Sleep Apnea in a 4 Year Old?

I'm going to begin by saying that Lei (my four year old) hasn't been officially diagnosed with sleep apnea. What was happening seemed very reasonably like sleep apnea to me and I'd rather treat and resolve the wrong thing than to be miserable with this child who won't sleep in his own bed and sleeps very poorly in mine. Neither one of us is getting any sleep!!!

So, four nights ago, after four nights of having Lei sleep in my bed, waking constantly and countless other nights of him waking throughout the night to come climb in bed with me, I had a random thought (Always follow those. They're GOLDEN!!!) that he might be experiencing sleep apnea as he would stop breathing, startle himself awake with a snore and then settle in to sleep again. So, I grabbed my Essential Oils Desk Reference and looked up sleep apnea. One of the oils that it recommended came in my everyday oils kit so I did  little dance and then decided to give this a try.

I rubbed 4 drops of Valor into his little feet at bedtime and because he likes to sniff the oils, I rubbed the residue from my hands onto his hands and he happily sniffed away. *giggle*

He LOVES sniffing oils from his palms

The first night, he wouldn't settle down and I allowed him to sleep with me. On the second night, I put him in his bed and he STAYED!!! *happy dance!!!* For the past two nights, he's been sleeping soundly in his bed and he's NOT a cranky monster of a child anymore. Woo hoo!!! I may survive this single parenting thing with some sanity after all.

Next up: snoring. He still snores like a grizzly bear. Drives us all batty. The EODR (Essential Oil Desk Reference) says to use thyme oil for this. Guess what's going in MY next order?

Lavender + Peppermint = No More Steroids for Lei-Bear

So, for the past 3 years, I've gone through HELL with Lei (my four year old) with his allergies. I missed almost 6 weeks of work. We've given him every antihistamine that's available. We've cut out everything from his diet that he's even remotely allergic to. Last spring, he was on Zyrtec, Benadryl and Prednisilone (a steroid) and he STILL broke out in incurable hives around his eyes.

Doesn't he look MISERABLE?

Well, I was recently reading through my friend Cristina Campbell's newsletter and there was a testmonial from a woman who used lavendar and peppermint to relieve her niece and nephew of allergies when they visited her barn. A lightbulb went off! So, we went to our yearly 'get ready for allergy season' appointment with the allergist last Tuesday and she informed me that allergy season is beginning this past weekend. WHAT??? It's still winter!!!

Well, I decided to give the lavendar and peppermint a try before I started giving him the drugs. I'm not a real fan of the drugs but I'm an even smaller fan of an itchy, hived-out baby. On Monday, I tested my theory by taking us to the park. Lots of trees and grass and things to make his nose and eyes water. I put one drop of lavendar on his face (he's a tiny person) and one drop of peppermint in his hands, had him rub his hands together and then sniff a few times before I sent him off to play.



2 HOURS later we left the park and not once did he have a runny nose or itchy eyes or anything resembling either of the two. Ha!!! It's working. The real test will be at the end of March when oak season begins. I'll keep you posted.