Sick Kids...

I've had a couple of friends who had sick kids a lot this winter. My little girls haven't been sick very much at all. I have been thinking a lot about why that might be true. We may simply be lucky/blessed but I wonder if there is more to it.

Four reasons why I think my kids aren't sick very often:

1. Vaccinations
My little girls are on a delayed vaccination schedule. They are getting standard vaccines but at a much slower rate. The most they have gotten at once before age 4 is 2. I know this sounds counter intuitive to most of the population and popular medicine. Vaccines are supposed to keep us from getting sick right? I'm not so sure.

My theory is that the vaccines keep us from getting a few serious but now rare illnesses. I think loading up babies with vaccines early on is taxing on their little immune systems. I think they are less able to fight off the everyday bugs because their immune systems have had to work so hard against all the stuff in those vaccines. My big kids were vaccinated on schedule and we were in the doctor's office a lot. Both of my boys had so many ear infections that we almost put tubes in their ears. I very rarely have to take my little two in to see a doctor for anything other than a well visit.

2. Infrequent use of Antibiotics
Because we don't go to the doctor very much, we rarely take antibiotics. I think antibiotics kill the bacteria that are making us sick. They also kill off a lot of our good bacteria. Those good bacteria help keep us healthy. I've seen many times where you take one antibiotic and then are sick again in a few weeks and have to take more and then more not long after that. Again this is counter intuitive - could antibiotics really weaken our immune systems and cause us to be sick more often? I think yes. You might ask how we get rid of the bad things like strep and ear infections without antibiotics. The answer lies in reason #3.

3. Essential Oils - specifically doTerra essential oils
We love our essential oils. I have experience with doTerra essential oils and I believe they have superior oils to other companies. Each oil is tested to make sure it has all the compounds that should be found in that essential oil or blend. Personally I don't trust all the oils made by all the manufacturers for their healing properties.

I use oregano essential oil whenever we are sick or feel like we are getting sick. Oregano on the bottom of feet is so awesome for fighting off illness. Sometimes we take "flu bombs" which are veggie caps with 2 drops each of Melaleuca, Oregano and On-Guard. Parker was diagnosed with strep this fall. We took him to the doctor and he got amoxycillin pills. Meanwhile I fought the sickness with oils. I think he took 1-2 pills but was feeling so good with the oils that he didn't take anymore. We use oils all the time for anything that ails us. Our medical deductible is so high that we do everything we can at home before going to the doctor. Almost always we can take care of things with our oils.

4. We are not germ-a-phobes
I had a roommate one summer in college that was very conscious of germs. She changed her bath towel and wash cloth everyday. She washed her hands A LOT. She used chemicals to kill all the germs. And she happened to be one of the sickest people I knew. I think regular contact with different germs helps our body build a strong defense and we don't get sick at every little thing that enters our body.

In our house, we use soap and water a lot for cleaning. We don't use Lysol or other chemicals much. Water is by far my favorite cleaning chemical! We also do not buy any anti-bacterial products with triclosan. We sometimes drink from each other's glasses and sometimes we double-dip (but not when Bob is watching). We aren't disgusting either, we wash our hands regularly and use our own toothbrushes. : )