Please don't go away, Undertoad. I never got a chance to kick you in your stupid balls.

You can kick me in a different thread.

I liked your cookie. mmmmmm

I dunno, Toad. Getting kicked in the thread really hurts.

Clod knows you support her. Don't disconnect on this.

Sorry Toad, didn't mean to make you sad. I totally agree with your point, I just feel like you're trying so hard to prove your point in a thread that I don't think is about proving a point - I think it's more about hearing how Clod's trial and error is going, and what she has learned from her experiences, and how it is making her life a teensy bit easier to cope with each day, not whether it's a valid proven scientific point.

Please don't leave.

It's cool UT, I get what you're saying and I'm not offended. We should bump the Vaccination & Epidemic thread to keep the science debate and personal support separate.

(And then I can tell you in that thread exactly what happened on the day when my daughter was 12 months old and stopped speaking. Hint: I was in the pediatrician's office, and I consider it the biggest fuckup of my life, because while I hadn't had time to do all the research I've done by now, I had done enough that I should have known better.

On second thought, I actually should stay out of that thread, because I'll admit right now that nothing anyone can say from this point on will ever convince me I'm wrong about vaccines, because I watched it fucking happen right in front of me. I am the very definition of a closed mind on the subject.)

I'm sorry too T, I didn't mean to make you sad either. This whole subject tends to make me extra bitchy I guess... pisses me right off actually. Nothing personal.

:hugs Clod:
You're doing the best you can do, and a damn good job of it. Don't carry that guilt around.

Well, too late for that. :) But I figure I can redeem myself by making them better, and spreading the word to help other kids while I'm at it.

Hah, little late on this one. Sorry:

Gummis were just one data point. But wasn't it one data point in a series of others? The other foods/consumables that, when discontinued, marked an improvement, or vice versa. Stopping them wasn't just a dramatic shift; it was a dramatic shift which mimicked the other dramatic, food-related behavior shifts.

I guess the point is that IMO one's children should not be by default a clinical trial; every meal is a trial enough, from the sounds of it. Prior to the full-on hard-proof scientific method is a period of observation and field work, after which a hypothesis can be formed and specific studies can be done.

On the other hand, part of the understanding Clod is working on seems to be that the triggers are very distinct from person to person, even two siblings from the same parents. By nature sample sizes will, at this stage, be small, and the changes overlapping.

How about Kefir?
 

Goat Milk?
Most experts claim that the best kefir is made from raw goat’s milk, but cow’s milk also works, even if it has been pasteurized. If fact, people have made kefir from soy milk, coconut milk, and even fruit juices. But kefir grains differ in the combinations and proportions of bacteria and yeasts they contain, so not every grain is compatible with every food.

It sounds like the starter for kefir is pretty vigorous and should be free of nasty grains etc. I'm going to put Pete on this when we get milking again next summer.

You can get kefir at Whole Foods.

Reminds me, I was just reading about some woman who is working hard to get camel milk introduced to the USA. Apparently there would be decent market for it in the immigrant communities. And it's supposed to be extremely healthy so it might catch on elsewhere. She just has to go through a bunch of government red tape first.

We get it at Wegman's, unless you mean the starter?

I mean, kefir that is packaged and flavored specifically for kids.