Life Force Families – pregnancy

by natalia | Jan 14, 2022 | Life Force Families

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CURRICULUM TOPICS FOR PREGNANCY INCLUDE:

• Common Pregnancy Myths
• Dietary Nuances for the Three Trimesters
• Ideal Daily Diet Ideas and Recipes
• Additional Pregnancy Preparation

INTRODUCTION

In the study of ancient ways, we are reminded that there are many secrets of nurturing and caring for the human body that have been lost over time. The human body, in its purest form, is designed to function perfectly, and pregnancy is one of the most awe-inspiring times to experience that perfection. There is a special, magical way to go through pregnancy and childbirth. This information has been lost over many hundreds of years, but the loss has been accelerated since the Industrial Revolution. All the untruths that we are told by the media and allopathic medicine reflect our post-Industrial Revolution age, and today we are further removed from our naturally intended state that humans have ever been. We want to remind you of the lost traditions of pregnancy and childbirth—to revive information about the most natural of human conditions.

People often talk about buying a house big enough for a family or having enough money in the bank before starting a family. However, taking care of yourself (and this is true for your partner, too) is the biggest gift you could ever give your baby. The perfect Pottery Barn crib, the organized closet of new clothes, and the exact right shade of paint are all fun things to think about, but remember, they are not important in the big picture—and they’re never worth stressing about. So stop worrying about pretty sheets and the pretty clothes. Rather, focus on what is truly important and still largely within your control: a solid foundation of health and vitality for your baby.

Relish the quiet moments and commune with your inner spirit. During this wonderful time, find joy in providing bountiful nourishment to support your baby’s development, and discover ways to envelope yourself with love and gratitude. We women have the honor of carrying life within us, and this should not be thought of as an illness or a burden, but rather a gift worth cherishing with reverence and awe.

COMMON PREGNANCY MYTHS

There are many potentially harmful myths surrounding pregnancy in our culture. We would like to expose several of the myths that pregnant women often tell themselves, and offer alternative perspectives.

Myth #1:

This is a time when I can eat whatever I want.

Alternative Perspective:

This is one of the most important times in my life to be vigilant about what goes into my body.

The purpose of vigilance here is not to be overly concerned about gaining too much weight, but to protect our bodies and those of our growing children from toxic substances. And we are not talking about the usual substances that people already make a big deal of avoiding during pregnancy, such as alcohol, cigarettes, over-the-counter drugs, and even deli meat and sushi—though we should definitely still avoid them! It is amazing that we are told to be so careful about these substances without mention of other substances that could be even more harmful to the developing fetus, such as fast food, sodas, mainstream meat and dairy products, refined sugars, and white bread and pasta. Because the toxicity in the substances we consume at this time will enter into our bloodstream and thus also the placenta, this is a time to strictly avoid anything in the Toxic and Non-Ideal categories of our Food Chart. Focus exclusively on Ideal and Transition items, and eat these to your heart’s content—with the exception of the wine, of course!

Myth #2:

I am eating for two, so I need to double my intake of food.

Alternative Perspective:

Burdening my body with over-consumption will divert energy necessary for the growth of my baby to the process of digestion.

The key here is to listen to your body, eat when you are hungry, and not to fall into the trap of overeating just because you are pregnant! Again, this is not because we are overly concerned with gaining weight while pregnant, but because we want to make sure the body has all the energy it needs to create and support the growing baby. “Eating for two” is not necessary for the health of your child and will only force your body to expend unnecessary energy on digestion. Overeating can also lead to constipation, which can be particularly problematic and uncomfortable during pregnancy.

Myth #3:

My body will never be the same again after pregnancy.

Alternative Perspective:

If I apply the concepts of this lifestyle, I’ll not only be able to get my body back after pregnancy, but I may well have an even better body than I had before!

If you live this lifestyle with consistency, you can have a much better body after pregnancy—no matter how old you are, when you get pregnant, or how many children you have. This will feel effortless for those of you who apply these principles during or before pregnancy, but the same results will also apply for those of you who adopt this way of life after pregnancy. Also, since the outcome of awakening and releasing stored toxicity and waste in the body is accumulative, you will have a better body with every month and every year that you live this way.

You do not have to accept the outcome of a matronly figure, sagging boobs, stretch marks, and aches and pains. If you take care of yourself and follow the principles laid out for you here at Life Force Families, you will easily lose the pregnancy weight, your skin tenacity will come back, and you will look better after pregnancy than you did before!

Myth #4:

If I gain more than 35 pounds, I get to keep it.

Alternative Perspective:

If I pay attention to the key elements of this cleansing lifestyle, I will gain the right amount of weight that my body needs to create a healthy child, and I’ll shed it when I don’t need it anymore.

As hard as this may be at times, it is important that you not stress about what the scale says during your pregnancy. Some women will put on 40 pounds, and others will put on 15–20 pounds. If you are a real lightweight and you eat according to this philosophy, you may still put on 40 pounds, but in any case, do not get hung up on a number! If you’re doing everything right, trust that the weight gain is necessary, that your body knows what it is doing, and that the weight will leave very easily after your baby is born.

Myth #5:

Morning sickness is a natural part of pregnancy.

Alternative Perspective:

Morning sickness is another symptom of toxic accumulation in the body, and a clean-celled body will not experience morning sickness.

Morning sickness is another common ailment that we have come to take for granted as “normal.” (Pregnant women in traditional, indigenous cultures do not experience this phenomenon.) Unfortunately, in our culture, our levels of toxicity have become so compounded that morning sickness is no longer confined just to the morning or to the first trimester.

GETTING STARTED

Pre-conception is the ideal place to begin this work, so if you have done the pre-conception cleansing, congratulations! There are a few nuances to consider during each trimester, but for the most part, you will simply continue doing what you’ve been doing to the best of your ability. You will also want to read the Birth to 5 Months section of the parenting curriculum now, in order to educate yourself on the many important and lost practices of childbirth, breastfeeding, and the early days of your child’s life.

Many of you will discover this work while you are already pregnant. Still, this is very lucky for you and for your unborn child! The good news is that you can make gentle changes now that can dramatically affect the health and well-being of your growing child. You do not want to begin an aggressive detox or cleansing program, because during pregnancy everything that goes into the bloodstream goes into the placenta. When we purposefully cleanse our bodies, large amounts of toxins enter the bloodstream. So again, if you have not been practicing the detox lifestyle until now, you should not undertake a dramatic detox program during pregnancy!

The best place to start is with an assessment of your current toxicity level by taking the adult Assessment Survey. Incorporate the transition ideas for your detox level and make sure to stay within your level. For example, if you score as a Crawler, do not try to Run! Use the assessment to determine where you are, make the suggested changes within that level, and wait until post-pregnancy to consider moving up a level.

Note: If you ate animal products twice a day pre-pregnancy, try eating it once every other day during pregnancy. Strictly avoid all mainstream meat products as listed in the Toxic category of our Food Chart and focus more on the goat and sheep cheeses. Remember that mainstream flesh products are laden with hormones and antibiotics and these will be absorbed directly into your bloodstream and will reach your growing baby. If you chose to eat meat, make sure all animal consumption is properly combined, and only consume grass-fed, free-range land animals and the highest-quality wild fish (avoid tuna, mackerel, and swordfish).

THE THREE TRIMESTERS

Although the fundamental principles of this lifestyle remain constant throughout pregnancy, the three trimesters mark significant changes in the development of the fetus, and with these changes there are dietary nuances that you will want to consider.

The First Trimester

If your vegetable juices are putting you off in the first trimester (this can be common)—do not force yourself to drink them. Most likely, you will enjoy your green juice again in the second and third trimesters, so do not worry about this temporary change. In the meantime, you may want to consider taking Sun Chlorella tablets to get your daily dose of “synthesized sunlight.”

A vegetable rendition that many women find appealing in the first trimester is a juice more heavily based on carrots. You can either enjoy carrot juice alone or with additional ingredients like beets, apple, and ginger (add romaine if you can stomach it). The key is to find something you enjoy that sits well. But again, if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it! Instead, if you are hungry in the morning, enjoy fresh fruit or high-quality grains (see below for more tips and ideas).

Pregnancy is not a time to worry about juicing until lunch, nor is it advisable to juice until dinner. Once you’re ready for something more than juice in the morning, you will probably find fruits very appealing. And if you need something more, consider an organic free-range egg omelet with a green salad or your favorite high-quality, sprouted- or whole-grain bread product. A good option would be Ezekiel’s sprouted-grain bread toasted with butter and honey, or Suzie’s Kamut or spelt rice cake with slices of avocado or topped with raw almond butter and raw honey. Arrowhead Mills offers a great Puffed Kamut cereal that is wonderful with almond milk. See below for more ideas and peruse the Pregnancy Must-Have Shopping List.

If you find that raw salads are not appealing to you in the first trimester, do not stress! You will have plenty of time to eat raw salads later in your pregnancy. For some women, this lack of desire for raw vegetables and juices is the biggest roadblock during the first trimester. However, if you can just focus on the highest-quality root vegetables (e.g., such as baked winter squashes) and the highest-quality grains (e.g.,quinoa, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, and spelt) you will be doing just fine.

Because the first trimester is such a delicate time, it is extremely important to listen to your body and trust in its wisdom. If you lack interest in raw vegetables at this time, it may be your body’s way of protecting you from potentially harmful microbes in the soil.

Note: As a general rule, take precautions against foot massages in the first trimester. There are pressure points around the Achilles (back of the foot) that are linked to the ovaries and you do not want to trigger any undesirable activity.

Second and Third Trimesters

The keys to a healthy and radiant pregnancy in the second and third trimesters are eating as much hydrating foods as possible (raw fruits and vegetables), juicing, and Quick-Exit Combinations. Incorporating hydrating foods and juicing will be easier during this time; you should start to feel better and you will most likely be able to incorporate your green vegetable juice and raw salads again. The enzymes in your hydrating fruits, vegetables, and juices will help you break down the food and anything else that is stuck in your system.

Constipation is one of the most common events in the body during pregnancy because the growing womb is pushing against the digestive organs, resulting in less space; therefore, food combining becomes especially important during this time. Constipation can be especially problematic during pregnancy because it backs up the whole system—this not only creates discomfort for you, but also creates blockages that make it difficult for your body to deliver nutrients and other substances that are of use to the baby. You need to keep things moving, and the best way to do that is to make sure you’re eating hydrating foods in quick-exit combinations, and that you’re getting plenty of vegetable juices.

However, when faced with a choice between a quick-exit food combination and the quality of the food you consume, quality should take priority. If no other options are available, make the highest-quality choice and then do your best to properly combine that food.

The second and third trimesters are also the time when brain development is at its peak, thus this is the only time (in addition to nursing*) that we recommend consuming oils for therapeutic purposes. These oils are very important for healthy brain growth, and you should make an effort to consume them daily. Remember, if you do not consume the necessary nutrients for your baby’s growth, your baby will leach what it needs from stores in your body. Research studies have shown that women who have many children actually score lower on IQ tests, and this is believed to be the result of fatty matter being leached from the brain during pregnancy. So protect your intelligence and supplement with oils at this time! Your best choices for oil supplementation are cold-pressed extra virgin olive or flaxseed oils. The Udo’s Oil brand is also perfect for pregnancy—so go ahead and put this or any other cold-pressed oil on your salad or mix it in with your meals.

*We also recommend the therapeutic use of oils during nursing, as brain and eye development also peak at this time. A baby’s ability to get this essential oil from mother’s milk is another key reason why mother’s milk is the ideal food for infants. Since 2002, infant formula manufacturers in the United States have produced and sold products fortified with docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid (DHA/ARA). These polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are important components of the human brain and eyes and are naturally present in human breast milk. Since breast milk is the gold standard for infant nutrition, the addition of DHA and ARA in infant formula would in theory be beneficial. However, these supplemented oils provide DHA and ARA in forms that are structurally different from those naturally found in human milk. These oils appear to be added to infant formula primarily as a marketing tool designed to convince parents that formula is now “as close as ever to breast milk.” However, their safety has not been affirmed and there is sufficient evidence to suggest that they may be very harmful. Click here for more information on this topic.

IDEAL EATING IDEAS WHILE PREGNANT

1. Water

We recommend you start your day with pure water instead of jumping right into your juice, because when water is consumed on an empty stomach, it can go directly into the cells. If you are thirsty later in the day, have water later too, but water should be the first thing to enter your body in the morning.

Drink as much pure water as you desire. This is a time to be drinking really high-quality water—ideally, spring water in glass bottles. However, we recognize that pure spring water is difficult to come by these days! Other fine choices include reverse osmosis water like Smartwater or Essentia. Also keep in mind that if you are following this lifestyle, you are consuming water-rich salads, fruits, vegetables and their juices all day long, all of which contain large amounts of water to keep you hydrated.

2. Fresh Vegetable Juice

Have as much fresh vegetable juice as you had during the pre-conception cleanse or as much as your body is used to. If you are new to this lifestyle, you can consume between 12 and 24 ounces per day. If you have been doing the pre-conception cleanse for some time, you can have up to 32 to 64 ounces of juice daily. Again, only do what feels right and do not force anything. It is OK to add fruit to your vegetable juice if you need or want the sweetness.

3. Mid-morning Snack

Between your juice and your lunch, it is fine to consume fresh fruit and, if necessary, a high-quality cereal. As discussed above, and especially in the first trimester, some pregnant women immediately gravitate toward starch. If you are craving starchy foods in the morning, go ahead and consume them, but make sure you keep really high-quality starches on hand, such as Alvarado St. Bakery and Ezekiel sprouted grains. Cereal options include anything by Health Valley, Nature’s Path, Cascadian Farms, New Morning, or Barbara’s Bakery. These cereals are made of all-natural, high-quality grains.

Many pregnant women crave granola, but mainstream granola is normally miscombined, by mixing nuts and grains. However, if it’s granola you crave, you can try raw granola by one of the many raw food companies (we especially like Lydia’s apple-cinnamon granola or Go Raw!) The raw granolas are normally made exclusively with nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, so they are properly combined and easier to digest. Enjoy your raw granola with almond milk, agave nectar, and sliced bananas for a fabulous treat!

Remember to use a high-quality nut, brown rice, or coconut milk on your cereal. Pregnancy is a time when it is particularly important to avoid cow’s milk, as it will create constipation and a clogged environment for your growing baby.

4. Midday Meal

If you are already eating a diet that is mainly raw until dinner and that still feels good to you, by all means, continue what you are doing! For those who were not eating raw until dinner during pre-conception, or who no longer feel satisfied eating this way, always begin your daytime meal with a raw salad but follow it with a cooked component. See below for some examples of great foods to enjoy during your daytime meal. Remember, if you eat a neutral salad, you can follow it with any of the options below!

