthy that I'm in danger of leaving my kids without a parent. Sure, I could die at any time in a freak accident. But if that doesn't happen, I want to be the best steward that I can of the body and the life that I've been given. I'm not just going to sit back and say, "Meh- it doesn't really matter what I eat." Because it does matter. If it didn't matter, my dad would likely still be with us today. And I'm not going to make that same mistake.

 

Marketing Strategies: Also for three year olds.

"Mommy, does that check mark mean that this is healthy?"

 

 

Those are the words that came out of my three year old's mouth when we were on the cereal aisle at the grocery store. We've been talking a lot about healthy and not healthy foods lately. She knows that healthy foods are good for her body, and that not healthy foods could make her get sick. And at the tender young age of three and a half, the marketing techniques of General Mills are reaching her.

 

We made a major overhaul on the kids' diets about two months ago. As you know, I've been on the GAPS diet since just after the first of the year, and I've seen some pretty incredible improvements in my health. When I first started out, I was the only one doing the diet. The DH wasn't particularly interested(and didn't have any pressing health issues that he was concerned about), and since the diet is fairly difficult to get started on I wanted to get adjusted to it first before I thought about getting the kids involved. That didn't last long though. I couldn't stand feeding my kids food that I knew was going to damage their gut and their health, particularly the gluten and sugar! I couldn't justify feeding them food that I wouldn't dream of putting into my own body.

 

It was hard, but I planned ahead and we went cold turkey, completely removing grains and all sugar(except fruit and honey) from their diets. The first week was really tough, but we all made it and have seen significant results! Naturally, as we made such big changes to the kids' diets, we did a lot of talking about what we were doing and why. I did a lot of explaining about how healthy foods helped your body to grow strong and how unhealthy foods were bad for your body and could make you get sick. The last time Hayden had a doughnut, instead of just dealing with the meltdown that followed, I decided to explain to her what was happening and why she felt the way that she did. She ate the doughnut, and then about 15 minutes later had an absolute meltdown. Nothing tragic had happened, but because of the sugar in her system she totally overreacted and started sobbing. I calmed her down a little, and then explained to her that she was feeling so sad because of the doughnut that she just ate. I explained that the doughnut had a lot of sugar, and that when she eats a lot of sugar it makes her feel really yucky and sad. Her eyes got really big, and she thought about it for a minute, and then said, "But doughnuts taste really yummy!" I replied, "Yeah, I think they taste really yummy too! But the problem is that they taste really yummy in your mouth, but then when they go down to your tummy they make you feel really yucky, and they could make you sick later too." I know she's young, but I could really see the wheels turning as she thought about it, and she seemed to really understand the concept. The more that she understands about what foods to eat and why, the more empowered she'll be to make the right choices herself, even when I'm not there to guide her.

 

 

For the next several weeks, she'd ask this about nearly every food, "Does this have sugar in it?" Even Tristan asked a couple of times. We'd talk about nearly every food item that she saw. "Is this healthy?" "Does this have sugar in it?" "Could this make me sick?" We did a lot of talking about healthy food and unhealthy food. Then one day as we were watching tv, she saw a commercial for some kind of processed "health food". She heard the advertiser talking about how healthy the product was, and she said something like, "Look, mommy, that's a healthy food! Can we get that?" Oh boy. This is exactly what these big food companies want you to think!!! "Healthy whole grains" are not healthy! Processed food in a box or bag is not healthy! Grains and sugar with added vitamins are not healthy! These things will not nourish your body. I explained to Hayden that these foods are actually NOT healthy, but the people that make the food and the people that are on tv are lying to us, telling us that the food is healthy so that we'll buy it. She laughed, and thought that was pretty funny, and we talked about how it's not good to tell lies.

 

 

So then as we're at the grocery store, she asks, "Mom, does that check mark mean that it's healthy?" What a perfect teaching moment! I explained to her that, just like the commercials on tv, the people that make this cereal are lying to us, wanting us to think that their product is healthy when it's really not! I showed her how we could turn the cereal box around to look for ourselves at the ingredient list to see if it was healthy or not.

 

I read, "Corn, that's not healthy. Sugar- is that healthy for your body?" Hayden shook her head no. "More corn, and then corn syrup, which is just another name for sugar! More sugar! Is this sounding like something that we should eat?" Hayden: "Nope." Then I got down near the bottom of the list and started reading, "Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and other color added. Those are colors! Are we supposed to eat colors?" Hayden started laughing really hard. "Mom- that's not food!" I said, "You're right, it's not! Colors are for coloring with, like with your markers. They're not even food- why would someone want to put those in cereal and eat them?!?" We had a good laugh and decided that the cereal wasn't a good choice for us to eat.

