You are my sunshine.....

It's a song I've sang to both my children since they were babies. Not only is it calming but the words are wonderful. Cooper is no doubt my little ray of sunshine in this crazy world. He makes me happy when skies are grey. A couple of months ago Cooper woke up and had pooped sometime in the night which is really unusal but anyway by the time he woke up and we changed his diaper his butt was raw. The poor baby. I put some cream on while he screamed bloody murder. It happened again during the day, pooping I mean, and again it burned him again. What could have caused this...Think..Think? Oh yea he had a antibiotic, which I hate, a couple weeks ago. He had a double ear infection and there was nothing I could do, naturally, for him. Anyway, antibiotics kill not only the good bacteria in your stomach but also kill the good. The normal gut flora keeps the dangerous disease producing bacteria from flourishing in the bowel. When you lose the good bacteria you are at risk of the bad bacteria taking over. Our "friendly" bacteria in the bowel are then being crowded out by more vicious disease-causing bacteria. This bad bacteria then causes a yeast overgrowth. The bad yeast thrives on sugars of any kind. Sugar such as bread, diary, cheese, all fruit and starchy veggie. Foods that are really hard to avoid when you're 2 yrs old. It put me in a pure panic mode because Carter had the same bad diaper rash when he was little. At the time I didn't know what it was other than a bad diaper rash. Now that I am more educated I freak out. As Cody says, I put my autism goggles on and thats all I can see. But my thinking is, how can I not? The word "Autism" flashes through my mind over and over dozens of times all day every day. It affects our every day so how can it not be on my mind? Other than a little bit of sensory issues I haven't seen red flags surrounding Cooper to make me think he is autistic, but after doing the research on yeast overgrowth I'm convinced its an issue in our home. For Carter, Cooper and myself. So what are you to do? Well I've found a nutritionist that specializes in special needs kids. Im hoping to meet with her soon about how to feed the kids. The only way you can kill the yeast is to starve it. Starve it meaning no sugars, etc. It's going to be very hard I'm sure once we start the diet, but even if we have to eat the littlest variety of foods to kill that horrible yeast then we will for sure do it. These are my children why wouldn't I do this. Yes it's a huge inconvenience but if this is what they need then we will do it! This post was really half personal to get my feelings jotted down but the other was just to raise some awareness of the dangers of antibiotics and yeast overgrowth. Things that I can suggest you do while I save money to meet the nutritionist is to educate yourself. The next thing I would suggest is to give your children probiotics. You can either give them a coconut yogurt or buy probiotic in a pill form. Both my children are taking Theralac. You can buy it at The Vitamin Shoppe. You do not have to get this specific kind. We simply use it because that 's what was suggested by Carter's Defeat Autism Now doctor. It has the one of the strongest strengths. It is in a capsule form so we have to mix it up in the kids coconut cultured milk. This drink is also good because it contains pre and probiotics. I am by no means suggesting everyone go on a anti yeast diet but simply suggesting that you educate your self about the signs and symptoms in you and your family after taking antibiotics.