Starch-Based Raw Salad followed by:

• • Sprouted-grain bagel with butter and raw organic honey
  • Big, thick avocado sandwich on sprouted-grain bread with tomatoes, lettuce, and sprouts (Pregnant women are technically supposed to avoid sprouts, but if you buy them organic and from a trusted source, they are probably OK.)
  • Non-soy veggie burger (Sunshine Burgers taste wonderful and are the cleanest veggie burgers that we have found) on a sprouted-grain bun. (Avoid all soy-based veggie burgers.)
  • Baked yams or sweet potatoes with organic butter, sea salt, and pepper

Nut/Seed-Based Salad followed by:

• • • Raw granola – Lydia’s Apple Cinnamon flavor is amazing but any properly combined raw granola will do (we also like Go Raw!)! (If you had a big raw salad with tahini dressing, follow it with granola, almond milk, sliced bananas, and agave nectar.)

Goat Cheese Salad followed by:

• • • Steamed veggies with marinara sauce and goat cheese
    • Any high-quality fish
    • Free-range, organic eggs

5. Mid-afternoon Snack

If you want an afternoon snack, simply remember the Quick-Exit Combination rules. To keep things simple, one suggestion is to eat more of what you had for lunch as your snack. Blended soups are great in the afternoon. Another idea is to make a delicious, healthy shake for yourself. Any high-quality, well-combined foods as a snack are fine.

6. Evening Meal

You can enjoy your heaviest meal of the day at dinner. After a heavy meal, all of your energy goes to the stomach for digestion, resulting in overall sluggishness (hence, the famed “food coma” that follows Thanksgiving dinner!). It is most ideal to consume your largest meal at the end of the day when you don’t need as much energy for grocery shopping, working at your desk, or playing with the kids at the park. Therefore, anything in the Ideal or Transition categories of the Food Chart is fine for dinner, as long as it is well combined and begins with a fresh raw salad. Check out our Recipe Section for some great ideas – you can search for recipes that taste especially good during pregnancy here!

7. Dessert

Enjoy any of the desserts in our Recipes section or enjoy some high-quality 70% or more dark chocolate (Endangered Species is a good choice!) When it comes to dessert, just remember your food-combining rules and do not change food categories or have a fruit-based dessert until at least 3 hours after dinner.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Remember not to start anything new when you are pregnant—this includes new types of exercises, colonics if you have not had them before, and a drastically new diet.

• During the last months of pregnancy, you can actually begin the important process of bonding with your child. You may want to hum your favorite tune, play a beautiful song, or say a phrase over and over at this time—and then repeat them during and immediately following birth as well. Because your baby can hear you from inside the womb, these familiar sounds will help to orient your baby quickly to his or her new surroundings.

It is important to feel empowered and to understand that whatever you expose your baby to in the womb will make a difference. A baby in a womb, like any other form of budding life, will naturally absorb and synthesize elements from its surroundings—including the nutrients from the foods you eat, your attitudes and emotions, as well as those of the people around you, and the music you are listening to. Such environmental factors have an amplified effect on life at this particular stage of development. We often talk about protecting our children once they are born, but it is equally important to protect the fetus.

Remember that you are bringing huge amounts of vitality into your system for your baby to utilize. Be joyful about the process and make it as convenient, pleasurable, and stress-free as you can! Stress is counterproductive and just as acidic as the noxious products we are working so hard to avoid. Rather than create stress in your life, dig deeply into yourself and know that you have the wisdom and love within you to do whatever it takes to keep your baby safe. Find your inner “mama bear” and protect your child with strength and confidence. You have been called upon to provide a safe haven for precious new life, and this is a great honor.

In preparation for the big day, meditation and an overall quieting of the mind can help tune you into your body and your baby’s natural signals. When you are fearful about the process of delivery, remind yourself that there are millions of years of biological coding built into your genes: you know what to do, you have the strength to do it, and you need only listen to your body and follow its lead. Anticipate the love, joy, and exhilaration you will experience when you bring your baby into the world.

• For more Life Force Families content, click here 

Life Force Families – birth to 5 months

by natalia | Jan 14, 2022 | Life Force Families

Download this page as a PDF (to come)

CURRICULUM TOPICS FOR BIRTH TO 5 MONTHS INCLUDE:

• The Flaws in our Modern Birthing Approach
• Stage Specific Recommended Reading and Media
• Pitocin Related Issues
• Birthing Options
• Essential Exchanges Immediately Following Birth
• The First 100 Days
• Co-Sleeping
• Breast-feeding (Feeding on Demand and Breast Feeding Frequency/Timeline)
• When and How to Introduce the Breast Pump
• The Ideal Diet for Abundant Breast Milk
• Options for Women Who Cannot Breast-feed
• Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss
• Pacifiers
• Well Visits

“We must rekindle our knowing of a personal power that can flow with the power of all things and never be exhausted. We must rekindle a faith in a life system that is our matrix and designed to support us. Only through faith in yourself and in your own life can you respond to a new life given you (either your offspring or your own lost self) according to the needs of that new life.”

—from Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce

Humans are remarkably made, complete with our perfect ability to reproduce. However, with modern civilization has come a tragic detour away from the three million years of successful human evolution and away from natural birthing methods. Ever since we removed ourselves from the bosom of Mother Nature, we set into motion a series of events that have compromised our bodies and the development of our children’s bodies. Believing we could improve upon nature was the original mistake. There is no better example of this than the modern process of giving birth.

Modern obstetrics and hospitals have capitalized on the fear and demand around this critical time and replaced it with a system of birth that conflicts with the natural process. Ironically, our “civilized” lifestyles have created compromised individuals who depend on modern medicine to save them from the myriad affronts of modern living. When birth, a totally non-medical event, comes along, modern medicine is immediately sought out. It is the norm today, but that has not always been the case. Up until very recently (the last fifty years, give or take) women gave birth at home, with the aid of midwives. Prior to that, women gave birth on their own, much as wild animals do—in a warm, safe place, usually away from the group, out in nature. We are not suggesting that you forgo medical birth if that does not feel right to you, but we would like to offer you another perspective.

Today, pregnancy and birth are treated as illnesses rather than as completely normal stages of life. As such, the magic of delivering life has been almost completely lost. The practices we follow in the birthing chamber overlook several critical biological (and spiritual) exchanges between mother and child—fundamental building blocks of a baby’s development. We must not dismiss the importance of these exchanges out of arrogance, ignorance, and a sense of technological superiority. We cannot dismiss them and expect health and harmony.

Much of the content in this section is based on traditional indigenous wisdom, the kind that worked for humankind for three million years. We would not be here today if it did not work. Many of these practices have been lost over time, particularly with the decimation of indigenous peoples. You will not read about these practices in mainstream parenting books. Some of the suggestions may seem subtle and nuanced, but we urge you to consider each detail. We included it because we believe it’s an essential part of cultivating the most advantageous life experience for you, your partner, and your baby.

If you and your child are already past this stage and many of the practices we discuss are new to you, do not panic or blame yourself for coming to this information too late. This information has been out of mainstream circulation, and it’s never too late to make meaningful improvements to your parenting methods. Our parents were not raised with this knowledge. Therefore, much healing and understanding is required of all of us, and awareness is the first step in the right direction.

NATURE’S BABIES

Did you know that in indigenous cultures, it has been documented that babies smile as early as four days after delivery? By contrast, babies in our culture typically begin to smile only after 2 to 2½ months after delivery! Indigenous babies rarely cry; they sleep a fraction of the time that babies in our culture do during the day; and they can sit up, head and back erect, with only gentle assistance on their forearms at two days old! What accounts for the dramatic difference between these babies and ours? The answer is complex but lies within the difference between what we consider normal during childbirth and early infancy and nature’s plan.

Recommended Reading and Viewing

Birth and the developmental stages immediately following birth are complex, and parenting decisions during this time are very personal. In this section, we introduce important concepts and highlight practical applications, but we also urge you to continue your own education. The following books are a great place to start: The Tibetan Art of Parenting by Brown, Farwell, and Nyerongsha; Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce, and The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff. We also recommend the documentary, The Business of Being Born, which you can order from our store or online at www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com (this secures the movie for you for 24 hours). The website also offers an online resource for birthing options and a directory of midwives.

THE TYPICAL CHAIN OF EVENTS IN MODERN CHILDBIRTH

Birthing females in nature seek a dark, quiet, familiar, and safe place to deliver their offspring. This comfortable environment facilitates relaxation and allows the female to harness her power and focus exclusively on the task of bringing a new life into the world. By contrast, when we in the modern world go into labor, most of us enter a busy, bright, and sterile hospital. Upon entry into this unfamiliar and overwhelming place, our body senses danger and shuts down or significantly slows the labor process. This clearly works against our birthing process and initiates a vicious cycle of unnecessary interventions. What should be a very seamless birth turns into a complicated array of procedures.

Some lucky women give birth easily despite this unnatural chain of events. However, for the majority, there is a fairly predictable snowball effect that takes place. If the birth is scheduled (which is increasingly common, even in the case of vaginal birth) the birthing process is triggered by breaking the water. Next, the mother is given a drug called Pitocin to mimic oxytocin, the natural hormone that stimulates contractions. If labor is in progress when the mother enters the hospital, the hospital setting will interfere with the birthing mother’s instincts and the whole process will stall. Pitocin is then used to recommence labor. Either way, Pitocin is typically used to induce the labor. This would not be necessary if the labor took place in a conducive environment at the right time.

It’s important to understand that Pitocin results in increased contractions and pain levels, but does not necessarily speed up the dilation process. Therefore, labor with Pitocin is typically abnormally painful and lengthy, resulting in the almost inevitable need for an epidural. The epidural gives some relief from the exaggerated pain the woman experiences from the Pitocin but again slows down contractions, resulting in the re-administration of Pitocin to speed them up again. This vicious cycle continues and frequently results in a cesarean section.

The use of drugs and surgery are sometimes very necessary to save the mother or the baby. However, in an alarming number of cases the drugs are used out of convenience and as a reactionary measure to remedy the previous interventions rather than as a necessary savior for mother and baby. Educate yourself about your options so you can be fully aware of the possible side effects of any intervention that you may need to consider during labor.

With all of this said, we want you to know that there are no judgments here. Whether you decide to give birth in a hospital or at home, whether you take an epidural or choose not to use drugs, we want you to know that you have a choice, that there are many options for childbirth, and we want you to feel empowered to make the decisions that are best for you and your family.

For more on this subject, we highly recommend you read “The Truth About Pitocin” by Elaine Stillerman at Massage Today online.

THE BIRTH PLAN

A birthing plan is an outline of what you would like to see happen during labor and delivery. While it is certainly a good idea to think about how you want the birth process to unfold, it is also important to have realistic expectations. For example, it is unrealistic for a woman who has gone through pregnancy on the Standard American Diet to go into a mainstream hospital expecting to have a vaginal, drug-free birth. It is unfair for this woman to hold herself to these ideals and consider herself a failure when things do not go as planned. Expecting to have a natural birth under the typical circumstances in a hospital setting is not realistic.

Options outside of the typical hospital setting include birthing centers, hospital birthing centers, and home births. Different birthing techniques include water births, silent births, hypnobirths, and births with a doula. If you are considering using a midwife or a doula, it is important that you do your research because, as with anything, there are some that are better than others. In the near future, we will have resources here to assist you in your search. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions that may help others in their search for the right option for them, please do not hesitate to share them with us!

FACING THE FEAR OF CHILDBIRTH

It is completely natural to be afraid of the unfamiliar experience that lies ahead of you. How could you not be afraid? Most of what we know about delivery we have learned from Hollywood, and the stories of childbirth are normally entirely focused on the negative. Facing fear, understanding that we cannot control everything, and learning to embrace the unknown are among the first of many humbling lessons of motherhood.

ESSENTIAL EXCHANGES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING BIRTH

Upon birth, before anything else occurs, the baby should be placed skin-to-skin on the mother’s breast with the head near and facing the nipple. Unless there is an emergency, this should happen before anything else takes place—before the cord is cut and before the baby is cleaned, weighed, and fingerprinted. The umbilical cord should be left alone as long as there is any activity detectable in it. This has been a long-held practice that is almost invariably ignored by doctors today. Cutting the cord too soon can exacerbate the baby’s difficulty in catching its breath in those first critical moments. The importance of skin-to-skin contact at this point cannot be underscored enough! If you are wearing a hospital gown, make sure that it is removed immediately so your baby can be placed on your bare skin.

What is remarkable about this first skin-to-skin moment is that if the baby is placed close to the nipple, the baby will be attracted to the scent, find the nipple, latch on, and start to suck. The perfect latch is instinctual! Establishing the sucking response in that moment will help you avoid the common issues many modern women have with breast-feeding (e.g., establishing a good latch, bleeding nipples, “tongue-tied” babies, and mastitis). So much happens in that moment! It is what scientists call imprinting. Pheromones are exchanged and a deep bond is formed between you and your baby: you breathe in each other’s scent, the risk of hemorrhage is greatly reduced, and the body releases oxytocin, which stimulates the uterine contractions necessary to release the placenta.

The second critical moment is for your partner and your baby. After your skin-to-skin bonding moment with the baby, your partner should remove his or her shirt and hold the baby chest-to-chest. Again, in this moment, pheromones are exchanged and an instinctual, primal connection is established between your baby and your partner. If possible, your partner can wrap a blanket around the baby and him or herself and spend a few very special moments this way.

Your baby will be covered in vernix caseosa (a natural white substance that protects the baby’s skin and aids immunity), which should sit on the skin for as long as possible and can be used to provide the baby with a continual, gentle massage. This massage is extremely comforting for the baby and can actually assist in sensory development.

If you have given birth in a hospital setting, your baby will be whisked away to get measured and weighed. Your partner should go with your baby and continue to speak so the baby can hear his or her voice. This is an overwhelming moment for the infant just entering the world, so the soothing and familiar voice of your partner will put your baby at ease.

DID YOU KNOW?

For the critical transition period from the mother’s to the baby’s oxygen supply, the placenta contains approximately 30 percent of the infant’s blood and oxygen supply in reserve. Nature provides roughly 26 inches of umbilical cord so the baby can exit the womb but remain in constant contact with this reserve supply. The umbilical cord is the perfect length, in fact, for the infant to be clasped to the mother’s breast without breaking the connection with the placenta’s vital oxygen reserves. Mother Nature thought of it all!

Note: If you are giving birth in a hospital setting, having a friend or doula with you who clearly understands your preferences for the critical moments after birth can be very helpful. You and your partner will be overcome with emotions, and the last thing you’ll want to worry about is arguing with the doctors and nurses. The doula can ensure your wishes are met during this time.

