Cool further and your DIY Baby Booty Butter is ready to use!

This is honestly THEE simplest homemade baby product I've ever made! You'll save a ton of money on my Crunchy Baby series of handmade baby products AND you'll feel great about protecting your little one from harmful chemicals.

Win, win!

love & life,, Lisa

Let's face it. Labor is hard work!  It is the most important hard work you'll ever do! That's where this LaborAde recipe can really help!

To keep labor normal and moving along, one of the most necessary factors is to make sure you are drinking plenty and urinating often!

Dehydration can change a normal labor (or pregnancy for that matter) into something abnormal really quickly!

Those who are familiar with normal, physiological birth understand and teach the importance of eating simple proteins and complex carbs in early labor to increase your stamina once you get into active labor.

Once your body hits 4-6 centimeters, you are considered to be in "active" labor.

Most women, aren't really too interested in eating in active labor so make sure what you're drinking supplies some extra "umphf" to keep yourself birthing strong. That's where this laborade recipe can really help.

My favorite laborade recipe (below) includes some berry flavored fruit juice which supplies a little extra natural glucose in addition to the honey in the recipe.  If you're not a fan of berry flavors, you can easily just leave the juice out and have a lemon flavored laborade, instead. If you do choose to leave the juice out, you may opt to decrease the water as well.  Without the juice and extra water, your recipe below should make about 1 quart of lemon flavored laborade instead of two.

You can make some popsicles with this recipe as well by adding extra berry flavored juice to the recipe and decreasing the water.

?Berry LaborAde Recipe

• 1 cup organic berry juice, cherry, raspberry, etc. (like this)
  

• ½ cup fresh lemon juice

• ? cup raw honey or to taste(like this OR buy local)
  

• ½ tsp pink Himalayan salt (like this)
  

• 4 calcium/magnesium capsules, opened (like this)
  

• 5-10 drops Essential Oil, (optional, good choices are any citrus, cinnamon or cassia. See Lisa's most-trusted brand here and the only one she recommends for internal use.)

• water to make 2 quarts

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together, chill and sip throughout labor.

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Birth Bold Mama!

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xoxo, Lisa?

We've all heard about the benefits of adults doing a cleanse for detoxification purposes but did you know that you can help your children feel well and draw toxins from their bodies by simply doing a simple detox bath for kids?

No matter how “green” we make our homes, kids are still exposed to many toxins, chemicals and germs on a daily basis. These chemical toxins come in through our foods, water, air and personal care products despite our best efforts.

We are inundated with chemicals from all sides!

• 2,100 toxins, including pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, and medications have been found in our water supply
• 80,000 metric tons of carcinogens are released into the air annually in North America
• Over 80% of foods have genetically modified ingredients
• The EPA estimates the average US citizen has residues from over 400 toxic compounds in their body
• 82,000 chemicals are in use today in the US, but only a fourth have ever been tested for toxicity

According to a Study Reported by the Environmental Working Group,

The Average Newborn is Born with Over 200 Chemical Toxins in Their Umbilical Cord!

Everyday chemicals are detrimental to your child's health, DNA and endocrine system and get stored in the body. There are so many great reasons to give regular detox baths! You can read further about “toxic loads” and “chemical body burdens” that we carry in our bodies here.

We know kids are little germ magnets.

Weekly detox baths for kids can support a child's immune system and reduce their “toxic load” thus becoming a really powerful tool in your “Doctor Mom” arsenal of tricks.

A detox bath typically has Epsom salts as a main ingredient which pulls out toxins and has amazing health benefits of its own.

Baking Soda neutralizes chemicals and chlorine in the water as well as provides another avenue for detoxification of their little body.

Virgin Coconut Oil provides extra moisture and nourishment to the skin as well as helping the essential oils cling to the skin.

Really high quality essential oils provide added therapeutic benefits. Unfortunately, many essential oils on the market are adulterated with additives, fillers and synthetics which would cause more harm than good. As with everything, buyer beware!

(Lavender is a great overall choice but you may want to use other essential oils depending on your child's health need. I'll offer you some suggestions at the end of this post).

Here's what a weekly detox bath for kids can do!

• Ease stress, promote relaxation and supports great sleep
• Support proper nerve, muscle and enzyme functions
• Reduce inflammation to relieve cramps and growing pains
• Improve oxygen use and supports better focus and concentration
• Improve absorption of nutrients which form joint proteins and brain tissue
• Help flush out accumulated toxins in the body thus reducing their toxic load
• Help support a strong immune system

How to Give Your Child a Detox Bath

Materials Needed

1/4-1/2 cup Baking Soda, depending on child's size

1/2-1 cup Epsom Salts or Magnesium Flakes, depending on child's size (where to purchase)

3-6 drops High Quality Essential Oils, depending on child's size (where to purchase)

1 TBSP Virgin Coconut Oil (where to purchase)

Step 1 Draw a very warm bath, as deep as your child's armpits, and stir in Baking Soda for a minute or two. Be mindful to make the bath as warm as they can stand it but not so hot as to burn their skin. Part of the detox process is to sweat!  (Important Note: Very warm detox baths are NOT recommended for newborns)

Step 2 Mix the Epsom Salts, Coconut Oil and Essential Oils together and stir them into the bath.

