Say no to moo

J has been complaining of headaches for the past month or so. It's not every day but I would say at least a few times a week. We have tried staying on top of his water intake, making sure his blood pressure doesn't dip, if he's over tired, etc. A few weeks ago when my mom was in town he had the start of a cold. Goopy nose and again a headache. He started in with this strange "yawning" motion. It went on repeatedly throughout the day. Not sure what was going on I placed a call to the Dr. Their recommendation was an MRI. Z and I talked, no way, not right now. He would have to be sedated and knowing our little one, any little one for that matter, this would surely be somewhat traumatizing. We took the wait and monitor him approach. The next day, his yawning thing was gone.

Fast forward to current. Here we are a few weeks later and he has another cold (both kids actually) and his "yawning" motion has come back. We had a very busy weekend filled with no naps, too much stimuli, not eating great, and way lack of sleep. Yesterday was awful. Complaints of headaches, yucky nose, throwing up and bedtime at 6pm. Here I sit typing this and trying to make sense in my head of what is going on with my little man. I'm hesitant to call the Dr. again. They have given me their recommendation but Z and I are just not feeling that's where we should go as of yet. So I've started a daily log. Keeping track of the food he's eating, the rest he's getting, how his behavior has been, any abnormal changes throughout the day and making sure he's having adequate amounts of water. Our newest change we plan to implement, no dairy. We already try and limit processed foods, no high fructose corn syrup, limit the sweets and eat mostly organic food. We will start with the dairy and see if there are any changes and then possibly move on to gluten free. I have a friend who is a chiropractor and will get him adjusted at some point as well.

It's amazing the changes you make in your life for your little ones. The amount of research I have been doing on this, thinking of every possible cause of these headaches and making any change that may be necessary. Our primary goal as parents is to protect our children, to keep them safe. Every decision we make, we make thinking of our children and the direct impact it may have on them. Z and I know that we don't want this MRI to happen unless it something that is completely necessary. No way do we want to put J through that if we don't have to. Today is day one of no dairy. I'm already looking ahead and problem solving how we will make this work. Saturday we have a birthday party. How can I tell J, sorry no cake for you, so instead I will make a pan of dairy free cupcakes and bring them for him so he can also feel included. This will be tough on all of us, a life change that I am hopeful all of us may benefit from. After all, do we really need so much moo in our diets? Today is the day we say no to moo!

Have any of you readers cut out a food and seen an improvement in you or your child's health? I'm in need of encouraging words through this change.

XO