“ROOMING IN”

If in the hospital, you will be given the option of having your baby sleep either in the nursery or in the room with you. For a few key reasons, we highly recommend “rooming in” with your new baby. First, immediately after birth (and for approximately 100 days after birth), the baby still thinks he or she is a part of you and wants to be as close to you as possible. Your baby will probably spend a lot of time on your chest sleeping and cuddling. This is the most sacred time and one of the sweetest moments in life for both mother and child.

The second reason rooming in is so important is because, even if instructed not to, nurses are likely to give your baby formula and/or sugar water to keep him or her happy and quiet in the nursery. This varies from hospital to hospital, but with long, late night shifts and anywhere between eight and fifteen babies in the nursery, the nurses are generally exhausted and will do whatever is necessary in order to keep themselves sane. However, ensuring that your baby receives 100 percent breast milk is of utmost importance at this time! Your body produces a substance called colostrum for the first 24 to 48 hours after birth. Colostrum serves to seed the “good flora” in the intestine and sets the stage for proper digestion and elimination for the rest of your child’s life. The colostrum is also the carrier of all the mother’s immunities into baby. You only produce colostrum for a brief time, so you only have a limited number of feedings to make sure your baby gets all of the colostrum it needs. It is imperative that you do not miss any of these early feedings!

It can be very helpful to have someone there with you during those first few nights. If your partner cannot join you for whatever reason, it is a good idea to ask a friend, family member, or hired caregiver to stay with you. Even if you did not have many drugs during the birth process, the experience can make you feel woozy and tired, and it is extremely helpful to have someone there to help you with the baby.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS

After the incredible closeness the mother and baby experience while the baby is in the womb, a soft and safe landing into the mother’s warm and welcoming arms is necessary to ease the transition for them both. The sight, smell, feel, taste, and sound of the mother is all the baby knows as he or she emerges from the womb. This first 100 days following birth is one of the most critical and impressionistic times of a person’s life. Because these are the first experiences, the baby has no point of comparison, no additional factors to consider when evaluating the surroundings, so the baby takes in his or her experiences directly, without any filter. The adjustment from the soft, warm, enveloping world from which the baby just emerged is a shocking one, but our evolutionary history has prepared us for this and the baby is ready to make this leap, to take his or her place in the warmth, safety, and security of the mother’s arms.

However, what our evolutionary history has not prepared us for is a giant leap into a world where we are surrounded by synthetic materials, fluorescent lighting, lifeless toys, plastic bottles, inertness, and chemical smells. What qualifies as a “normal” environment for newborns today is in stark contrast with the more natural, intimate kinds of environments for newborns that have served human evolution for millions of years. This violent contrast between the baby’s experience in the womb and its introduction to our manufactured world may understandably result in postpartum depression for the new mother as well as agony and confusion for the baby.

Taking cues from ancient cultures and tribal communities, there are steps we can take to get closer to nature’s intended transition from womb to world. These include the in-arms period, co-sleeping, and breast-feeding on demand. Often, people carry prejudices, stereotypes, and criticisms against these practices. If this is true of you, we ask that you try to keep an open mind and weigh your opinions more carefully. Are these your authentic opinions or the voices of others? Do you have preconceived negative images and associations with the “type of people” who do these things? Where do these images come from? Ask yourself these questions as you take in information and form judgments, and, as always, listen to your heart and do what feels right for you and for your growing family.

THE IN-ARMS PERIOD

For millions of years, newborns were held close to their mothers from the moment they emerged from the womb. Of course, many babies in our modern society have been deprived of this, but that does not mean the mother’s and baby’s natural instinct and desire for this closeness has changed. For millions of years preceding “civilized” culture (and in some tribal communities today), an infant’s life was in full swing from the time he or she emerged into the world. Although asleep a lot of the time, a baby grew accustomed to the mother’s voice, smells, motions, rhythms, textures, temperature, and the overall feeling of safety that comes with being held against the body. A baby felt included, comforted, and cared for, as if his or her signals were telepathically communicated and received. In this mother-and-child dance of unity, the baby was able to engage with its new environment, to learn about it from a place of safety and security.

The 100-day in-arms period helps to establish a feeling of security, peace, and harmony for the baby. These first 100 days set a solid foundation for the baby’s conception of the world, which the baby will use to evaluate his or her place in the world throughout his or her life.

One concern that’s commonly raised is that if we give a newborn baby too much attention, this will prevent him or her from becoming independent and self-reliant. On the contrary, a sufficient in-arms phase will bolster a child’s confidence and sense of security such that he or she feels safe enough to explore the world. A baby uses this time to observe the surroundings before interacting with them, and this observation period helps to prepare the baby for independent interaction at the next stage of development.

However, the manner in which we approach the in-arms phase is important to consider. This phase is not one in which the child is consistently the center of attention. On the contrary, it is one in which the baby is simply present, in the midst of normal life and activity. From this vantage point, your baby learns about your world (not a contrived world centered exclusively around him or her), constantly observing and experiencing life with you. Your baby absorbs experiences of the “real” world, not a manufactured world in which adults are bored out of their minds and babies are given plastic imitations of adult tools to play with.

A baby is instinctively curious and wonderfully receptive to the world. A baby wants to be exposed to all that is LIFE! Walks, parties, quiet time, nature, siblings, cooking, swimming—a baby wants to experience all of these things authentically, from the safety of your arms at first. With increased exposure to these positive experiences, a baby will become confident and secure in his or her ability to interact with these situations and will naturally begin to explore on his or her own.

In addition, “in arms” can actually mean in a sling or any other type of baby carrier worn against the front or the back. Traditionally, babies were usually carried on the back. In African cultures today, babies are still carried on the back in a cloth sling wrapped around the mother’s waist. In fact, many African nannies carry the babies they care for this way. Natalia recalls: “I learned first-hand to carry my babies this way when my daughter was born, affording me so much flexibility—allowing me to go about nearly all of my business and housework without ever putting her down. I used to run errands up and down the streets of Manhattan with Thandi and Tommy on my back, with them wrapped against me, using nothing more elaborate than a sarong.” Carrying your baby on your back frees up your hands so you have your full range of movements and activities available to you. Again, this period is not one in which life should stop or drastically change—we urge you to continue living your life fully with your baby now a part of the experience.

With all of this said, we understand that our societal structures do not create the most conducive situations for everyone to fully embrace the first 100-day in-arms period. We understand that everyone’s situation is unique, so implement this to the extent that you are able; the first 100 days, 30 days, or 5 days of consistent physical closeness with your baby will make all the difference in his or her development. Also note that the baby does not have to be solely in the mother’s arms; time spent in the father’s arms, grandmother’s arms, or the arms of a loving caretaker is also invaluable.

So get yourself a good sling, Ergo or Baby Bjorn or find someone who can teach you to wrap your baby against you with a towel or sarong, and make sure you or someone else is carrying that new baby as much possible!

Note: All babies do not need the same amount of time in-arms, but it should always be offered. Some babies will thrive only if given plenty of in-arms time; others will not need as much. Let your baby be your guide and determine for him/herself when separation is desirable.

CO-SLEEPING

A natural extension of the in-arms phase includes co-sleeping. Progressing from day to night does not need to break the bond a baby has with his or her family. At night, a baby is still learning and experiencing the world—the soft (or not so soft!) sound of your breathing, the warmth of your skin, the movements made throughout the night—these are all just an extension of the many experiences that your baby absorbs during the day. The transition from day into night should not be jarring but seamless. Co-sleeping may seem radical or extreme, but considering our millions of years of evolution, what is actually radical is our abrupt departure from this long-established norm of human experience.

Co-sleeping can dramatically diffuse the issue of exhaustion that many new parents experience. If your baby is in bed with you and you sleep topless, your baby can find your breast during the night and feed whenever necessary, barely waking you at all. No need to drag yourself out of bed to the baby’s room, heat up a bottle, or sit in a rocking chair—simply stay bundled in bed and allow your baby to feed as you sleep!

New parents are often concerned that they may roll over on the sleeping infant beside them or smother them with their blankets. However, a sleeping person is not completely unaware or in a coma unless they are extremely intoxicated, heavily drugged, or ill. It is well established that a sober mother will not roll over on her baby (fathers may not be as sensitive, so it is worth considering your partner’s sleeping behaviors). If you are anxious about co-sleeping, a bassinet next to the bed is a good alternative. Although your baby’s sense of touch will not be as stimulated, he or she will still hear and smell you and feel safer here than in another room.

We are often surprised and confused when a baby cries incessantly when placed in a beautiful crib in a beautiful room so carefully prepared for them. However, when placed in that room, separated from the parents (especially at night), a baby feels alone and far from everything he or she knows. Again, during the first 100 days of life, a baby still feels like one with mommy, and any separation can be excruciating.

When the in-arms period is fulfilled and your baby is ready (normally between 1 and 3 years), he or she will express a desire for a separate bed. It is a good idea to continue co-sleeping for as long as the arrangement works for the family. If your baby is happy to nap in the crib or bassinet, you may find that’s a great segue to solitary sleeping and occasionally try it at night. You might find your baby makes the transition earlier than you were expecting. There’s no telling how independent a baby brought into the world like this can be. Such babies are wired to feel safe, protected, and fulfilled. In fact, as brilliantly documented in Jean Liedloff’s The Continuum Concept, these babies are extremely confident and do not throw fits when it comes time to leave them with a caregiver or try something new.

Lastly, people often worry about their sex life during this time of co-sleeping. If you worry about this, too, let us remind you that there are no rules that confine sex to the bedroom! Find another comfortable space in your home and enjoy the change of scenery!

BREAST-FEEDING

“There is no evidence that God made a mistake when he constructed breasts that don’t yield Similac or Enfamil. Unfortunately, many pediatricians don’t seem to believe that, so if you are breastfeeding your baby and his weight gain does not match the charts, your doctor is likely to insist on switching him to formula. That’s bad for you and worse for your child.”

—How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, Robert Mendelsohn, MD

The decision to breast-feed your infant is one that will stay with your child long after the first year or two of life. In addition to the physiological bonding that breast-feeding facilitates between mother and child, breast-feeding has proven benefits for the development and health of your child. Some benefits to point out include:

• Higher IQ scores later in childhood
• Enhanced neuro-developmental performance
• Lower incidence of the following conditions: allergies and asthma, bacteremia and meningitis, childhood lymphoma, chronic constipation, diabetes, gastrointestinal infections, infantile eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, iron deficiency anemia, lower respiratory tract infections, sudden infant death syndrome, and urinary tract infections.

Despite the fact that pediatricians put their stamp of approval on commercial formulas, there is simply no substitute for breast milk. Perhaps the most important difference between formula and breast milk is the effect the latter has on brain development. Breast milk contains long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA), which are essential for brain development. Recognizing this, formula manufacturers have begun to include synthetic variations of DHA and ARA, touting that infant formula is now as “close to breast milk as ever.” However, the supplemented DHA and ARA do not function the same in a baby’s body as do the natural forms, and there is now evidence that the addition of DHA and ARA may actually be dangerous to the health of a growing baby. Again, at the end of the day, there is simply no substitute for the perfect “cocktail” of vitamins and nutrients that Mother Nature has created in breast milk. To learn more on this topic, click here.

There are also physical advantages for the mother that should not be discounted. Not only will your baby thrive on the milk you provide when adhering to the diet principles of Life Force Families, but you will also attain the best shape of your life. Breast-feeding will help make both of you vibrant and healthy, and is quite possibly a mother’s best tool in raising a truly joyful child.

With all this said, there are several tricks of the trade that will make your breast-feeding experience flawlessly enjoyable!

Nursing On Demand

Most doctors, nurses, and mainstream parenting books assert that you need to get your baby on an “every three hours” feeding schedule. However, forcing your baby into a three-hour feeding schedule before he or she is ready for it is a recipe for stress and insufficient breast-milk production, and it normally results in the need for supplementation. The most important thing to remember about nursing is that it is all about supply and demand. A suckling baby is not merely taking in what he/she needs to nourish the body today, but is literally preparing the mother’s body for his/her growing needs tomorrow. A suckling baby is sending the mother’s mammary glands the message to make more milk tomorrow than they made today, because the baby will be bigger tomorrow! Genius, isn’t it?!

It may seem like your baby is endlessly hungry and you may wonder if something is wrong, but this is really an effective process of demanding milk now so the supply is there tomorrow. Therefore, let your baby direct the frequency and duration of feedings, especially in the first 8 to 12 weeks, when the milk supply is being fully established. Trust nature and have faith that your baby knows best and is working hard to establish the necessary milk supply for his/her growing body.

Feeding on demand can be challenging in the first several weeks, as you will probably feel like your baby is permanently attached to your nipple! You will spend what seems like countless hours on the couch or on the bed nursing. If you are not mentally prepared for this time, it may be difficult for you. However, if you are mentally prepared to feed around the clock in those early days, it probably won’t be as difficult as you expect! When else do you get to lounge around all day and completely relax? Enjoy these quiet times with your new baby, as they will likely become some of your fondest, most precious memories.

Remember, the frequency of feedings is only intense in the early weeks when your baby’s stomach is so small. (One of the main reasons a baby cannot feed every three hours from the very beginning is that a baby’s stomach is too small to hold the amount of milk that would be necessary to provide three hours of satiation.) Breast-feeding on demand requires such a small sacrifice of time in the grand scheme of your life, yet is invaluable and will pay off continually throughout your child’s development. Find someone else to do the laundry and answer your e-mails. It’s a few weeks for a lifetime of gain! Anyone can do your chores. Only you can nurse your baby.

Breast-feeding will definitely get easier and easier with time. Once the milk supply is established, you and your baby will fall into a very predictable and easy feeding schedule. After about three months, breastfeeding will end up being a pleasant experience all the way through weaning.

Approximate Frequency and Timelines for Breast-feeding

• 2–4 weeks = up to 10–14 feedings per day*
• 4–8 weeks = 8–12 feedings per day*
• 8–12 weeks = 8–10 feedings per day (should be getting close to every 2–3 hours)
• 3–8 months = 5–6 feedings per day
• 8–12 months = 2–3 feedings per day
• Beyond 12 months = 1–2 feedings per day

*If the baby naturally transitions to feeding every three hours before the specified timelines, how wonderful for you and your baby! However, this is not typical, so be prepared to feed more often for a period of time. Your baby will be able to maintain a three-hour schedule when his or her stomach gets large enough.

