My oldest turns 8 in just a couple of months. Which means that come January 30th I’ll have been breastfeeding or pregnant for 8 years and 7 months. WHOA. I know that’s not the longest anyone has breastfeed or been pregnant but it’s still a lot of years. From early on in my pregnancy with Mason I knew that I wanted to breastfeed him. I wanted what was best for him and for me, my son, and our family breast feeding was it. It didn’t hurt that breast milk is FREE.
From the moment I became pregnant my life shifted. It wasn’t about me anymore and instead about the little tiny bean growing inside of me. I wanted what was best for him. I wanted him to be healthy and strong. Mason was the beginning of our journey towards a more natural lifestyle, Elena was the catalyst and Kyla and Emilia solidified the deal. They were just little beans when I saw them for the first time. They needed me to do the best I could for them!
Over the last 8 years I’ve come so far and I’ve learned so much about what it means to live a more natural lifestyle. One of the most fascinating things I’ve learned about is how connected our immune system is to our gut microbiome. Which is why I started taking probiotics when I was pregnant with Kyla. I wanted to make sure my immune system stayed strong during my pregnancy and I knew that my immune system would have an effect on hers. Once she was born I remember thinking about adding probiotics into her diet but I was assured that simply by breastfeeding her, I was giving her all the immune boosting help she needed.
While breastfeeding was helping a ton, it wasn’t the full story. Sure, she was less likely to catch the common cold or a stomach while breastfeeding but there’s so much more to what it means to be healthy.
Are our kids really healthy?
Did you know there are AT LEAST two children with food allergies in almost every kindergarten classroom (FARE), I know that’s the case with Mason’s classroom. What about that the rate of obesity doubles as children grow from toddlers to teens? (CDC). Here’s another fun fact. 9.6 million children under the age of 18 have eczema, out of those 3.2 million children, that’s 33% have severe cases. That last statistic includes my children. Although episodes have been few and far between in the last couple of years! One more fun fact, over one million CHILDREN in the U.S. have type 1 diabetes (American Diabetes Association).
Remember when I told you that our immune system is related to our gut health? That little piece of information goes DEEP. What researchers are finding is that compared to our grandparent’s generation a specific type of good gut bacteria called B. infantis has gone missing in many present-day U.S. babies which causes an imbalance in the gut that doesn’t always cause symptoms or seen from the outside.
Crazy right? The presence of B. infantis reduces the potentially harmful bacteria linked to the dreaded colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes AND obesity. All that from a little bacteria. Who knew right?
Where did B. infantis go?
Over the course of many years B. infantis has disappeared due to the unintended consequences of medical practices like c-sections, antibiotics, and formula. This hits home for me especially because I was born via c-section with a mother on antibiotics AND I was formula fed. While my kids haven’t been tested for B. infantis it is very likely that they don’t have it present in their gut, especially Mason since I was on antibiotics with him while I was in labor.
How do we get B. infantis back?
We supplement of course, with the help of Evivo. It’s the only probiotic that’s clincally proven to restore baby’s gut to the way it was suppose to be. If B. infantis and all the other good gut bacteria is thriving before a baby is weaned they’re more likely to develop a healthy metabolism and immune system later in life. Something I want all my little love bugs to have!
Lucky for me Emilia isn’t even close to being weaned and I can help to restore her gut health. I want that for your babies too.
Be #SmartAsAMother and get B. Infantis back into your little. Start a comeback. Use code BLOG4161 to get $10 off an Evivo Probiotics Starter Kit of 4 weeks or more. Get even more back by using code BLOG4162 to get $20 off a 12, 20, or 24 week starter kit.
These coupon codes can be redeemed by the first 50 readers and expires January 30, 2018.
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