How we treat a stomach bug with natural remedies

We just got through a weekend of a not so fun sickness in Bodie. There is an unbelievably strong and very contagious stomach bug making its rounds through Colorado. Sadly Bodie caught it and that put me into "natural remedy" beast mode. Yes, even the best preventative measures can't keep some very strong bugs away. I stand my ground that by the use of preventative remedies, this virus cycled through Bodie fairly quickly. We can also lessen the intensity and shorten the duration of a sickness with very effective alternative medicine.  I want to share how we handle any sickness in our house using natural methods to include essential oils. homeopathy, herbs, nutrition and chiropractic adjustments.Oh and most important REST REST REST!

Knowing that there has been a very contagious bug going around, we did the best we could to build our immune systems and ate a very nutritious diet. Even the best prevention cant keep all sickness at bay and lets face, kids WILL get sick. It is also good for a body to have the chance to fight an illness as this will boost immunity. Immunity is VERY important for health as a child grows.

This bug hit around dinner time on Friday night, at least that is when I noticed a change in Bo's
behavior. My normal healthy eater was being very picky, throwing his food on the floor and screaming for me to pick him up. I tried offering many types of food, and all he ate was a small puree pouch. He acted fine after that, maybe a little fussier but still played until bedtime. We got him ready for bed with a relaxing bath, I nursed him and he fell asleep in my arms. Then about 30 min after putting him in bed both Andrew and I heard what we thought was choking. We heard it again coming from our room, then cries started. Sure enough, he was covered in puke. My heart broke for him. Andrew decided to just jump in the shower with him to rinse him off. We got him into clean clothes and he fell back asleep in my arms. within minutes, he was projectile vomiting all over me, himself and the bed. We quickly undressed him, cleaned him back up and just laid towels down on the bedroom floor, near the tile so we could quickly move him with easier clean up.

The beginning- on the bathroom floor

We sat on the bathroom floor for a little while, allowing him to move about because he was uncomfortable staying still. I know all too well how it feels so I let him do his thing while I comforted him the best I could. He eventually fell asleep laying on top of me while I sat in the most uncomfortable position on the bedroom floor right next to the bathroom tile. But it didn't matter how comfortable I was; all that mattered was that Bodie was comfortable.

At this point, he still hadn't reached a fever but I started scanning my brain for what I knew of to help ease a stomach virus and to reduce symptoms. We got out the Thieves essential oil and mixed it with coconut oil. *For information on each remedy I used, I go into detail at the end of this post*. Basically, Thieves is a very strong, natural anti-viral, anti-bacterial essential oil. We rubbed it along his spine and he stayed asleep for a good stretch. This continued throughout the night, with several wakings of dry heaving but quickly back to sleep. I tried nursing but that just came right back up. We decided to keep all fluids out of him for the remainder of the night.

The next morning, Bo was crying out for water. I let him have his sippy cup but within 10 min he was

On the car ride to Dr. Patti's. Such a sad face :(

puking the water up. Andrew took him into the shower again to clean him up. We got him dressed and headed off to our amazing chiropractor, who agreed to see us even though she was not in the office. This woman is amazing! On our way, B-man was looking very pale and lethargic and was dosing off to sleep. We finally got to the chiro and Dr Patti adjusted his lower back and opened the nerve pathways to his tummy. His color came back almost immediatly and his eyes brightened back up. The power of chiropractic adjustments can never be underestimated! On the drive home, I even got some smiles out of him. Talk about relief from mama! I was getting worried about his lethargy.

Feeling a bit better after getting adjusted

During our time out, we had no puking thankfully. In fact, his vomiting completely went away for the duration of his sickness. He only threw up for a span of 12 hours tops. Once we got home, Bodie was acting hungry so I heated up some homemade bone broth that I always keep on hand for sicknesses and for everyday prevention. He sucked it down and best of all, he kept it down! He started to regain his energy and started laughing again. Quickly though he became very tired so we snuggled on the couch for a bit and then he went down for a good nap. We cycled the rest of the day of napping, regaining energy, then quickly becoming tired again. Once we applied the essential oils back to his feet, he swiftly dosed off and woke up energized again.

Napping on mommy makes everything better

Daddy cuddles are nice too.