Introducing the Breast Pump

Introducing the breast pump too early can compromise milk production. While your body is establishing the milk supply, you need to be able to match what the baby will do (which is suckle beyond the point of emptying the breast), which can be tedious with a breast pump. Therefore, you will be far better off in the long run if you can reserve those early weeks virtually exclusively for breast-feeding and not use the pump.

However, having to go back to work in the early days while breast-feeding is a reality for many mothers, so we must do the best we can under the circumstances. If you have to go back to work before the milk supply is established (before 12 weeks), just remember to pump as long as the baby would nurse. This means you will have to pump to empty and then keep pumping for approximately 15 to 20 minutes after.

Another important note: women who are overly concerned with getting their babies on a schedule will often think they’re failures because everyone else seems to have it down to a science—but this is not the case! What’s really happening is that other mothers are ignoring their babies’ hunger cues and not boosting their milk supplies for the next day’s increased demand. Babies who are prematurely forced into feeding schedules aren’t getting as much breast milk as they need. Doctors will declare that a baby is not gaining enough weight, calling this “failure to thrive,” and will recommend formula supplementation. At this point, a slippery slope ensues because now the baby is missing a breast-milk feeding every day, which means the next day, when the baby needs more milk, there will actually be less! The mother will have to supplement more and more, until finally she can no longer maintain her milk supply.

If you are in this situation, forget about the clock and listen to your baby’s hunger cues. Allow your baby to suckle as long as necessary. Eat according to the dietary suggestions below and give yourself time to reestablish your milk supply. You can get your supply back with a little effort. Only if absolutely necessary, and after checking with your doctor, you can give your baby goat milk to supplement your supply before it is fully back. Click here for Meyenberg brand powdered goat milk. However, if you do supplement with goat milk, make sure you are pumping for at least as long as your baby is suckling on the bottle.

The Recipe for Bountiful Breast Milk!

There is an ideal diet for increasing and maintaining a bountiful milk supply. Despite what you might be told by well-intentioned advisors, ice cream, beer, meat, and dairy products will not help your body produce more milk! In this case, it would be wiser to take our cues from cows. Cows eat grass to make huge amounts of milk. Therefore, here are the three most important dietary components for producing milk, in order of importance: greens, fruits, and healthy fats. Below are a few guidelines to keep in mind. By incorporating these dietary elements, you will create abundant milk for your little one and enjoy some wonderful foods and juices while you are at it!

• Drink at least 20 ounces of freshly extracted green juice (with apple for sweetness) daily.
• Eat at least 5 servings of fresh, raw fruit daily.
• Do your best to consume at least ½ pound of raw leafy green vegetables and ½ pound of lightly steamed or sautéed leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, kale, or broccoli.
• Enjoy avocados or cold-pressed olive oil, flaxseed oil, or Udo’s Oil to ensure you get enough healthy, raw fat to aid your baby’s brain development and to protect the fatty matter in your own brain, which can get leached by the baby’s needs in utero.

Options for Women Who Cannot Breast-feed

If you cannot breast-feed, for whatever reason, you do have alternative options to infant formula. Goat milk formula or young coconut water are traditional alternatives. You can get unpasteurized, organic coconut water at some health food stores or juice bars, or you can buy young coconuts and pour the water into bottles. You can also purchase boxes of pasteurized coconut water at most grocery stores.

In addition, you can visit MilkShare to find alternatives to receiving banked milk. MilkShare serves only as an educational resource and connection point designed to give mothers who are unable to produce their own milk with some tools to explore private milk donation. Numerous breastfeeding women are willing to graciously offer their extra milk supply to your child(ren). The key is finding those women and MilkShare serves as a portal to locate both donors and recipients alike.

We anticipate that, in this dawning era of enlightenment, more options will become available for mothers who are adopting or who cannot breast-feed. If you have discovered a viable option for mothers who cannot breast-feed, please share your knowledge with us and we will do our best to spread the word to those in this challenging situation.

POST-PREGNANCY WEIGHT LOSS

Whether you’re twenty-six or forty-six, you can have a healthy, strong, and, yes, lean postnatal body by following the dietary guidelines for your appropriate detox level. See any of Natalia’s books and/or take our assessment survey to determine your detox level. Even if you are breastfeeding, it is ok to follow the Detox diet plans within any of Natalia’s books and you can expect great results (Raw Food Detox Diet, Detox 4 Women, and Raw Food Life Force Energy.)

However, don’t expect to be bikini-ready until at least five months after delivery! On the detox diet, you can still look really great much sooner after delivery; just don’t expect to have that super-lean look until your body naturally decides it is ready to let the last 7 to 8 pounds go. Again, this happens around five months—not coincidentally around the same time you’ll begin breast-feeding less frequently and your baby develops an interest in solids. Before that point, your body will hang on to some of the fat stores whether you are breast-feeding or not, no matter how little you eat or how much you exercise—so don’t kill yourself trying to hurry the process along! Trust your body to know when it’s ready to whittle down to an enviable shape.

If you’re feeling a little impatient and you want to get the weight off more quickly, check with your physician and simply do a four-day juice fast after you have hit the five-month mark. This should be fine even if you are nursing. A short four-day juice fast will quickly get you back to your pre-pregnancy shape; most likely, your body will shrink into an even better shape than you had before! But remember to check with your physician before you start the juice fast.

Note: Your lean shape won’t come back any faster if you stop nursing sooner, so do not use this as a reason to stop breast-feeding prematurely! After five months, you will have your figure back and you will be able to continue nursing until your child weans.

PACIFIERS

In general, try to avoid plastic and use pacifiers only when you cannot fulfill your baby’s desire to be on the nipple. You can use a pacifier occasionally, but babies who are getting enough time at the breast will not need the additional suckling time a pacifier provides. In addition, pacifiers can ruin the shape of the mouth and teeth; breast-fed babies normally have beautiful mouths.

WELL VISITS

Below is an excerpt from How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, a pediatrician who explains the business behind pediatrics and provides practical advice for when a visit to your doctor is necessary vs. when it’s wasteful and potentially harmful. We are not pushing an anti-well-visit agenda here, but the question of well visits warrants further reflection. However, well visits may not be optional if you have to maintain paperwork for your child’s school and camps and such.

“Although professional groups have recommended that the value of preventive child health care can be validated by conducting controlled studies that follow patients over many years, little research has been done. The three studies that I have seen offered no support to pediatricians who demand that their patients visit them on a regular basis. The studies focused individually on general health, behavioral patterns and learning abilities, and developmental status, as the end points of the research. As reported in Pediatrics, ‘None of these studies provided evidence that the preventive services given affected the outcomes measured positively.’

In the absence of any evidence that well-baby visits will improve the health of your child, I suggest you avoid them and the risks of needless treatment they present and save your time and money. In all my years as a pediatrician I do not recall ever having discovered a well-baby examination that was not revealed in a timely manner by taking a careful history on the child’s initial visit or by the subsequent development of observable symptoms. [. . .]

Well-baby visits are worthless because they are essentially superficial, and they are superficial because the doctor knows deep in his heart, that they are a waste of time. A study conducted in metropolitan Pittsburgh revealed that pediatricians conduct a well-baby visit in an average of a little more than 10 minutes and then provide advice on child development, potential problems, and similar matters in an average of 52 seconds. Similar findings were reported in New York City, Baltimore, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Rochester, New York.

No doctor can diagnose a symptom-free disease in 10 minutes or give any constructive advice in 52 seconds. If my child were the patient, I wouldn’t even give a doctor the opportunity to try.”

—from How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn

CLOSING

The period of time from your baby’s birth through the first 5 months are filled with exponential growth—both for you and for your baby. There will be times when you feel overwhelmed and you may question whether you are even qualified to be a parent! There will be many voices telling you what you should and shouldn’t do and how to care for your child. Kindly listen to their opinions but know that your parenting instincts lie deep within you. Trust your instinctual nature, listen to that soft voice within that is uncluttered with anxiety and fear. When you are up in the quiet of the night, alone with your newborn, listen for that voice and trust its guidance. The wisdom of Mother Nature, the ultimate nurturer, is within all of us and there is much to learn in succumbing and simply allowing her to flow through.

It is OK to feel scared and lonely at times—after all, this is a powerfully new and deeply humbling experience! No matter how many books, websites, and blogs you read, you will never be truly prepared for the vastness of parenthood. It is something you’ll learn only through experience. Let go, embrace the ride, and experience the joy and wonder that this new spirit evokes in you.

Throughout human history, new parents were constantly surrounded with family and friends. Modern society has isolated us from each other in our separate homes and this can lead to extreme feelings of loneliness at a time when you are bursting to share and learn. This is why we created this parenting site. We urge you to join the community, contribute to the discussion, and find parents in your area in the Playdates section of our website. We urge you to utilize these resources as much as possible as you embark on the new journey of parenthood.

• For more Life Force Families content, click here 

Life Force Families – 6 to 18 months

by natalia | Jan 14, 2022 | Life Force Families

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CURRICULUM TOPICS FOR 6 TO 18 MONTHS INCLUDE:

• Finding Courage to “Face the World”
• Stage Specific Recommended Reading
• Introducing Solids
• Natalia’s Famous “Baby Shake” Recipes
• Introducing Cooked Foods and “Safe Poisons”
• When and How to Utilize Goat Milk
• Naturally Reducing Teething Pain
• Weaning
• “Small” Children
• Well Visits

THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS

It’s time to talk about courage. As a parent, you may not realize your power yet, but it is within you and now is the time when you really need to connect with it. It is less difficult to stand behind your beliefs when you’re at home with your baby; and it can even be relatively easy with your spouse, immediate family, in-laws, and friends. However, around 6 months, when you start to introduce solid foods and enter the world of playdates, classes, and more frequent interactions with other parents, your lifestyle choices may begin to feel more complicated and difficult. You may feel alienated or like the odd one out. However, as soon as you enter a space of insecurity and vulnerability, you can be easily misled.

Use this time to find the courage to figure out what you believe, who you are, what your intentions are for your life and for your baby’s life. Where are you going to go with all of this? If you don’t have strength of conviction, the confused world will end up confusing you.

Remember, if we as a society continue on the same lifestyle trajectories, we will continue to get the same results. This means having our children suffer from terminal illnesses, chronic diseases, emotional imbalances, behavioral problems, obesity, eating disorders, and a whole host of other issues common to today’s youth. It’s only by changing our approach to living, by challenging mainstream beliefs and adopting more life-generating ones, that we can lead ourselves and our children to happier, healthier outcomes.

Someday the folly of modern medicine and the extreme damage we are doing to ourselves with toxic foods and environmental poisons will be fully exposed. Until then, a brave few pioneers must light the way for others with the courage of their convictions. Who else but you will protect your child? Certainly not the government, the education system, or big business. You must take back our power and take full responsibility for your health and the health of your children. At times you may feel alone and isolated. But remember, we are here for you as a supportive community. Together we can be strong in our search for the truth and for a better way to raise our children.

For further inspiration during this time, we highly recommend reading The Tibetan Art of Parenting by Brown, Farwell, and Nyerongsha, and Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce.

INTRODUCING SOLIDS

Between 5 and 6 months after birth, you will start to offer your baby solids (aka “table food”). Despite what we know about the health advantages of exclusively feeding breast milk for the first six months, it is common for doctors to encourage rice cereals as early 4½ months. Rice cereals are inflammatory, gluey, and difficult to digest and pass. Sadly, however, they have become the norm. How has this happened? Look no further than interests of economic gain for your answer.

Since a baby’s gastrointestinal tract is sensitive and still developing, it is best to wait until a baby is fully ready for solids before introducing them. A sure sign that a baby is ready for solids is the emergence of teeth and interest in table food. The presence of teeth generally indicates readiness in the stomach and intestines. Sound obvious? Believe it or not, this bit of traditional wisdom has been largely lost in the modern age, due to the manufacture of dead foods such as grain, pasteurized dairy, and soy products.

When solid foods—particularly undesirable solid foods such as grain and dairy—are introduced to an unprepared system, digestive weakness and digestive imbalances develop. It is a recipe for IBS. Even if you’re using organic rice cereal, it is highly processed and not health-generating. Rice cereals can set the stage for allergic reactions in the body later in life. In addition, rice cereals and other non-fruit items are constipating for the baby. To start a clean-celled, alkaline body on acidic substances is to jump-start the process of acidic accumulation right away.

Therefore, it is important to introduce solid foods thoughtfully, with respect for your baby’s sensitive digestive tract. It is ideal to offer your baby the lightest possible foods first, and as it becomes clear that your baby is digesting them well, you can transition to heavier natural foods. Remember the “light to heavy” principle? It applies here too!

A good rule of thumb for introducing solids: start with fresh, juicy raw fruits, which are ideal for a baby’s digestion. Within the fruit category, begin by offering the lightest possible fruits, such as melons—ideally starting with watermelon and then moving on to cantaloupe; however, any melon will work fine. Use melons to test for digestive readiness for solids (organic is ideal, but even if you cannot find organic melons, it’s still best to start with them). If you are starting solids in the months when melons are not in season, go ahead and choose the lightest “winter fruits” you can find, such as apples, bananas, or avocados.

Thoroughly blend the watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew in a blender until it is smooth. Then let your baby sip the melon through a bottle (cut the nipple large enough to let the mixture through without it pouring out too quickly) and notice his or her response. Next, pay attention to how quickly it is eliminated. What do the eliminations look like? Are they regular and comparable to the amount taken in? Your baby should essentially be passing along exactly what he or she is consuming with well-hydrated regularity. This kind of smooth digestion will pave the way to a strong system with excellent flora and peristalsis!

If your baby’s bowel movements are regular and well-hydrated, you can begin to make your way through any fruits you want to try, with the exception of strawberries, and avoiding honey, which a baby should not be given in the first year. You may need to add a little water to denser fruits, such as bananas, to blend smoothly.

It is a common misconception that if you do not introduce vegetables and only introduce a baby to sweets, he or she will end up with a sweet tooth and will not eat vegetables later. This is false! Babies naturally crave fruits because these are the cleanest, most life-generating foods available. The desire to eat vegetables will come eventually and should not be forced. Fruit is the most natural food for humans, and babies are naturally attracted to it. Also, like mother’s milk, it is sweet and hydrating.

At this point, the most important thing is making sure that what you are feeding your baby is highly digestible. A baby’s digestive system will do best with simple, raw foods. Many mothers try to make their own cooked baby food, or steam and bake their fruits and vegetables. This will not increase digestibility, and will only rob these foods of their vital nutrients. At this stage, it’s perfectly OK for a baby’s diet to remain completely raw IF YOU ARE CORRECTLY MONITORING YOUR BABY’S INTAKE AND RESPONSE.