Step 3 Check the temperature and just add child!! Seriously, stay close since the water is kind of deep. You'll want your kiddo to stay in the water for at least 20 minutes so they sweat then slowly cool as the water cools. Skip the soap and don't wash her hair on detox bath night. Coconut oil will make her hair oily and it's difficult to remove.

The detox bath for kids will clean 'em up and have 'em smelling yummy sweet! After her detox bath, snuggle her up with a warm towel. Give lots of water to drink and high fiber foods to eat over the next 24 hours so the toxins leave her body.

Essential Oils for Specific Needs

Use one or any combination of the listed oils for that health need. When using high quality, pure and potent essential oils, just a few drops go a LONG way.

**After much research on the safety and effectiveness of essential oils, I only recommend the top quality essential oils on the market. I don't advise purchasing any other brand (I have tried most of them). Click Here to inquire about which essential oils I personally use and the only ones I recommend. Just let me know and I'll send you a quick email with lots of info and no pressure.

I'd love to connect with you and invite you to a community of essential oil users on my Essential Wellspring Facebook page so your learning continues. With the RIGHT essential oils, you can take care of your family's health needs in ways you never thought possible!

Calming Lavender, Calming Blend, Roman Chamomile, Grounding Blend or Frankincense

Tummy Support Digestive Blend, Lemon or Peppermint

Easy Breathing Respiratory Blend, Eucalyptus or Peppermint

Too Much Sun Lavender, Peppermint or Frankincense

Immune Support Protective Blend, Wild Orange, Lemon or Frankincense

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?Feel really empowered, mama, that you can help your little ones when they need it the most!

xoxo, Lisa

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Essential oils and affirmations for kids can offer a huge hand up this school year!

It's quickly upon us! Back to school planning, shopping and helping our kiddos get off to a great start is high on our "good mom" list.

Aside from the new tennies and backpacks, consider the emotional and study support your kids may need as they return to school.

Essential oils and affirmations are a great way to provide that edge!

It's proven that the fastest messages to reach our brain are through our sense of smell. Odors, good or bad, are ushered directly into the brain effecting us on an emotional level and actually changing our chemistry! Aromatherapy reaches the limbic brain and supports many different emotional and physiological processes. Couple this powerful benefit with positive affirmations and your kids will be armed with excellent tools to succeed!

As parents, we get the honor of teaching our kids that they have the ability to do anything in life they choose. I love how Walt Disney put it,

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"If you believe it, you can achieve it!"

What a beautiful gift to give our kids, the power of self talk, self-love and acceptance and the belief that they can achieve what they were put on this earth to accomplish.

Affirmations not only fill our cups with truth, they help counteract all the negative stuff that the world tries to feed us. We all know how cruel the kids at school can be.

I invite you to consider not only tucking little daily love notes here and there but give your kids a healthy dose of affirmations this year! Affirmations spoken aloud and coupled with pure essential oils have a positive impact on health, both emotional and physical and can be profound!

We talk to ourselves roughly 50,000 times a day. To succeed in life, we have got to take control over the negative self talk and replace it with life giving words. Start young, I say!

Certain essential oils support mental focus such as vetiver, wild orange and focus blend. Some provide extra immune system support such as wild orange, lemon and protective blend. Some just make us feel happier like all of the citrus oils! Just think about something as simple as sniffing a lemon. That clean, crisp smell is really uplifting and invigorating!

Let me get you started with a few simple affirmations for younger children. Be creative and teach them how to speak their truth. Make a game of it or choose one card (below) to work on each week, based on their needs.

Diffuse or use the suggested oils topically (at the base of their neck or on their toes) as you teach your children how to love and respect themselves by taking care of their own physical and emotional needs.

For topical use, dilution with a carrier oil is always a good idea for kids. You can make it even easier by making roller ball bottles with a high quality essential oil and topped off with a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil. Roller balls are an awesome way to help your kids become independent in supporting their own beliefs and emotions.

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hugs, Lisa

P.S. There are many essential oils on the market that are cut with synthetics or fillers and may have pesticide, herbicide or solvent residue. Choose only an essential oil that is grown and harvested properly in a sustainable and ethical fashion, distilled correctly at a low temperature and 3rd party tested to rule out any chemical adulteration.

If an essential oil is not safe to put in you, it's not safe to put ON you! Read your labels.?

After much research and experience with different brands, I've found and use the purest essential oils on the market  from the largest essential oil supplier in the world. I'll be glad to share that info with you right away. Connect with me here.

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This healthy lemonade recipe is spiked with refreshing peppermint and ginger essential oils to make this drink a summer splash hit!!

What you’ll need:

1 cup raw honey

12 cups filtered water

1 drop ginger essential oil

1 drop peppermint essential oil

6 fresh squeezed lemons / juice

Mint sprigs for garnish

Squeeze the lemons and mix the remaining ingredients into the lemon juice and chill. Chill out and enjoy this cool refreshing summertime drink!

