As parents, we want to do better once we know better. But the logistics of changing our children’s diet or throwing out all the unopened food in the pantry tend to be overwhelming and unrealistic.

Most of us have a catalyst - a diagnosis or an “Aha!” moment when we learned something new - and we want to change all at once. However, too much change isn’t workable and we will end up looking back on that Healthy Phase that we tried a few years ago and then gave up because it felt unsustainable. Instead, we need to use that catalyst to make responsible, realistic small changes. I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum over our family’s 8 year health journey, and it has definitely been a journey!

I’ve recently been asked by a new mother who is navigating food sensitivities and health decisions for her baby,

What can I do now? What should I do first? What can I do with my limited time? I need something realistic and workable.

For Moms starting at the beginning and wanting to make sustainable healthy changes in their homes, I would start here:

Divide everything into three categories.

Choose one item from each dropdown menu and focus 100% on those 3 things until they become fully integrated into your life. Once they don’t feel hard or inconvenient anymore, choose one more. This way you always have only three things you are working on. Keep reading for help on prioritizing.

Top Suggestions
REMOVE
- “Dirty Dozen” produce
- high fructose corn syrup and other refined sugars
- fruit juice
- food dye (hidden in condiments and medicine)
- skim/low fat milk (very hard to digest)
- meats with antibiotics
- preservatives
- GMO foods
- MSG and natural flavors
- radiated herbs and spices (supermarket herbs/spices)
ADD
- “Clean Fifteen” produce
- organic wheat products
- organic meat
- colorful food
- fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, beet kvass. You can “hide” these foods in normal meals)
- bone broth (add it into to soups, sauces, oatmeal, even smoothies)
- high quality vitamins
- irradiated herbs and spices (Azure Standard is my favorite)
Top Tips
REMOVE PRODUCTS WITH
- artificial fragrances
- SLS and parabens
- vasaline
- titanium dioxide
- Bad grades on EWG (not all “organic” baby products are safe! See my post on that here.)
ADD
- tallow based products
- coconut oil based products
- unscented for babies
- essential oil scented for older kids
- handmade items over store-bought (we probably all have friends who make lotions now)
- zinc instead of titanium dioxide
- EWG verified products
Top Tips:
REMOVE
- cleaners with bleach
- cleaners, soaps, detergents with fragrance
- artificially scented perfume
- deodorant with aluminum, dyes and fragrance
- “dirty” makeup
- non-stick cookware
- candles with paraben wax and artificial fragrance
- air fresheners
- chemical-based bug spray
- commercial bug spray/exterminators (We use Pesties instead)
ADD
- non-toxic cleaners: vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, Shaklee cleaners
- EWG certified soaps and makeup
- naturally scented perfume
- soy candles with essential oils
- essential-oil based bug spray
- stainless steel, ceramic, or cast-iron cookware
- Air purifiers (AirDoctor is the best but expensive. Here is my favorite on Amazon.)

How do I prioritize all of these changes?

If someone in your family is having active issues with skin, digestion, immunity, etc., then start with the internal issues. Take out refined sugar, seed oils, and food dye. This is an easy win that won’t limit their diet too drastically. Here is more on that in my free download. Then add in probiotics and a multivitamin. Keep reading for my favorites. Now you have a great foundation that you can rest on while you slowly make diet changes.
If you are making changes to prevent issues in the future start with the easiest things on that list and create a snowball effect of healthy living. In my experience, swapping household products is easier than changing diets. Make a plan for what types of soaps and cleaners you plan to use, then as you run out of products, replace them with cleaner ones. You can do this with pantry items as well. Don’t throw it all out at once! Your wallet and family will thank you.

What is the easiest thing I can do to address my child’s gut health?

A broad-spectrum probiotic and an HMO prebiotic. My favorites are:

BioGaia probiotic drops (newborn)
Klaire lab probiotic powder (6 months +)
Layer Origin SuperHMO powder for kids (12 months +. I used this for John before 1 year at a lower dosage, but please consult a doctor since that isn’t suggested on the label and this is NOT medical advice. If you are breastfeeding, they are getting natural HMO. If they are formula-fed, you should look into supplementing.)

If your little one has ever been on antibiotics, take a look at my 5 top tips for building the gut microbiome back up and protecting the immune system.

I want to incorporate more diet changes in the future, but I need some easy wins now. What else can I do?

Look for vitamins with good bioavailability. Sadly, this means you will pay more for them than the Flintstone gummies at Walmart, but it is worth it! Bioavailability means how much of the nutrients actually reach the bloodstream and don’t get killed by stomach acid. This should be third-party researched. There are many great brands out there, but this is the brand we use. It is the recommended OTC brand of our homeopathic nutritionist as well. Here is more on choosing vitamins for kids in my free download.

Shaklee Kids vitamin/supplement line

Food nowadays is generally lower in nutrients than it was 100 years ago, so at least a multivitamin and omega supplement is necessary, in my opinion. I found it less stressful to experiment with whole, nourishing foods that my children would actually eat when I knew they were on a good vitamin regimen. Plus, my son had his vitamin/mineral levels tested before and after being on Shaklee vitamins for a year and they vastly improved. Disclaimer: we were also doing a gut detox so he was absorbing nutrients better in general. But when I tried a cheaper multivitamin on Amazon, I saw changes in digestion, mood, and skin. So I went back to Shaklee.

A note of encouragement to overwhelmed Mamas

Use your intuition to determine what your child’s biggest need is. Focus 100% on 1 to 3 changes, and ignore the rest. For now, ignore the moms on social media who seem to be doing it all. Ignore the friends that don’t agree with the change. Believe in what you are doing, and once it becomes a habit, it won’t be overwhelming to add something new. It may feel like an emergency, but most of the time it isn’t. Take a deep breath and remember that your child was given to you for a reason. Be confident in your decisions, but also well-informed. After 8 years, I’ve learned to add one skill or healthy habit at a time, and celebrate that instead of feeling rushed to do what everyone else is doing. That has made all the difference! If I can do it, anyone can, truly!

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