If your baby is exhibiting symptoms such as thrush, mucous-y discharge, coughing, or extreme colic, this may be an indication that the breast milk itself is quite toxic. Don’t assign blame here! You may have only just started your cleansing journey. If this is the case, you may give your baby some cooked food in the form of baked sweet potatoes or steamed apples. Fruit is the most alkaline, high-vibration, and highly cleansing food for the body. If your baby’s body is already struggling with a toxic load through lineage or compromised breast milk, too much fruit may be difficult to process at first. But this is extremely rare! Most babies can remain on a raw diet up until 18 months, around the time they are exposed to other toxins. At this point, you will need to temper your little one’s raw intake with some occasional cooked food.

INTRODUCING BABY SHAKES

After working your way through a spectrum of fruits, you can move on to baby shakes. Baby shakes are wonderful for you and your baby because they are extremely easy to prepare (blending only once for a full day’s feeding), chock-full of nutritional value, easy to digest, and they will fast become your baby’s favorite treat!

There are 3 components to the baby shakes:

1. Fruit
2. Greens
3. Fat

Fruit will be the main component of your baby shake, with a sparing amount of greens and a tiny drizzle of high-quality oil to further support brain development. You can get creative with your combinations, but make sure your mixture will appeal to your baby’s palate. Remember, babies like sweet because the human body is programmed to start with fruit!

Use greens very sparingly and be sure they are well blended if you are adding leaves instead of raw juice. Romaine lettuce is an ideal starter green because it blends so well and is highly water-containing. Just make sure there are no unblended chunks large enough to pose a choking hazard.

Baby Shake Ingredient Ideas

Fruit*/Organic Leafy Greens*/Fat (small amount)

• Raw pure fruit juice/Raw green juice/Avocados
• Melons/Kale (ripped from the stem)/Udo’s oil blend
• Banana/Romaine lettuce/Flaxseed oil
• Pineapple/Baby spinach/Raw tahini or raw sunflower paste
• Apple/Parsley/Raw nut butters**
• Peach/Alfalfa sprouts
• Orange/Sun Chlorella chlorophyll powder
• Coconut water & young coconut meat

*Fruits and greens should be blended or juiced. Adding carrot juice can help to create the perfect consistency in the blender and appeal to your little one’s craving for sweetness.
**Some good options are almond, pecan, or walnut, but NOT PEANUT OR SOY NUT. AVOID STRAWBERRIES AND HONEY, which can be dangerous in the first year.

Sample Baby Shake Recipes

1. cup fresh-squeezed orange juice, 1 cup blueberries, handful baby spinach, and 1 avocado. Blend well.
2. 2 bananas, water, 2 large leaves romaine lettuce, and ¼ avocado. Blend well.
3. ½ honeydew melon, ½ cup green juice, 1 teaspoon Udo’s oil. Blend well.

These shakes are easy to digest, full of enzymes, and so easy for mom to prepare! All you need is a cooler bag to bring the bottles with you and give them to your baby throughout the day. Babies will usually enjoy baby shakes solely until about 14 months, but they can have them forever if desired!

Tip: For easy feeding, simply cut the nipple of your bottle until the opening is slightly wider than is needed for milk alone. Then, fill it with your blended food and give it to your hungry baby! For daily intake, make 40 ounces of blended baby shake or simple melon puree and divide it into five 8-ounce bottles. These will keep in the refrigerator until your little one is ready for them.

INTRODUCING COOKED FOODS AND “SAFE POISONS”

Although a diet composed mainly or exclusively of raw fruits and vegetables is the ideal diet for humans, the truth is that we are exposed to a lot of toxicity in our environment and most of us do not live in cultures where such a diet is realistic or always safe. At some point, your children will most likely be offered a cupcake at a birthday party, a bag of chips, or a slice of pizza. If restricted to a diet that’s 100 percent raw, children can have extreme reactions when exposed to toxic elements of the Standard American Diet (SAD). We want to keep children on mostly raw, highly alkaline diets, which will keep their bodies happy, but we should temper this with some safe additions. Deliberately introducing children to select cooked foods or “safe poisons”—i.e., acidic substances such as cooked vegetables, high-quality grains, and goat and sheep dairy—will prepare them for encounters with mainstream diets in other homes and environments.

When you decide to introduce cooked and/or processed foods, start with the lightest and cleanest substances for your baby (baked root vegetables and steamed vegetables), and as your child gets older, introduce foods with safe levels of toxicity in the form of high-quality grains (quinoa, millet, Kamut, and spelt) and raw goat and sheep dairy. Although raw goat and sheep dairy is ideal for our purposes here, if you cannot find such products, regular goat and sheep dairy is fine as well.

Goat Milk

Consult with your pediatrician before introducing goat milk to your child, but keep in mind that it is nice to have on hand for emergency feeds at any stage of infancy. It is not optimal (most people can only get pasteurized goat milk, which is not an alkaline substance) and should never be chosen over available breast milk. However, if there is a difficult travel situation, or mom is either unavailable or temporarily unable to produce milk, goat milk is an option.

If you are going to give your baby goat milk in the early stages, be sure it’s diluted 1 part goat’s milk to 3 parts water. As your baby grows, switch to a 1:1 ratio (half goat milk, half water). Eventually, your baby will be able to take straight goat milk. It smells terrible, but kids love it. Two things missing from goat milk are folic acid and iron (along with all the other special human nutrients that cannot always be measured in a laboratory), so it is not a substitute for breastfeeding. It should be used as supplemental milk, and only when absolutely necessary, after consulting with your family doctor.

Tip: Meyenberg powdered goat’s milk is great to keep with you when you know you’ll be traveling or away from the home for an extended period. Simply add water and shake in a bottle for feeding time.

SUMMARY OF INTRODUCING SOLIDS

1. Start with the lightest, raw fruits available—ideally blended melons. If melons are not available, start with the lightest winter fruits, such as banana, avocado, or apple, adding water to blend if necessary.
2. Pay close attention to bowel movements to ensure your baby is digesting foods properly.
3. Move through the spectrum of raw fruits, paying close attention to eliminations. Do not force vegetables; a baby’s natural preference for fruits is advantageous because fruit is truly the best food for a baby’s delicate system during this early stage of development.
4. After completing thorough testing of different raw fruits, begin introducing baby shakes. Baby shakes are composed of fruit, a green element, and a small portion of “good fat” or oil.
5. When moving your child away from a 100 percent raw diet, begin with baked root vegetables, baked fruits, and steamed vegetables.
6. Eventually, add “safe poisons” such as high-quality grains and raw goat and sheep milk products to avoid any potential shock to the system when your child is exposed to mainstream foods.
7. Although not ideal, if there is a difficult travel situation, or mom is either unavailable or temporarily unable to produce milk, goat milk is an option.

TEETHING

The most important thing to remember during the teething process is compassion! This is a time when your precious little one will be experiencing bouts of intense pain on and off throughout the day as each new tooth breaks through the gums. An adult could not withstand such pain. The accompanying crying and irritability are wearing on even the most patient parent, but the teething process is difficult and intense. Parents must support each other, and work together to comfort their baby.

Natural Options for Reducing Pain

1. Medicinal Oils
Numbing oils, such as licorice and clove oils, can be rubbed directly on the gum for soothing relief. Licorice root, often available in health food stores, doubles as a chew toy. Warning: Swallowing too much clove or licorice oil can create tummy problems for your baby.

2. Homeopathic Remedies
During the first year of a child’s life, homeopathic remedies can be employed with great success, as the body is still clean and finely tuned enough to respond to such specified treatment. Employ the help of a homeopath, or try one of the creams or tinctures available at your health food store. As long as they are made of all-natural ingredients they will be safe, and can often be extremely effective. Many babies respond well to Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Gel.

3. Chewing
During this stage, you’ll notice that everything tends to end up in your baby’s mouth. This urge to chew is natural and should be encouraged, as it’s the best way to speed up the teething process and help new teeth to break through. Hard vegetables that will not break off and cause a choking hazard, such as carrots, are ideal. Just have a bib ready for the accompanying saliva!

WEANING

A baby knows best when it’s time to wean, so watch for signs. Typically, a baby will let you know it’s time for more “real food” and less milk by spending more time playing with your nipple and biting on it than taking milk. This usually occurs between 11 and 16 months, though some babies choose to nurse longer. (It’s interesting to note that because nursing reduces fertility, indigenous women would often nurse beyond 2 years in order to help prevent population growth. However, this is not a dependable form of contraception, as the mothers of many an Irish twin will attest!)

When it becomes time to think about weaning, nursing will have naturally become less frequent—from approximately four times per day to three times per day, then to two times per day, and then perhaps to only once per day—over the course of the year. Some babies choose to nurse a lot longer than that. Tune into your baby’s needs and natural inclinations, and remember there is no strict rule for the right time to wean.

However, if you find yourself nursing your child for years and years, I urge you to examine your intentions and figure out what psychological factors might be behind this prolonged developmental stage. If your intentions are clear, and your child is not merely compensating for feelings of abandonment or neglect, then relax and trust your little one.

If you need to wean before your child “directs” this process, just keep in mind that milk and soy milk formulas are highly mucus-forming and acidic and not ideal for a baby’s system. However, this is something that you will need to discuss with your doctor. You need look no further than the ingredients list of even the highest-quality organic formula to see that mainstream infant formula is simply a cornucopia of chemicals. Make your own choices based on this information, but please note the growing epidemic of bowel disease in this country, which is occurring at shockingly earlier ages than ever before.

Obviously, many women have to go back to work before their children are ready to wean. If this is the case for you, and if pumping enough milk for your baby is not an option, you can simply begin to introduce baby shakes (see above) and fluids such as coconut water or, occasionally, goat’s milk. Infant formula and cow dairy are not necessary and can be harmful to the baby’s health.

DEVELOPMENT

During this time, you may be attending “well visits” with your pediatrician on a consistent basis. One issue that many parents confront when raising children within the detox lifestyle is their babies tend to be smaller than the national average and may fall on the low end of height and weight charts. The noticeable difference in size is due to the fact that most children are being fed hormone- and antibiotic-laden formula from birth (even if only partially) and are now consuming hormone-laden dairy products, mainstream meat products, and other foods that prematurely beef kids up. Keep in mind that one in three children born after the year 2000 will end up with diabetes, so the fact that your child is not on the “normal” curve in this way is a good thing!

If you child is smaller than most of his or her peers right now, that doesn’t necessarily mean your child will remain so forever. Your child will reach his or her full growth potential beautifully, just at a slower, more natural pace than those who are being artificially plumped up from an early age. And keeping your child away from chemical- and hormone-laden foods will allow your little one to grow at his or her own pace without the ailments, mood swings, and sugar cravings that come with the modern lifestyle.

Good health is diminutive. Healthy cells are tight, tiny, and spherical. When you have babies raised on toxic breast milk, formula, and compromised lineage, then the biomass and the biochemical makeup of the cells in their bodies will be bloated with yeast and water retention. These babies will actually look puffy. This plump, “healthy” baby look that we are used to in our society actually indicates that a baby is unhealthy and mucus-filled, bound to suffer from ear infections, IBS, asthma, allergies, and headaches. When a baby drinks clean mother’s milk, and doesn’t get formula, the wrong kinds of dairy, or other compromised foods, it will show. It’s not that the baby is undersized, but that we are used to seeing oversized babies. Clean, healthy babies are being compared to a skewed ideal.

Size is not an indicator of good health. Many children who place “normal” on the height and weight charts are constantly sick and in otherwise poor health. To assess the true health of your child, ask yourself the following questions:

Is your baby…

• alert?
• active?
• energetic?
• happy?
• engaged?
• calm?
• free from colds, constant runny noses and coughs, ear infections, eczema, respiratory/digestive issues, flus, and other common childhood ailments?

If your baby has these indicators of health, you can feel good. Your instincts will tell you when something is wrong, and imbalances will manifest in the form of digestion issues, colds, ear infections, asthmatic breathing, croup, cradle cap, thrush, and so on.

From How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn:

When your child enters a pediatric examining room he is almost invariably subjected to height and weight measurements, usually taken by a technician or a nurse. This is part of the ritual Modern Medicine has developed to make you feel that you are getting your money’s worth. First-time parents wait nervously while the nurse places the squirming baby on the scale and may be asked to help hold the child’s legs down so that the height can be measured. Mom and Dad sigh with relief when their pediatrician finally appears, checks the measurements against a chart, and announces that their child is developing “normally.” Conversely, they are worried if they are told that their baby is gaining too much or too little weight.

What their doctor doesn’t tell them is that this ritual has no medical significance whatsoever. They aren’t told that some formula manufacturer was probably the source of the growth chart that the doctor is using and that he is given these charts by baby food and formula companies. This leads to an obvious question: Why are the formula makers so eager to have your doctor check your baby’s weight? Answer: Because the weight gain of breastfed babies may not match the average weights shown on the formula maker’s chart. They hope that the pediatrician, instead of reassuring the mother that this is normal and nonthreatening, will tell her to stop breastfeeding and switch to their product. The pediatrician may even have some samples on hand. Too often, the baby is subsequently denied the immunity and other benefits that breastfeeding provides.

CLOSING

Around this time, you will begin to experience with force the realization that although you are doing what you know is best for your child, there are many who will not agree with your parenting choices. The pressure to do what is “normal” is strong, and with the overall lack of awareness and the commercial interests driving so much of modern medicine and mainstream childcare practices, the cards are stacked against you! You will need to dig deep within yourself to find the strength to do what you know is best for you and your child. We have listed many great reference materials on this site. Some of you will want to tap these resources to strengthen your knowledge base and your powers of conviction when you are having moments of doubt. Remember to connect with others in the detox parenting community. We are here to support you in any way we can!

• For more Life Force Families content, click here 

Life Force Families – toddlers

by natalia | Jan 14, 2022 | Life Force Families

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CURRICULUM TOPICS FOR TODDLERS INCLUDE:

• What We Can Learn From Our Toddlers
• The Ideal Toddler Diet
• Toddler Food List
• Dietary/Home Life Tips and Tricks
• Converting the Picky Eater
• Strategies for Playdates and Social Interactions
• TV and Toys

“Perhaps we should give our children the freedom to grow up without our dogma and then ask the children where and which way to go.”

—Vladimr Megre, Anastasia, The Ringing Cedar Series, Book 3, p. 156.

This is a time of great sensory exploration for your little one—a continuation of the magical process of orienting him/herself with the world. The world for a two-year-old is delightful, as everything is a learning opportunity. A muddy puddle, a prickly stick, the smell of a rose, and a juicy strawberry all invoke wonder and teach the child about the physical elements of our world directly through their senses. In addition to learning about the natural world, the child at this stage is also learning about the nifty artifacts and tools that we adults use—for example, by spending hours figuring out how to use the salad spinner, investigating the contents of Daddy’s tool box, or organizing books.