Hugs, Lisa

P.S. Only use essential oils that are labeled for internal use! I’ll be glad to share my favorite brand, just ask!

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This easy to use Essential Oils Dilution Chart will help you safely use oils for all members of your family.

As a midwife, natural wellness educator, I'm often asked how to use essential oils safely for both children and adults. Essential oils are powerful and just a little bit goes a L-O-N-G way!

For topical use, dilution is always a good idea. Rest assured, you will not dilute the effectiveness but will make your essential oil go further since a very large percentage evaporates off of the skin when no carrier oil is applied. A carrier oil is just an oily oil that helps “carry” the essential oil into the body. That could be coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, olive oil or many others (blog post on carrier oils is forthcoming).

Dilution occurs when you drip a drop, or more of an essential oil into a carrier oil before applying to the skin

This is very important for using essential oils on little ones and helpful, even on adults. Not only does it absorb better, it spreads your essential oil over a larger surface area of your skin and that helps increase the effect.

How much to dilute depends on what type of health issue you are trying to address. Be sure to save and share our essential oils dilution chart but here are some quick guidelines to help you with some details.

Essential Oil Dilution Chart  Guidelines for Topical Use

• 0.3% dilution or less is appropriate for babies from birth to around a year of age. My general rule of thumb for newborns is to use only if needed, in consultation with a practitioner well-versed in essential oil safety for newborns. Newborns are so fresh and responsive that just 1 drop in a Tablespoon or two of carrier oil works well. Over 3 months, the 0.3% dilution is an appropriate application. Apply to the baby's feet and put on cotton socks.
• 1.5% to 3% dilution would be appropriate on children from 1-5 years, the elderly, pregnant women and those with compromised immunity or sensitive skin. This is a great dilution for rubbing over larger areas of skin in adults, basic skin support and daily use.
• 3% – 10% dilution is great for short-term use or for a temporary health issue where you may need extra respiratory support or for achy, tired or overworked muscles.
• 25%-50% dilution is sometimes warranted to support occasional muscle cramps, bruising, aches or for seasonal support.
• Neat or using essential oils, undiluted, on the skin should be done with understanding and care because some people can experience skin irritation or sensitivity.

Some essential oils that can be used without dilution by most people are: Melaleuca, Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Cypress, Eucalyptus and others.

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Keep in mind that we are all different in nature and chemistry so what may be totally fine for one person, may cause itching or discomfort in another. If that happens, just follow it with a carrier oil to immediately reduce any discomfort. Yep! Using a carrier oil quickly, reduces any skin discomfort…even in the eyes!

Refer to a quality reference guide, such as the “Modern Essentials, Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils” for information on which oils traditionally can be used without dilution and when that may be appropriate.

Most of the time, dilution is beneficial and does not detract from the essential oil’s ability to support your body’s health goals but… you can bet, if I get a bug bite, a sting or burn myself, I’m grabbing my bottle of lavender and putting it on asap!

Why THIS Midwife only uses one specific brand of essential oils

Be extremely cautious about which brand of essential oil you choose to use for your family’s health. Know your brand’s quality control standards from the inside out.

There are many adulterated essential oils on the market. After a LOT of research, I choose to use one specific brand of essential oils because of their rigorous standard of quality from start to finish. Here’s why.

Side note: I’m not trying to be weird, coy or salesy by not disclosing my brand here, I’m just playing by FDA rules which limit my ability to share that info freely on my own blog! It’s frustrating to say the least.

I’ll be glad to share which brand of essential oils I’ve settled on, after having done my research. Purity and Potency AND the integrity of the company are KING! Suffice it to say, there are a LOT of crappy essential oils out there that I would avoid like the plague! Check out the page on essential oils via the button below and I’ll send info on the highest quality oils currently available on the market, right out to you.

I chose a company that supports sustainable sourcing and giving back to the communities they source their oils from. This means they are not going out, ravishing the world for profit. They partner with indigenous growers from all over the world to source their plants where they grow the best. They protect sustainability and foster self-reliance in many impoverished cultures. This level of partnership requires that no chemical pesticides are used and that the distillation process is meticulously done at the lowest possible temperature, which ensures potency and purity.

Each batch is then sent out for third party testing to ensure that only the highest quality essential oils are being bottled and sold by them.

It’s either yes or no…pass or fail! If it isn’t up to snuff regarding potency and purity, it doesn’t get bottled by my company. Period! They utilize one of three different outside labs to verify my oils are free from contaminants, fillers, pesticides, chemicals and other forms of adulteration, which is very common in the essential oils marketplace.

They partner with researchers, universities and medical professionals to bring essential oils out of the fringe, hippy-oil category and into educational conversations and mainstream health care by providing the highest quality essential oils on the market.

This company comes from a whole-body wellness philosophy which I can get behind.

ALL of this verifiable testing is why, many healthcare professionals are, just now, paying closer attention to the research regarding the therapeutic benefits of essential oils. With this company, the credibility and quality standards are in place and I feel confident that I’m using and recommending the safest essential oils on the market.

hugs, Lisa