Thursday, July 30, 2009

Glass Popsicle Molds - Solved!

I haven't made popsicles in forever. The plastic molds went out with the recycling quite awhile ago and since then I've periodically researched for other alternatives without much fruition. But now that our living room AC is broken, I think I'm a bit more motivated!


There are food grade silicone ones available on Amazon, but to be honest I am still a bit leery of those. I heard that there is a company coming out with stainless steel soon. And I also read that using small glass jars from jam is a way to make your own molds. Unfortunately, I do not buy jam and or have any jars that small. Freezing glass can lead to the container cracking if it is not thick enough, like Pyrex or good mason jars. So I was not sure how to proceed with the glass idea. I thought for sure if I waited long enough a company would come out with glass molds. Still waiting!

But today in Ikea I came across these little 2oz glass cups called "Pokal". They were $3, so I thought why not? I did a test freeze with water when I got home. When the water was a bit solid, I put the pop stick in so it would stand up straight. And an hour or so later- voila! Perfect! You would just have to let the popsicle thaw a tiny bit to ease it out of the cup. I think I will buy another set so I will have 12 in all. They are perfect child-size pops. An adult might want two!

In the last edition of the Weston Price quarterly ( "Nourishing Traditions") there was an article about making nourishing popsicles. I am so on it ;)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Curing Oral Thrush in Babies Naturally


Recently, when checking to see if any new teeth were coming through, I noticed white spots in my son's mouth. Funny, I thought- do teeth come in THAT far back? And then it hit me, those were not teeth at all, but spots of oral thrush. He also had a coating of white on his tongue, upon further examination.

And then I proceeded to get nervous! I had heard more than once that a baby passing oral thrush to the mother is just hell for a nursing. I was so afraid that I would contract the thrush and the pain would be so bad that I would have to quit nursing. It sent me into a nervous tizzy! Not being able to nurse was not a road I wanted to go down since my son depends both nutrionally and emotionally on breastfeeding. So losing all of my bearings I called his doctor and got a prescription for Nystatin. I actually filled it. But then my husband brought me back to reality and said, "He doesn't need that medicine- you didn't even TRY to cure it naturally."

"True," I admitted, "OK, I'll figure out what to do."

As I gulped down my fear of burning nipples, I canvased the Internet for something I could try out. First I tried homeopathy. Kali muriaticum (Kali-mur) is the treatment for thrush. To be honest, I didn't notice any difference. So I started taking Culturelle and giving it to my son as well. Probiotics are very helpful in reigning in any sort of yeast imbalance.

In the meantime, before I nursed I made sure everything was clean by washing with water and vinegar. I knew it was a also key to keep the nursing area dry- so I made sure to change breast pads frequently. Yeast breed in moist areas, so I made sure the drier the better.

Upon more reading I came upon another treatment idea- grapefruit seed extract. It really did the trick! I used about 10 drops per ounce of water and swabbed it in his mouth every waking hour or so for probably 5 days. It wasn't easy to swab- I basically used a cotton ball and squeezed the concoction in his mouth until he got used it and kind of opened up. I don't blame him- it's very sour! But it did work- and I was all too glad!

Everything cleared up totally in about a week and the Nystatin went in the garbage- waste of a copay, but made me feel good that I was able to conquer the thrush naturally. Thanks to my husband who so patiently reminded me to try the natural first amid my fears :)

Some good links to read about oral thrush in babies:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/thrush.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t083100.asp
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-resources.html