This stage provides us a wonderful opportunity to slow down and see the world through our children’s eyes. If we pay attention, there is more to learn from our children than we could possibly imagine teaching them. For the time being, they are uncluttered by dogma, ideas about good and bad, and the voices of others, so there is still purity in their intentions and actions. The laws of nature apply here as they do in our bodies and in any other aspect of life. When we encourage our children’s curiosity and innate goodness, giving them the space to play and explore, learning is joyful and effortless. When we block or in any way stifle their natural unfolding—physically, mentally, or emotionally—anxiety, behavior problems, and illness quickly set in

Acidic environments, addictive and numbing food, the hypnotic nature of television, parental stress and anxiety, and alienation from nature can all block the natural flow of health, growth, and development. These are realities of the world we live in, and in order to be role models for our children, we have to work diligently to ensure these are not stifling factors in our own lives. The point here is not to become “the perfect parents” or to raise “the perfect children.” The point, rather, is to embrace this opportunity to become “perfectly human.” For years, indeed generations, the human race has been degenerating and mutating into weaker and weaker forms, and we not only want to stop this degeneration, but actually reverse it through clean living. Many of the unnatural and acidic elements in our modern world rob us and our children of that opportunity.

A great place to combat the ills of modern living is to observe the way our children approach the world. When we allow ourselves to see the world through their eyes, we can take a leap of consciousness. Children, and toddlers in particular, are captivated by nature in all its life forms—whether it’s the wriggling of the earthworm, the bright flash of butterfly wings, or the levitation of a hummingbird. Their instincts are not to consume animal flesh. In fact, they don’t generally want meat unless they are repeatedly exposed to it, and even then, only when it is disguised with ketchup or breaded with addictive additives. Toddlers cringe at the idea of killing animals for food, and unless they are repeatedly exposed to addictive processed foods and sodas, they are fully content with whole and blended fruits and vegetables—perfect human food. Children love the colors, textures, and sweet juiciness of fruits and many vegetables.

Toddlers also naturally live in the moment (unless they’ve been overexposed to artificial stimulation). Watching them interact with their environment and live in the present can help us rekindle the love affair we all once had with the world and embrace each and every moment. Our toddlers can teach us that there is an abundance of joy, love, and laughter to be found within. We adults just have to remove the clutter so we can see it.

IDEAL TODDLER DIET

Along with the natural desire to fully explore and embrace the world, children at this age want to taste most foods that are put in front of them. This is a critical time for wiring their senses for health-generating foods. If they are surrounded by the colorful array of apples, bananas, kiwis, and pineapples, they will take pleasure in these fruits and come to love nature’s offerings, setting the stage for a lifetime of natural choices.

If, by contrast, we are constantly exposing them to foods in bright, shiny, cartoon-character packaging in animal shapes and fluorescent colors, they will forever gravitate toward processed foods and their palates will be wired for those extremely stimulating flavors.

Never mind social pressures, this is NOT the time to expose your child to artificial, chemical-laden foods. This is the time to stay the natural course. This is the time to protect your child’s palate so that it remains pure and sensitized to the beautiful, subtle flavors of natural foods. Once exposed to chemicals in mainstream foods, the palate becomes tainted and eventually numb to whole foods. For example, an untainted palate can detect the deliciously sweet and delicately spicy flavors in a ripe pear and enjoy the earthy flavors of freshly pressed green juice.

In addition to devastating our children’s palates and reducing their ability to enjoy natural foods, chemicals in mainstream foods literally short-circuit the innate sensors that detect harmful toxins in the substances they consume. The toxins commonly used by food manufacturers today compromise the blood, create mucus, damage organs, and irritate the intestine, setting the stage for all manner of sicknesses—from behavioral problems to IBS to cancers. These processed foods are not innocuous substances that we can reasonably feed our children in moderation. They are dangerous—the harbingers of your child’s cellular deterioration. They will rob your baby of his/her physical power and mental acuity. We have spent generations excusing these destructive substances because they are fun or taste good, allowing them to silently destroy our children’s wholeness and power. How can we excuse that? How can that be worth it? It’s our job as parents to provide our children a safe place to grow up healthy and strong. It’s time to step out of the dark ages!

During these preschool days, you are in effect home-schooling your child. This is your best, uninterrupted chance to teach your child the fundamentals of what is life-generating and what is not. Make it easier on yourself by stocking your kitchen with only life-generating foods. And if you really want to simplify matters and ensure that the message sinks in at this early stage, eat the same foods that your toddler eats! Confusion and frustration can arise during the “this is OK for Mommy and Daddy but not for you” conversation.

TODDLER FOOD LIST

Here are the foods that both you and your toddler can enjoy in abundance. Have fun with any combinations of these foods and experiment often, as a toddler’s preferences can change daily. Just remember, due to the chemicals and highly addictive nature of the foods in the Toxic category of the Food Chart, avoid those items at all costs.

Fruits

• We find toddlers especially like avocado, banana, grapes, cherry tomatoes, melons, and berries.
• Baked apples and pears
• Stewed fruits
• Organic raisins or other dried fruits (no sugar added)
• Baby shakes
• Whole-fruit popsicles (you can blend fruits and add coconut water or regular water and make your own popsicles)
• Frozen bananas (blended in a blender or food processor with cocoa powder and/or raw nut butter)

Vegetables

• All cooked vegetables (Add sauces, butter, or spices to make these more interesting! Children especially like winter squashes such as butternut, pumpkin, acorn squash, and sweet potato.)
• Blended soups (such as broccoli or butternut squash)
• Raw olives

Grains & Legumes

Note: You and your toddler may enjoy these grains and legumes as desired, but remember that they are not perfect human foods, so do not let them take the place of life-generating fruits and vegetables.

• Spelt, buckwheat, or quinoa pasta
• Legume-based soups, such as split pea and lentil
• Sprouted-grain bread (Ezekiel, 4:9, Food for Life, Alvarado St. Bakery)
• Whole-grain cookies (Kollar, Kashi, Cascadian Farms)

Animal Products (limited to the following items)

• Raw goat or sheep cheeses (non-raw is OK if you cannot find raw)
• Organic, free-range eggs

Spreads & Sauces

• Organic marinara sauce (Paesana or Seeds of Change are two delicious options! Toss into raw baby spinach leaves for a tasty way to incorporate greens.)
• Hummus
• Nut butters
• Raw honey
• Pure maple syrup
• Organic ketchup
• Organic butter
• Any spices (especially cinnamon and sea salt)

Liquids

• Purified water
• Fresh-squeezed orange juice
• Green juice or any juice combination you and your child enjoy
• Coconut water
• Nut milks (It’s ideal if you make this yourself, but there are some good, high-quality brands you can purchase.)
• High-quality apple cider or juice (Pasteurized apple cider or juice is not ideal but fine if it’s high-quality, 100% juice, no added sugar, and diluted with water. See our Store for acceptable options.)

TIPS AND TRICKS

1. 1. The food in your refrigerator and cupboards and anything at “grazing level” in the house should be healthy enough to be free for the taking. Allowing your child to make food decisions will help him or her to feel empowered. As long as everything in your house is relatively health-generating, you can rest assured that this freedom will not result in an unhealthy compromise.
   2. Establish rhythms around the house—and by this we do not mean the traditional “three square meals” a day! We have been socially conditioned to accept the idea that humans need three meals a day with snacks in between, but a child will rarely gravitate toward such a schedule naturally. Children normally eat one very big meal and then essentially graze the rest of the day. Of course, this can change from day to day, based on how they are feeling.
   3. Do not stress about how much food your child is consuming. Toddlers instinctively listen to their bodies and eat as much as they need to!
   4. Unless your child has serious digestive issues, you do not need to worry about Quick-Exit Combinations at this time. However, keeping the “light to heavy” principle in mind throughout your child’s day can be helpful for digestion. But again, do not stress about this! However, in the case of digestive problems, food combining can be critically important. To determine whether or not improper food combining is an issue for your child, simply pay attention to your child’s eliminations. Does your child become gassy or constipated after miscombined meals? If so, try paying attention to the quick-exit food combination principles and see if the issue improves.
   5. There is no need to force-feed your child vegetables! Children instinctively prefer fruits, as these are the most health-generating, cleanest human foods. Your child will enjoy vegetables at some point, so don’t worry if he or she doesn’t love them now.
   6. If your toddler didn’t like something as baby, try reintroducing it now. Kids can change their minds from month to month, and sometime even from day to day!
   7. Instead of dictating, “Eat this” or “Don’t eat that,” try describing what each food will do to the body. For example, when presenting your child with fresh fruits and vegetables, try saying, “Here, this will give you lots of power.” When your child asks why you don’t eat junk food, try responding, “Oh, no, that sucks up your power like a vampire” or “That makes your blood dirty.” Using concrete but illustrative statements to explain why we do and do not eat certain foods helps a child conceptualize the physical effects of consumption. The earlier our children contextualize and conceptualize these things, the more sense it will make to them, and the more they will be empowered to make life-generating choices for themselves. Believe us, it’s never too early for that! In a world that’s largely clueless about the effects of food in the body, our children will be among the lucky few who are conscious about food and protected from a future of mindless consumption.
   8. Keep your food preparations VERY SIMPLE, unless of course you choose to play gourmet chef. Your kitchen staples are all you will ever need. And they’re cheap—carrots and other roots, sprouted-grain breads, apples, bananas, and avocados are even affordable organic! Baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, or olives can be put out before a meal. Just keep in mind the principles of “raw before cooked” and “light to heavy.” Think whole fruits and veggies in their whole forms. Here are some other simple, fun ideas to get you started:
      • Baked root vegetables
      • Baked sweet potatoes topped with organic butter and cinnamon
      • Grilled raw goat cheese on sprouted-grain bread
      • Organic free-range scrambled eggs with grated raw cheddar-style goat cheese
      • Lentil soup with a side of sprouted-grain buttery toast
   9. The simpler the meals, the less your child will expect and demand. That’s a good thing for you both. The idea that meals need to be elaborate is a result of social conditioning. You do not need to set yourself up for work every day and night! There should be variety in your child’s diet within a day or a week, but you do not have to worry about variety within every meal. The kids we know who are fussy started out with mothers who offered them the opportunities to become fussy. Toddler are always testing their boundaries, but don’t give them too much room to fuss. Establish solid boundaries around simple, real food. You can give your child two choices: sweet potatoes or eggs; grilled cheese (our version) or broccoli “pasta”; apples or bananas. It really can be that stress-free!
   10. Consider what you are putting on your child’s body, not just in it! For example, it is best to use natural shampoos and soaps, as well as natural toothpaste (see our store for good options).
   11. Children do not normally need extra vitamins. If their body’s pathways are open and flowing, they will absorb all of the vitamins they need from the fruits and juices you are giving them. If their pathways are generally blocked and congested, all of the vitamins in the world will not help.

CONVERTING THE PICKY EATER

We realize some of you may be new to this lifestyle and you may already have a child who refuses to eat fruits, vegetables, and anything that resembles a fruit or vegetable! Mainstream foods, like many drugs, are highly addictive and numbing to the sense of taste, so it is no wonder that after exposure to these foods our children will gravitate toward them exclusively. Moreover, children will crave more of the same chemical-laden foods in order to experience the same “high” as they get older. Therefore, now is the time to really “nip it in the bud” and be firm about the changes you want to make.

If you put natural foods in front of your child and he or she refuses to eat them, you will probably have some painful days or weeks. The transition may be challenging at first; when embarking on any significant life change, it takes persistence and a deep desire to do what you know is right. Do your best to keep your goals in mind and remind yourself that your child will not starve! In fact, over time, your child will develop a taste for life-generating foods. However, the process doesn’t have to be completely miserable for you or your child! To assist you in this process, here are some additional tips and tricks to help make the transition healthy and enjoyable:

1. 1. • Simply upgrading the quality of what your child is eating today will make a huge difference. Click here to see some suggestions for converting the picky eater with Transition Foods.
      • Stress the quality over the quantity of the foods your children are getting. If they are eating large amounts of processed, dead foods today, they are actually starving nutritionally! Therefore, if they start to eat just a little bit of natural, whole, live foods, or consume some green juice in the morning, they will be getting more nutritional value today than they were yesterday. Remember, what is important is progress, not perfection!
      • Focus on the fruits and vegetables they DO like without worrying about varying the types. If they will eat an apple every day, give them an apple every day! Don’t stress if your child will eat fruits but not vegetables. Younger children are wired for fruits. There’s no need to push vegetables on them. Their desire for more savory, vegetable-based fare will come later.
      • Use some tricks of the trade to make fruits and vegetables more attractive. For example, try raw honey, tahini, or almond butter on fruits such as bananas and apples; high-quality marinara sauce on acorn squash or avocado; or hummus with baked sweet potato. This is a great way to start getting the fruits and vegetables into your child’s diet. As your child’s palate changes, you may eventually be able to eliminate some of these extras.
      • Planting gardens, growing herbs, and having your child help you cook or prepare foods can help them enjoy the foods more. When children (and adults, too) understand the source of their food, they are more likely to appreciate it. We want our children to understand the “why” behind our decision to change their diet.

PLAYDATES AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

This is the time where healthy boundaries around what other people give your kids will come into play. It is way too early for flexibility, and although there is a time and a place to give in a little and allow for exploration, a playdate should not be one of those exceptions! This is definitely a time when you will want to stick to your guns and do what is best for your child’s health.

When your child is on a playdate, make sure to bring food for him or her. Since a toddler is still too young for drop-offs, you or your caregiver can be there to ensure feeding time goes as desired. It’s best to explain to your toddler beforehand that he or she may see foods at the playdate that are not good for her. It’s never too early to point out that what others do is not necessarily what you or your child do. If your child wants to eat unfit foods that he or she sees, gently remind your child of the family parameters and divert his/her attention with something more health-generating. If all else fails, take your child into another room and explain it all again. No matter what, stick to what you say or else you will set the stage for repeat behavior. Upon returning home, praise your child for being so clever and understanding. Take every opportunity to positively reinforce the behaviors and attitudes you’re trying to cultivate. Children learn far more from praise (which they will want to experience repeatedly) than from criticism and shame (which stresses them and shuts them down). Again, at this point, you still have most of the control around what your child consumes, so take advantage of this time to continue setting a solid foundation, nutritionally and emotionally.