 

 

Marketing techniques are powerful, especially the ones targeted at kids and the ones that want us to believe that anything out of a box is good for us! Don't fall for it! No matter how fun the box looks, this cereal is not a healthy choice for anyone's breakfast, much less a child's. When your child starts to ask for these types of foods, I challenge you to consider using the situation as a learning experience for your child, instead of buying it for them because the package looks exciting. Consider teaching them about how marketing works, why the food they're asking for isn't a good choice, and how to read an ingredient list for themselves. Not only will they be a little healthier now for having not eaten the food at question, but they'll have learned valuable lessons that will be useful throughout their entire lives!

 

 

 

Have you noticed your children picking up on marketing techniques? How do you handle that in your family?

Thank you, GAPS!!!

I've been on the GAPS diet for about 8 weeks now, and boy oh boy have I seen some results!!! I'm very excited about how I'm progressing. I'm still doing full GAPS- I haven't done the intro yet or added in any supplements. I do have some fermented cod liver oil on the way, and I'm planning on ordering some probiotics in the next day or two, so hopefully adding those two things will only help accelerate the healing!!!

 

One awesome change that I've seen is that my seasonal allergies have all but disappeared!!! I've had awful allergies since my teens. I couldn't even really call them seasonal because they bothered me year round. Springtime was the absolute worst though! Months at a time would go by without me being able to breathe through my nose at all. It sucked, but after so many years it was just a normal part of life for me. I'm so, so thrilled to report that I haven't struggled at all with my allergies this year- even with spring approaching(and basically in full swing here in south Texas- we've hit 90 degrees already). I'm breathing through my nose! I don't have to carry kleenex around with me wherever I go! I don't have to keep toilet paper(for blowing my nose) in every room of the house! So awesome!

I wish I'd had a tissue box this cute!
 

One of my biggest reasons that I started GAPS was to try to get a handle on my hormones/PMS/anxiety. It's been something I've dealt with for years, and it's really been a thorn in my side. A couple of years ago, I was so depressed that I could barely function. I was on the edge of being suicidal on my worst days. Now that I know what I know about GAPS, I realize that I was literally poisoning myself with my diet, and that my gut disfunction was having a direct impact on my mental health. (GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome- my gut was messed up and it was effecting me psychologically, big time!) My lowest point was just before I cut gluten out of my diet. Not only did I have a leaky gut, but I was feeding my leaky gut something that I was extremely allergic to! No wonder I felt so horrible!!!

 

I started taking a quality fish oil(Norwegian gold critical omega- I highly recommend them) and exercising, and that made enough of a difference so that I was able to function on most days. But when that time of the month rolled around? All bets were off. Seriously off. I literally felt like a crazy person whenever my hormones would start going nuts. I would get panicky. I would think horrible thoughts about myself and others. The slightest irritation would seem huge to me- things like music too loud, the kids touching me, or even anything out of place(OCD?) would be enough to almost send me over the edge. I felt like I had no control over myself. I tried really, really hard to control the way that I was feeling, and to not lash out, but it was almost impossible. Sometimes I'd just erupt- even as I was trying not to. I hated it. My family hated it too. It was like something was taking over my mind and body, and each time I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could get back to being me again.

 

Not only did I deal with that before my period started, but I dealt with it before I ovulated too. Twice a cycle I'd become a crazy person with little control over myself. It'd last for 3 or 4 days, with the last day being the worst. On top of all that, I'd had 40 day cycles for several years- 10 or 11 days longer than a normal, healthy cycle.

 

This January's cycle was unforgettable. On January 1st I cut out sugar completely. I wasn't expecting that change to dramatically shorten my cycle, but it did. So when I started getting those horrible PMS symptoms, I didn't realize what was going on. I thought I was just having a really bad couple of days. On the third day or so, I was having a really crummy day, and DH said something to me that he shouldn't have.(To his credit, it wasn't nearly as bad as my reaction.) I fell apart. I got in the shower and sobbed. I had super powerful thoughts of hurting myself. I spent half an hour in the shower trying to silence those thoughts and regain composure. I was so scared. I hadn't felt or thought that way in over a year, and I had no idea what was going on. I eventually got control of myself, and DH apologized, which helped me to feel a bit better.(I was too scared and emberassed to even tell him what had happened.) Even though the worst was past, the range of emotion I had felt was so huge that I felt like I had been hit by a truck, even the next morning. When my cycle started that evening, I was shocked! I hadn't had a 29 day cycle in about 7 years.

 

That was my last cycle before I started GAPS. My first cycle on GAPS was a bit better than that, but still pretty awful. But the second one? Big difference. First of all, I barely even noticed when I ovulated, vs. the crazy hormonal mess that ovulation used to throw at me. Three days before my period, I started to feel a little emotional. I teared up near the end of a killer Crossfit workout. I was a little irritable. Nothing too bad. The next day, I was fine. The third day, the day before my period started, things got a little worse. (This would normally be the worst day for me, the day where in January I totally lost it.) I definitely felt hormonal, irritable, and a little anxious. But I was able to keep it under control!!! It took effort, quite a bit of effort. With just about every thought, I had to consiously remind myself to calm down, that this was just PMS, and I could make it through. I'll be honest, I did yell a couple of times. But before I would have yelled, and kept yelling, and wouldn't have been able to make myself stop. But I was able to make myself stop this time, and calm down almost instantly. It was definitely still a struggle, but one I can handle! I'm hoping that things continue to improve the longer that I'm on GAPS, but even if they don't, I've at least got something I know I can handle now!!! That's a huge deal.