After he awoke that evening, we noticed signs of congestion and runny nose. I used Eucalyptus essential oil and rubbed this on his chest and bottoms of his feet. Within an hour, his breathing cleared and his eyes were not watering anymore. I kept with the eucalyptus oil throughout the evening and placed some in a diffuser as well. I also gave him some homeopathic remedies to ease the cold symptoms. Before bed, Bodie spiked a fever of 101, nothing worrisome but you could tell it bothered Bodie. We knew to let the fever do what it was meant to do so we didn't give him anything to reduce it. A fever is a good thing the body does to kill off whatever is invading the body. If the fever spiked further and kept up for more than 24 hours, then we would look at other options. Thankfully, the fever broke throughout the night and it was down to 99.1 by morning.

Sunday morning and all flu like signs were gone except for one bout of a diaper blow out, but the congestion and runny nose were taking over. We steamed a shower with eucalyptus oil and that cleared his breathing again. He nursed, drank more bone broth and coconut water and then took a nap in my arms again.

When awake, he was able to eat a banana just fine which gave him more energy. As the day went on, he slowly regained more and more energy, had some more great naps, and was able to eat more. In fact, he was becoming his little energizer bunny self again :)

Feeling better!

Back to his mischief self on Sunday night during the Super Bowl

Before bed Sunday night, we re-applied the Thieves oil, placed Eucalyptus on his chest and he VERY quickly fell asleep. We were worried he would wake often with his congestion but he slept very very well, even cuddling up next to daddy for a portion of the night. He slept in pretty late into the morning as well. So thankful his body is so smart to know when its time to rest! When he woke, he
was hungry and was able to nurse and eat a pear and some oatmeal. He went about his morning playing as usual and so far his schedule as been fairly normal. He went down for his normal nap around 10:00 so I think we are back on track!

When people hear that we do not go straight to conventional medicinal remedies, they think we just let our son tough it out without relief. It is anything FAR from that. In fact, we probably do more than most people do to support the body's natural healing process. I spent this entire weekend helping Bodie work through this sickness, holding him as he napped to ensure he was as comfortable as possible. I try not to view a sickness as something terrible, but as something that helps the body build itself up and come out stronger on the other side. Do I think a flu shot could have prevented this? Not in the least. I am grateful for true, natural medicine and even more grateful for the support and guidance of our chiropractor, Dr. Patti.

Natural remedies for a cold or flu

Essential oils-

Theives essential oil- mixed with a carrier oil such as coconut or almond. Rubbed on the bottoms of the feet for prevention, rubbed along the spine during acute sickness. I use strictly Young Living Essential oils because of the purity and the safeness to even ingest the oils internally.

Lemon essential oil in a diffuser- Lemon kills airborne germs.

Eucalyptus oil- anti viral and helps with respiratory symptoms. Mix with a carrier oil and rub on feet and chest when there is congestion.

Chiropractic adjustments

This is like a huge immune system boost. An adjustment will open the nerve pathways to the stomach and help ease digestion. Almost immediate relief was seen in Bodie, Color was back in his face and his personality was coming back.

Homeopathic and herbal remedies for children


Children's Cold Calm- I gave 2 pellets every 15 min for a total of 60 min. I repeated this 3 X a day

Children's Flu Relief- Same as above, but not during the same hour. This stuff gave immediate relief when Bodie was in the thick of flu-like symptoms.
Sniffle Support- this remedy is awesome for colds with runny noses and sneezing. I did not use this this past weekend, but thought I would recommend it anyway because we have seen huge success with this product

Nutrition

Bone broth- contains high mineral content and helps repair the stomach from a sickness. Bodie regained energy after drinking just a couple sips.

Coconut water- excellent source of electrolytes, especially after vomiting and/or diarrhea. Stay away from Gatorade and the like, they just contain gross sugars and not a good source of nutrition. A banana is even better than Gatorade.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil- Taken everyday as preventative measure and helps shorten the duration of sickness with a high content of Vit D.

Food- For prevention, I stick to a whole foods diet to include animal protein with animal fat, raw dairy to include butter and yogurt, tons of fresh fruit and veggies with an emphasis on greens (kale, spinach, broccoli, chard etc), avocados, nut butter and bone broth. We limit grains and include them on occasion, but our diet does not revolve around grains. We very rarely eat corn and no wheat. I will say that soaked oats a hit with Bodie, especially mixed with raw yogurt and fruit. We eat very little sugar, mostly in the forms of natural sugar, maple syrup and honey.

Not related but just wanted to share his cute little curl after his shower this morning :)