This is also the time to establish boundaries socially. Kids are so much more comfortable knowing what’s expected of them and what they should expect in turn. We cannot emphasize enough how helpful it is to your child to explain a potential scenario before it occurs. Say things like, “We don’t eat other people’s foods that Mommy didn’t pack for you.” The more you explain to your child, the better. Even if you don’t think your child is understanding you, the tone you use and the approach you take make all of the difference. It makes your child feel like a part of the plan. If all else fails, just say, NO. Your child needs to know that no means no, without having to do a tango around it. There are times for explanations and colorful descriptions, and then there are times for a very strong, clear, unshakeable NO. Don’t be afraid of being firm. In our experience, firmness has only made our children feel safer and helps them understand the rules of the family more clearly. Happy, unspoiled, well-balanced children grow up with a firm sense of boundaries and a deep source of unconditional love.

If you are worried about others constantly offering your child substances you don’t want them to have and not respecting your preferences, you can always use the allergy excuse. Ultimately, we are all allergic to chemical-laden, unnatural foods, so it isn’t really a lie. The only difference is the degree to which we experience dramatic symptoms. Therefore in essence, saying your child is allergic to these foods is accurate.

TV AND TOYS

Media brainwashing is fast, deep, and lasting. It begins the moment you switch the TV on. As soon as children are exposed to targeted marketing, they start to be robbed of their power. Exposing children to the constant stream of commercials and the insidious messages of mainstream programming cements their social conditioning. In addition, TV shows and the Internet are extremely addictive, and too much exposure to television and computer content can erode a child’s attention span.

There is plenty of great entertainment for kids without ever switching on the TV. Consider buying, renting, and checking quality shows out from your local library, or even from online video stores. Consider banning TV at home (as many of us do), but reserve the right to pop in high-quality videos like the Baby Einstein series and all your old childhood favorites—like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver, Pollyana, Mary Poppins, Annie, the Shirley Temple movies, The Little Rascals, Flipper, or Lassie. Our kids do not always have to watch what is on TV today (mostly junk) and this can be a fun trip down memory lane for you. The old musicals are especially fun!

As far as toys go, the idea that kids need flashing lights, talking dolls, and other obnoxious trinkets in order to learn or be entertained is far from the truth! Children do not need this extra stimulation. The world offers enough natural stimulation without synthetic and manufactured products always being pushed on them. Our children, if not overexposed to artificial stimulation, will gravitate toward the full range of nature’s wonders (such as bugs, leaves, flowers, and wildlife) and all manner of arts and crafts projects far more than TV and battery-powered toys. Best of all, they become completely engrossed in their discoveries, and you too can enjoy these quiet moments to yourself.

It is far too early to expose your child to the hyper-stimulating and often violent imagery of video games. Keep your toddler away from video games at this ultra-impressionable time. They interrupt brain development and are terrible for eyes and attention spans.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

People often talk about the “terrible twos” and think of temper tantrums and power struggles as normal and expected behaviors for toddlers. However, if we raised our toddlers on natural foods (to keep them balanced) and natural experiences (to support their instinctual learning processes) instead of canned stimulation—and if we set clear, healthy boundaries rather than confusing them with mixed messages—there would be no terrible twos!

• For more Life Force Families content, click here 

Life Force Families – Preschool

by natalia | Jan 14, 2022 | Life Force Families

Download this page as a PDF

CURRICULUM TOPICS FOR PRESCHOOL INCLUDE:

• Why It’s Essential to “Become the Change We Want to See”
• The Ideal Preschooler’s Diet
• Helpful Guidelines for Busy Schedules
• Converting the Picky Eater
• Tips for Preschool
• The Drop-Off Playdate
• TV, Media, and Video Games
• Developmental Considerations

“Our children are not raised by parental admonition, nor by kindergartens, schools and colleges. Our children are raised by the way people live—the way we ourselves live and the way society in general lives. And no matter what kids hear from their parents or teachers in school or any other institution of learning, no matter what clever systems of education are adopted, children will follow the lifestyle practiced by the majority of people around them. This means that the raising of children depends entirely on your own understanding of the world, on how you live your own life, how your parents live and how society in general lives. A sick and unhappy society can only give birth to sick and unhappy children.”

—Vladimir Megre, Anastasia, The Ringing Cedar Series, Book 6, Chapter 1

Children have impressionable minds that are constantly being bombarded with misguided messages from the media and their peers. Proper parenting in today’s world means bringing children back to their natural state of health, happiness, and harmony. Children are hungry for knowledge that will help keep them healthy and strong—mentally, physically, and emotionally. As nurturers, we must share all that we know with them in a gentle, approachable way. The best way to do this is to be a living example to them.

Many of us work diligently to secure our children’s futures by contributing money to college funds, making sure they attend the best schools, and supporting after-school activities. However, the most valuable investment we can make in securing our children’s futures is providing an exemplary standard of values for them by example. We must embody the core values of compassion, honesty, bravery, fidelity, honor, and universal respect for all life if we wish our children to reflect them as well. Yet, our mainstream values (both societal and individual) do not remotely reflect such standards. If they did, we would not be rendering 200 species a day extinct in order to maintain the infrastructure of our man-made, shortsighted, selfish world. If we support the latter unquestioningly, we will raise children who do likewise. Only by challenging every thread of the fabric of our destructive society can we expect to raise children with a better future.

Our children will do as we do, not as we say. If we want to raise a generation of children who are healthy, happy in their professions, and able to sustain loving and fulfilling relationships with others, we must apply this vision we have for them directly to our own lives—through the strength of conviction and everyday practice. If we do not, we seal their doom with the status quo and worse. Yes, it is all well and good to put money aside for college, but what good will that be if our children become so sick in body and spirit in this upside-down world that they seek refuge in drugs and alcohol? Or if their souls are so repressed and shut down by social rules and expectations that they engage in self-silencing behaviors (e.g., eating disorders, sex addiction, binge shopping) and never blossom enough to benefit from higher education?

We cannot underestimate our influence as parents, particularly in these formative years. We have all the power to shape the lives of our little ones. Look at your values closely because they will be your child’s values. Look at your behaviors closely because these will be your child’s behaviors in time. The great news is that everything we do as parents is meaningful—whether it’s encouraging family walks and talks instead of watching television, teaching our children the value of sustainability and whole foods, educating ourselves on natural remedies and the real reasons for childhood illness, or going out of our way to get the highest-quality produce and non-toxic cleaning products. Every conscious, authentic step we take really matters. Our dedication to what is truly valuable in life will be passed along to our children.

Many lessons and adventures await you and your child as the school years begin and your child starts to make sense of his or her place in the world outside the home. If your child’s role models (primarily you) embody peace and clarity, he or she will be grounded and strong enough to brave the outside world. Educate and excite your child about what really matters—namely, conducting love and life force energy all around you!

Sadly, most children don’t see a bright future on offer, but rather a world that doesn’t really work for the adults. The uninspired adult experience is not lost on kids. They just chew quietly on the bizarre ways that most adults slog mindlessly through modern life, and eventually come to mimic these behaviors. So parents, if you want your children to experience the great joys of life instead of a never-ending stream of disillusionment, you must first experience the real joys of life yourself—in your own body, in your home, in your work, and in your relationships.

We appreciate that this may be a very difficult concept to grasp if you’ve never experienced the euphoria of clean living. Our best suggestion in this case is to put a little time aside each day to reflect on your values and society’s values and where they have brought you; and also, on a physical level, to undertake some cellular cleansing so you can begin to feel the power of the life force conducting through your body. The experience of unobstructed energy flowing through you extends to all aspects of your world. It’s a great place from which to start educating yourself and your child.

“Be the Change You Want to See”: A mother once came to Gandhi with her son in tow. “Gandhi,” she pleaded, “Please tell my son to stop eating sugar.” Gandhi told her, “Come back in three days.” Puzzled, the mother did as she was asked and went back home. When she returned with her son three days later, Gandhi told the boy, “Stop eating sugar.” The mother then asked Gandhi, “Why didn’t you just tell him to stop eating sugar three days ago? “Because,” Mahatma Gandhi said, “Three days ago I hadn’t stopped eating sugar myself.”

Recommended Reading: Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce; The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann; Ishmael by Daniel Quinn; all books and e-books by Natalia Rose (for cellular cleansing).

THE IDEAL PRESCHOOLER’S DIET

If you have been following the Natalia Rose Institute parenting lifestyle from your child’s birth through the toddler years, you know that up until now we have emphasized vigilance in the diet to ensure our children are not exposed to chemicals, hormones, and other synthetic elements in mainstream foods. Until now, establishing this healthy foundation was largely in your control and probably relatively easy to accomplish. However, if you have decided to send your child to preschool outside of the home, you will begin to experience many new and interesting challenges! You may be packing daily lunches and frequently interacting with the principal, teachers, and fellow parents. New social activities, such as birthday parties and drop-off playdates, will become commonplace.

These changes present an opportunity for you to reestablish your dietary boundaries—what’s acceptable, what’s not, and what you can occasionally allow. It’s important to periodically consider your boundaries and remind yourself of why a dietetic philosophy that ensures cellular cleanliness is so important. This way, when unplanned events and circumstances pop up (and they will), you won’t make knee-jerk choices you’ll regret. As you consider your dietary philosophy, keep in mind that there may be situations where flexibility is valuable to you and your child. We want to be firm in our beliefs, but not so rigid that we cause undue stress. Being vigilant over your child’s well-being requires a great deal of intelligence, as there are many factors to weigh at any given time. Some of you will readily see the nuances and respond accordingly. If you find complex, on-the-spot decision-making more difficult, we advise you to rehearse these possible scenarios in your mind (and if absolutely necessary, with your child) so that you are ready. Life throws enough curve balls even when you are prepared. But have faith that, with practice, such decision-making will become second-nature to you.

As you develop the practices that works best for your child, keep in mind that, in order for a food to be truly health-generating, it must (a) have a negative ionic electromagnetic charge (alkaline as opposed to acidic); (b) be water-containing; and (c) be seamless for the body to digest, assimilate, and eliminate. By this definition, the only truly health-generating foods are raw fruits and vegetables, their juices, young coconuts, and mother’s milk for babies. There is room for some non-life-generating substances and neutral substances, of course! But it’s helpful to discern between the real health-generators and the substances that are merely neutral or mildly acidic.

Ideally, a child would eat predominately raw fruits and vegetables. The other foods we offer are just filler and what we refer to as “safe poisons”—foods that conduct minimal life force through the cells and bloodstream, but have generally nutrient-rich properties and are not too difficult to process when consumed as supplements to a diet primarily of fruits and vegetables. We have typically referred to these substances as Transition Foods—though we also like to call them “bridgers.” These include: sprouted whole grains, legumes, raw cheeses, organic/free-range meats, fish and eggs, and several higher-quality packaged foods. We completely understand that existing exclusively on health-generating foods is too extreme for children today—emotionally, socially, and even physiologically—given the inescapable toxic realties of the modern world. These transition or bridger items offer dietary flexibility without overly compromising your child’s health.

A good rule of thumb is to keep your preschooler on a diet of about 75% Ideal foods, 20–25% Transition foods, and less than 5% Non-Ideal foods. It is still important to work very hard to avoid anything from the Toxic food category. Here’s a list of foods that you can include in your child’s diet at this time.

PRESCHOOLER FOOD LIST

Fruits (in the 75% category)

• Any and all fresh raw fruits!
• Baked apples and pears
• Stewed fruits
• Organic raisins or other dried fruits (no sugar added)
• Fruit smoothies
• Whole-fruit popsicles (you can blend fruits and add coconut water or regular water to make your own popsicles)
• Frozen bananas (blend in a blender or food processor with cocoa powder and/or raw nut butter)

Vegetables (in the 75% category)

• All cooked vegetables (add sauces, butter or spices to make these more interesting! Children especially like winter squashes like butternut, pumpkin, acorn squash and sweet potato)
• Blended soups (like broccoli or butternut squash)
• Raw Olives

Grains & Legumes (in the 20–25% category)

Note: Your child may enjoy grains and legumes as desired, but these are not perfectly ideal and should not take the place of life-generating fruits and vegetables.

• Spelt, buckwheat, Kamut, or quinoa pasta (see grain/cereal section of our store for ideas)
• Legume-based soups, such as split pea and lentil
• Sprouted-grain bread (Ezekiel 4:9, Food for Life, Alvarado St. Bakery)
• Whole-grain cookies (Kollar, Kashi, Cascadian Farms – see Grocery/Snacks and Sweets in our store for more ideas!)

Animal Products (in the 20–25% category)

Limit your child’s intake of animal products to the following:

• Raw goat or sheep cheeses (non-raw is OK if you can’t find raw)
• Organic, free-range eggs
• Wild and free-range fish and meats

Spreads & Sauces (use as desired with fruits and vegetables)

• Organic marinara sauce (Paesana and Seeds of Change are two delicious options! Toss into raw baby spinach leaves for a tasty way to incorporate greens.)
• Hummus
• Nut butters
• Raw honey
• Pure maple syrup
• Organic ketchup
• Organic butter
• Any spices (especially cinnamon and sea salt)

Liquids (in the 75% category)

• Purified water (ideally living spring water placed in glass rather than plastic. If you cannot find this, reverse osmosis water like Essentia is a good option)
• Fresh-squeezed orange juice
• Green juice or any juice combination you and your child enjoy
• Coconut water
• Nut milks (ideal if you make this yourself, but there are some good, high-quality brands you can purchase – see our store for some good options)
• High-quality apple cider or juice (Pasteurized apple cider or juice is not ideal, but it’s fine if high-quality, 100% juice, no added sugar, and diluted with water. See our store for some good options)

AVOID all foods in the Toxic category of the Food Chart!

HELPFUL GUIDELINES FOR BUSY SCHEDULES

We know your schedules are intensely demanding, so we encourage you to create a system you can rely on! With a consistent approach, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel each week.

Take into Consideration:

• Your budget
• Refrigerator and pantry items
• On-the-counter produce (This is the fresh fruit that will be accessible to your children all day so they actually eat lots of fruit without you even mentioning it!)
• Shopping (Whether it’s small daily trips to local shops, online shopping for bulk items, or a long ride to a farmers’ market once or twice a week, develop a regular routine, and don’t forget to ask about order and delivery options!)
• Your child’s lunch bag items
• Dinners at home (Do you like to entertain or have candle-lit dinners with your spouse? If so, by all means factor these important evenings into your schedule to maintain a sense of joy at home. It makes a big impression on our children to see us keeping the romance and magic alive in our daily lives. Try a candle-lit dinner for the whole family!)
• A list of rules for feeding your child that you can use to brief a babysitter
• Travel needs (if applicable)
• Vegetables for juicing

STRATEGIES FOR MAINTAINING BALANCE:

1. Your child will probably want to start trying things like pasta, cookies, chips, and pizza. See the Transition Foods Chart for for healthier substitutes. Just remember, don’t let the diet exceed 25% of these foods.