 

And another 29 day cycle! I've had 40 day cycles for almost 7 years now. Isn't that amazing- that after just a couple of weeks of dietary change, my cycles changed from 40 days to 29 days??? I've known that diet can make a difference in your health. But to see it with my own eyes, in my own body, and in such a dramatic way, is just amazing!!! Thank you, GAPS!!!

 

Diva cup vs. Moldy tampon?

So since I'm on the topic of vaginas.....

I've been meaning for a while to tell you about the Diva cup. I LOVE this little device. It's like the difference in wearing glasses or contacts- but for your period. It's totally changed the monthly period experience for me. I don't plan on ever going back to pads or tampons!

So what is it? The Diva cup is a flexible silicone cup that is inserted in the vagina to collect the menstrual blood. It can be left in for up to 12 hours, and can be sanitized and reused over and over. No need to keep on buying boxes and boxes of tampons! No yucky trash in your bathrooms wastebasket! No waste polluting the landfills! It costs about $30, but if you've been buying disposable products, it'll pay for itself after just a couple of cycles.

First time you've heard of the Diva cup? I know what you're thinking. Your brain's probably twitching a little bit. I remember the first time I heard about it- I think I was around 14. It was a pretty awkward time for me, and to say I was uncomfortable with my body would be a huge understatement. It was a pretty brave step for me to ask one of my mom's friends if she used pads or tampons- I thought it would be a "woman to woman" bonding moment. When she said "neither", I was totally confused. What else WAS there? I had no idea there were alternatives to pads or tampons. When she said she used a cup, I had no idea what she was talking about- and I didn't want to know!!! I'm pretty sure I tried to block that memory from my brain for several years. Thankfully I didn't, because now that I've become comfortable with my body (and all things natural living), I absolutely love using a cup!

You definitely do have to be comfortable with your body to use the Diva cup. You'll need to get familiar with how everything works up there. If you haven't become familiar with that part of your body before, I really encourage you to. It's really empowering. Why should there be a part of your body that's unknown to you? It's not weird, emberassing, gross, or awkward- it's just a part of your body! Take a little time and get to know yourself- if you're anything like me you'll be glad you did.

There is a bit of a learning curve when you first start learning to use the cup. Some people have a really hard time with it, but I actually found it pretty easy. There are lots of websites out there that will teach you different folding and insertion methods, and you can try different ones until you find out what works best for you. I honestly didn't have any trouble with it! I can insert it easily on the first try, and it's very comfortable. I've also never had a leak. The great thing is that most of the time I'm able to almost forget that I'm even on my period. You only have to change it every 12 hours(unless you have a really heavy flow), so just twice a day. Amazing!

As if I didn't already love my Diva cup enough, today I came across something that made me more thankful than ever that I've made the switch. Have you heard about the moldy tampon yet??? SO gross!!! I wonder how many women have inserted moldy tampons without even knowing it?!?! I wonder if moldy tampons have contributed to toxic shock syndrome??? I know one thing for sure- I don't ever, ever, ever want to stick something moldy inside of my VAGINA for goodness sake. I think I'm going to be a Diva cup user for life!!!

I did what with a garlic clove?

They say there's a first time for everything, and I definitely had a new experience yesterday. Actually, two new experiences.

 

***TMI alert***

 

I've never struggled with yeast infections. Ever! I'd heard all the horror stories, but never had one. Until yesterday- I woke up with the burning, the itching, and everything else that goes along with a yeast infection. It only got worse as the day went on, and I was pretty uncomfortable.

 

It didn't really seem fair- I've never had a yeast infection in my life, and now that I'm eating healthier than ever I get one??? The way it's been explained to me is that the yeast was always in my body, but I was unhealthy enough that it was comfortable living there. Now that my gut is healing, the yeast isn't comfortable anymore- and also my body has enough resources to be able to focus on getting it out of me. Add all that up, and apparently it equals a yeast infection. Fun stuff.

 

Someone suggested that I try a garlic clove since garlic has powerful anti-fungal properties. I was nervous that it was going to burn, but she assured me it wouldn't. So I peeled a clove of garlic, and yes, shoved it up my vag. And seriously, in less than an hour, I was feeling better. I left it in for about 12 hours, and by this morning, I was feeling about 90% better! Amazing!!!

 

Have you ever tried garlic for a yeast infection? Did it work for you?