2. Unless your child has serious digestive issues, you do not need to obsess about quick-exit food combinations at this time. Most children have naturally strong bowels. In the end, you probably won’t be successful enforcing quick-exit combinations anyway, so this is one battle not worth fighting! However, do keep in mind the “light to heavy” principle throughout your child’s day to aid digestion; but again, do not stress about this!

3. Make your home a safe “grazing zone” for your children. Put out bowls of fresh whole fruit. Also, create a cabinet of accessible treats, such as Cascadian Farms bars, Kashi cookies, or dried fruit, and keep natural popsicles in the freezer. Home should be an empowering place for your children, food-wise. Among the high-quality foods you make accessible to them, let them flex their independence muscles! You may be more restrictive about playdates and other social interactions, so counterbalance this by allowing them to make choices throughout the day and in your home.

4. Print our Lunch Bag Ideas page to help you prepare lunches the night before or in the morning before school.

5. When you are out and about with your child, take along fresh fruit or other healthy snacks so you do not find yourself in positions where you will have to compromise.

6. Do not force food on your child. Children know when they are hungry and will stop eating when they are full.

7. If your child does not want to eat the dinner or meal you have prepared and you are concerned they will be hungry later, try saying something like, “If you’re hungry later, Mommy’s not going to cook again, so this is your last chance for a warm dish. But you can have it cold later, or have a banana or another piece of fruit.” By doing this, you are giving your child the freedom to eat when he or she is actually hungry—but you’re also teaching your child that you are not a short-order cook!

8. If you bring your child with you to the grocery store, empower him or her to help with the shopping. One fun idea is to have your child pick out 3 fruits and 3 vegetables that he or she has never tried before, and you can try them together as a family.

9. Remember, if your child is eating extremely well 90% of the time and only moderately well or not so well the rest of the time, you are still on a very good path!

CONVERTING THE PICKY EATER

We realize some of you may be new to this lifestyle and you may already have a child who refuses to eat fruits, vegetables, and anything that resembles a fruit or vegetable! Mainstream foods, like many drugs, are highly addictive and numbing to the sense of taste, so it is no wonder that after exposure to these foods our children will gravitate toward them exclusively. Moreover, children will crave more of the same chemical-laden foods to experience the same “high” as they get older. Therefore, now is the time to really “nip it in the bud” and be firm about the changes you want to make.

At this point, your child has probably had his or her fair share of colds, flus, ear infections, eczema or other skin issues, and possibly more serious digestive, respiratory, and autoimmune disorders. These ailments can be due to compromised lineage, but they are mainly the body’s way of signaling that something unnatural is going into the body, resulting in blockages within the system. Suppressing these conditions with drugs without addressing the causes of the sickness in the first place will only result in recurrence and chronic illnesses in the future. This is a great time to start gently transitioning your child toward a more health-generating diet.

If you put natural foods in front of your child and he or she refuses to eat them, you will probably have some painful days or weeks. The transition may be challenging at first; when embarking on any significant life change, it takes persistence and a deep desire to do what you know is right. Do your best to keep your goals in mind and remind yourself that your child will not starve! In fact, over time, your child will develop a taste for life-generating foods. However, the process doesn’t have to be completely miserable for you or your child! Below are some additional tips and tricks to keep the transition enjoyable.

TIPS & TRICKS

• Simply upgrading the quality of what your child is eating today will make a huge difference. Click here to see some suggestions: Transition Foods Chart.
• Stress the quality over the quantity of the foods your children are getting. If they are eating large amounts of processed, dead foods today, they are actually starving nutritionally! Therefore, if they start to eat just a little bit of natural, whole, live foods, or consume some green juice in the morning, they will be getting more nutritional value today than they were yesterday. Remember, what is important is progress, not perfection!
• Focus on the fruits and vegetables they do like without worrying about variety. If they will eat an apple every day, give them an apple every day!
• Use some tricks of the trade to make fruits and vegetables more attractive. For example, try raw honey, tahini, or almond butter on fruits such as bananas and apples; high-quality marinara sauce on acorn squash or avocado; or hummus with baked sweet potato. This is a great way to start getting the fruits and vegetables into your child’s diet. As your child’s palate changes, you may eventually be able to eliminate some of these extras.
• Planting gardens, growing herbs, and having your child help you cook or prepare foods can help them enjoy the foods more. When children (and adults, too) understand the source of their food, they are more likely to appreciate it. We want our children to understand the “why” behind our decision to change their diet.

PRESCHOOL

It is common for preschools to provide snacks or to have parents provide snacks for their children. These snacks normally consist of Goldfish, cookies, pretzels, and other items we do not want to be feeding our children on a daily basis. It is very important to have conversations with your child and say things like, “Sweetheart, I don’t like you to eat those things because they poison your blood and take away your strength.” Be playful and creative in using terminology that connects with your child but that’s also true (such as the above statement, which is well-tested and child-approved!). For these snack times, pack your child healthy and tasty alternatives so he/she has good options to choose from.

School birthday celebrations will also become commonplace at this time. These celebrations usually bring with them cookies, cupcakes, birthday cake, and candy. If your child’s class is fairly large, these birthday celebrations can occur as frequently as once a week or every other week, and this is far too frequent for such mainstream indulgences! Fortunately, many schools nowadays are finding it makes more sense to celebrate all the birthdays within the same month on one communal day.

Typically these parties are held at snack or lunchtime. This makes it easy. If you want to be flexible, just instruct your child—and ask the teacher to reinforce this—to eat his or her own snack and/or lunch first, and then allow your child to enjoy a bit of birthday “treat.” Or, if you opt for a stricter approach, you can pack an alternative dessert for your child. The latter route will depend on many factors, such as your personal dedication, your child’s health needs, allergies, and reactions to refined sugar and other processed substances and food additives. Take into consideration the frequency of these parties and what you feel is right for your child at any given time—both physically and emotionally.

There are as many reasons to bend the rules as there are reasons to be steadfast. Again, intelligence and intuition are your best guides. Whichever choice you make, it is important to consistently communicate with your child so they understand why eating birthday cake and cupcakes is not in their best interest for either the short term or the long term. It’s much better for your child to be conscious of the fact that this treat for the taste buds is not actually a treat for the body’s blood, cells, and overall strength than to have no awareness at all. Either choice is fine, as long as it’s a conscious choice, not a conditioned one! Children understand more than we give them credit for—so don’t sell your child’s intelligence short!

Many parents are concerned that if their child eats differently from the rest of the class, he or she will be made fun of, left out, or labeled “weird.” We like to remind them that there are many kids with special dietary needs these days—whether due to allergies, early onset sickness, or religious or cultural beliefs. There is no reason to fear that your kid will be “weird” or cast out of the group because he or she doesn’t eat salami and cheese and chicken nuggets for lunch! Now if you feed your kid a mainstream diet that triggers autism, obesity, or diabetes at an early age, you can be sure that he or she will have much more difficult social issues to contend with. Keeping the big picture in mind makes adhering to your beliefs much easier.

While health is obviously a serious topic, it is still important to have a sense of humor around unpredictable situations, which you will find yourself in on occasion. We parents at Life Force Families have found that it is very helpful to give kids, teachers, and other parents the benefit of the doubt. As long as you communicate your preferences clearly and respectfully, they will generally be agreeable—and, who knows, your child’s eating habits may rub off on others! Many teachers we encounter are just as troubled by the foods their young students eat as we are, and they will happily support you.

THE DROP-OFF PLAYDATE

In addition to the new situations at school, preschool-aged kids are at an important phase of social development. They will begin to socialize with other children and will want to experiment with foods outside of the home. It is good for them to try new things! Remember, if you are still feeding your kids health-generating foods 90% of the time, the occasional treat is not going to be the end of the world! Normally, kids raised on a clean diet will only eat a few bites of these other foods anyway, so allow some freedom within your boundaries.

Most parents mistakenly believe they feed their children well. This can make it tricky to provide your child with food from your home without insulting other parents. In this potentially uncomfortable situation, you can say something like, “My child only eats fruit between meals. I’d appreciate it if that’s all s/he has to eat while s/he’s here.” Or “He/she has special dietary needs, so I’ve put together a little bag of things that s/he can eat.” It may take a little trial and error, but you will find an approach that works for you. In our experience, these playdates are not a time to abandon your boundaries, but a time for reinforcement and steadfast dedication. Treat them as extensions of their playtimes at home. Your child is better off having clearly understood boundaries than ending up confused and always testing limits. A little bit of flexibility and experimentation is important once in a while, but remember, kids like consistency because it makes them feel secure. If you’re always bending here and there, you’ll never set a proper foundation.

TV, MEDIA, AND VIDEO GAMES

The brainwashing effect of modern media is fast, deep, and lasting. It begins the moment you switch the TV or Internet on. As soon as your children are exposed to targeted marketing, they start to be robbed of their power. Exposing your children to the constant stream of commercials and the insidious messages of mainstream programming cements their social conditioning. In addition, TV shows and the Internet are extremely addictive, and too much exposure to television and computer content can erode your children’s attention spans.

There is plenty of great entertainment for kids without ever switching on the TV. Consider buying, renting, and checking quality shows out from your local library, or even from online video stores. Consider banning TV at home (as many of us do), but reserve the right to pop in high-quality old childhood favorites—like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver, Pollyana, Mary Poppins, Annie, the Shirley Temple movies, The Little Rascals, Flipper, or Lassie. Our kids do not always have to watch what is on TV today (mostly junk) and this can be a fun trip down memory lane for you. The old musicals are especially fun!

The world naturally offers enough stimulation for children without the need to push all those synthetic products on them. If you protect your children from the barrage of marketing and social programming, they will gravitate toward the natural and simple. Plunking your kids in front the TV, computer, or video games might seem to buy you time for yourself, but in the end it’s a trap for both of you and them. Children who are not overexposed to technological stimulation tend to enjoy the full range of nature’s wonders (such as bugs, leaves, flowers, and wildlife) and all manner of arts and crafts projects far more than TV and video games. Best of all, they become completely engrossed in their discoveries, and you too can enjoy these quiet moments to yourself. This is how children learn about themselves and their environment.

One rule you may want to enforce is a complete ban on video games in the home. At the very least, violent games should be completely off-limits. The hyper-stimulating flashing screens may erode your child’s eyesight, brain development, and attention span, and the violent images will embed themselves in your child’s consciousness and nervous system. During this impressionable time in your child’s life, we highly recommend a no-video-game rule.

THE ADDICTIVE NATURE OF TELEVISION

If you are interested in reading further on this subject, Thom Hartmann speaks eloquently on it in The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight:

“One measure of a drug’s addictive potential is what percentage of people can take it up or put it down at will and with ease. This behavior is called chipping a drug—occasionally using it, but also walking away from it without pain or withdrawal for months or years at a time. Research reported in Science News found that while large percentages of people could chip marijuana, and medium percentages of people could chip alcohol, cocaine, and even heroin, very, very few people (less than 5%) could chip tobacco. But imagine a “drug” that fewer than even 5% of Americans could walk away from for a month at a time without discomfort. Such a drug, by the definitions of addiction, would be the most powerfully addictive drug ever developed.

In addition to discouraging chipping behavior, this drug would also have to stabilize people’s moods. It would put them into such a mental state that they could leave behind the boredom or pain or ennui of daily life. It would alter their brainwaves, alter their neurochemistry, and constantly reassure them that their addiction to it was not, in fact, an addiction but merely a preference. Like the alcoholic who claims to only be a social drinker, the user of this drug would publicly proclaim the ability to do without it…but in reality would not even consider having it be completely absent from his home or life for days, weeks, or years.

Such a “drug” exists.

Far more seductive than opium, infinitely more effective at shaping behavior and expectations than alcohol, and used for more minutes every day than tobacco, our culture’s most pervasive and most insidious “drugging agent” is television. Many drugs, after all, are essentially a distilled concentrate of a natural substance. Penicillin is extracted from mold; opium, from poppies. Similarly, television is a distilled extract—super-concentrated, like the most powerful drugs we have—of “real” life.

People set aside large portions of their lives to watch a flickering box—hours every day. They rely on that box for the majority of their information about how the world is, how their politicians are behaving, and what reality is, even though the contents of the box are controlled by a handful of corporations, many of which are also in the weapons and tobacco and alcohol business. Our citizens wake up to this drug, consume it whenever possible during the day, and go to sleep with it. Many even take it with their meals.

Most people’s major life regrets are not about the things they’ve done, but about the things they’ve not done, the goals they never reached, the type of lover or friend or parent they wished they’d been but know they failed to be. Yet our culture encourages us to sit in front of a flickering box for dozens (at least) of hours a week, hundreds to thousands of hours a year, and thereby watch, as if from a distance, the time of our lives flow through our hands like dry sand.”

DEVELOPMENT

Around the age of 3 or 4, children develop the ability to communicate with the natural world around them, and some researchers have found that children at this time actually have what many would call “extrasensory perception.” In addition to being able to communicate with animals and other animate and inanimate elements around them, many children can see energy colors or “auroras” around people and objects; communicate telepathically, especially with their mothers; and even predict future events.

Perhaps you can even recall this heightened perception from your own childhood—e.g., having conversations with your family pet, listening to the whispering of the trees, seeing rocks and leaves as having their own personalities and histories, or inventing elaborate stories about the world around you. Many of us write this phenomenon off as merely part of childhood innocence and do not consider it real. However, a closer look at the few remaining indigenous cultures in the world suggests that communication with nature and perception beyond what we can see is not only possible and natural, but also an extremely helpful survival tool.

Animals also have the capability to sense and communicate what is happening around them. For example, before an earthquake, domestic animals become nervous and rats and mice leave buildings. In addition, researchers have found that the capability of our children to see, hear, and communicate with the natural world is in fact real and a natural part of development. Unfortunately, by the age of 7 or 8, most children in modern civilization lose this capability. There are many contributing factors to this silencing of the natural world, including parental admonishment and a society that only embraces what can be seen and measured.

This is a time to encourage fantasies and imaginative play. Do not be so quick to dismiss and write off what your child sees and believes as mere childishness. Quite possibly, he or she is seeing something you are not! And perhaps, if we really listen to our children, we can learn a few things about what Mother Nature is trying to tell us at this point in history. With their heightened perception, sensitivity, and intuition, our children can help lead us back into the interconnected web of life.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Preschool marks the beginning of your child’s more autonomous stages of life. Just as a proper in-arms period during infancy sets the stage for security and independence for the baby and toddler, a happy home with clear boundaries provides a safe haven as your child begins his/her exploration of the world. Establishing boundaries with built-in flexibility will help your child feel safe to make choices and reduce anxiety for you.

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