This year, I ordered some dye-free candy canes and other yummy treats from this natural candy store. They carry an amazing variety of healthier candies made with all-natural ingredients — no artificial flavors, no artificial colors or dyes, no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup. Check it out! As you can see from my picture below, the reds aren’t as brilliant as a Red Dye #40, but they taste better and I’m happier knowing that they don’t have any weird artificial ingredients.

After about 3 weeks of regular iron supplementation, I started to notice a difference in my son’s sleep patterns. He wasn’t waking nearly as much, he had stopped kicking/bucking his legs, stopped traveling all over the bed, and didn’t want to nurse all night long as he had before. He also started to fall asleep in about 15 -20 minutes versus two hours of running around the house. He was still waking once or twice, but this was a huge improvement from every other hour. Now, at a little over two years old, he is for the most part sleeping through the night and I am so relieved (and well-rested!). He can now tell me when his legs hurt — which is only every once in a while. I have found that times like, after eating chocolate or going to bed later than usual (overtired) brings out the symptoms, so I am aware and try to mitigate that risk.

As someone who doesn’t like to medicate my myself or my child unless it is absolutely necessary, I have searched for ways to help my son with his restless leg syndrome without the use of drugs. Since I don’t have restless leg syndrome myself and he can’t tell me exactly what might help him, I rely on my own research. I hope that passing some of my successes with natural remedies on, I might be able to help others. I plan to update this list as necessary so I’m keeping it to a list format.

While reading through some of my recommendations, please keep in mind that RLS Symptoms are more prevalent at night so many of my recommendations are night-time ritual changes.

Weighted blankets
Weighted blankets can help people with restless leg symptoms. Although they can be expensive, I’ve found a great etsy store that offers these blankets at a reasonable price called hugsbythepound.

Baby Legs
I’ve also read that wearing socks can help. This is just one small adjustment that helped him at night. He also loves what most people think they are just cute little leg warmers, BabyLegs. In summer months he wears them alone and in winter months I put them right over his PJ pants.

Nightly Bath Routine
We shifted from every other night baths to a warm bath every single night before bed, warm water can help the effects of RLS.

Sacrum Massage
Once he is in bed, I sometimes massage his sacrum with my forefinger and middle finger in circular motion. I also apply even pressure to his sacrum for 5 second intervals and sometimes it puts him right to sleep. The sacrum is the large, triangular-shaped bone at the base of your spine.

Hot Water Bottle
Sometimes before bed especially on cold winter nights, I prepare a hot water bottle to place near his feet and legs. 

Hydration
Hydration seems to help a lot. His drink of choice during the day is water, so I am be sure to offer him often. I now remind him that it helps his legs feel better so he wants to drink more and says, “fix it, legs.” 

I tried Melatonin and Acupuncture but didn’t continue long-term. I think are worth mentioning because every person is different.

Acupuncture
Although acupuncture is arguably the most well-respected non-western medicine and I believe it probably works, I wasn’t sold that it was going to help us in this situation. My insurance wouldn’t cover the appointments and I couldn’t use my flexible spending account to pay for any of the $90 visits.  A large part of my decision to discontinue was that the acupuncturist was was recommending a host of behavioral changes such as; limiting dairy intake to improve iron absorption and massaging his legs before bed-time.  I felt I could try the acupuncturist’s behavioral recommendations without appointmnets and couple with less costly alternatives. 

Melatonin
His previous pediatrician also told me that the use of Melatonin as a sleep aid was ‘completely safe’  in children. I did try it and it did work to get him to sleep faster, although I am not convinced that it is ‘completely safe’ because of limited research on the subject and because I did read in one article that it can cause testosterone disruption. I opted for reigning melatonin levels naturally at bed-time by dimming lights which reportedly helps the body’s own melatonin to kick in. The body’s natural level of melatonin are highest at bedtime so it’s a matter of trying to add to it naturally. Without conclusive research on the side effects of melatonin supplements in toddlers, I’ve decided to discontinue giving it to him.

I am excited to announce that my OpenSky store is now OPEN for business! There are so many nuts and bolts that go into organizing a blog and this is just another one that’s in place. I’m very excited about it because OpenSky has a lot of unique items. I’ll be adding products regularly as I find products that reflect me and my blog readers.

Get ready! I’m about to make my first OpenSky product recommendation! (drumroll please!)…….

Hint: It is ecofriendly, disposable and can teach children table manners.

ideas?

Answer: The Perfect Setting Placemat!

At any point while you are visiting my blog, you can click on the “shop” link in my menu and reach my OpenSky store. I will be adding items periodically so please check back often and shop away!

Now that I finally knew my poor 18 month old boy had a low ferritin serum test (15 ng/ml), I was fairly certain that was what had been causing his (and my) sleepless nights. I felt confident that he would soon be on his road to recovery. Not exactly. I tried several different iron products only to find that he hated them or was allergic to their ingredients. It required a great deal of research and I want to be able to pass what I’ve learned on.

Ferrous Gluconate
I began by going to a compounding pharmacy for Ferrous Gluconate. A 30-day supply costs around $40. It’s a liquid elemental iron that wouldn’t cause constipation like other iron supplements might. I immediately encouraged him to try the funky/stinky dark brown mixture with him at the pharmacy. He spit it out — everywhere. I tried at home — same thing. All of his clothes were getting stained and the expensive iron was everywhere but in his belly. I tasted it, and to his credit, it tasted like I was drinking liquified nickels so I couldn’t blame him at all. I tried mixing it with anything and everything to lessen the flavor — the pharmacist even recommended chocolate syrup — but the taste could not be covered. He became so distrustful of me that he wouldn’t eat any food I offered to him.

Icar
Next, I decided to go with the chewable Icar tablets, despite their use of red dye #40 to brand the pills. They cost about $15 at the pharmacy for a 30-day supply. I administered 1 of 4 tablets. He merrily chewed it and immediately communicated ‘more’ with his sign language. I was so elated, this was going to solve our problem! “Wow, all four chewables, down the hatch. This was going to be simple!” I thought, he will be on his road to recovery in no time!

That night, my husband had a couple old friends over and I thought once I put the baby down I could head downstairs and relax for a little while. That never happened. The baby didn’t go to sleep until 11pm — about 2 hours past his bed-time. He was fully wired and I had no idea why. I went downstairs and they all commented on my hair it was a disaster, my ponytail was on the side of my head and only had a few straggler hairs left in it. They left shortly after and we went to bed, too — only to be woken up a short time later at midnight by our boy. He wanted to play. This went on until 12 noon the next day. Yes, 12 NOON. For 12 hours straight he was wired and would not go to sleep. The culprit? Red dye #40 in the Icar tablets. My search now needed to continue.

Ferrous Sulfate
Next, I tried Ferrous Sulfate which, like Icar, can be purchased without a prescription at a regular pharmacy desk. Ferrous Sulfate is often used as a nutritional supplement to enrich foods with iron. You will see it in ingredient lists on nutrition labels. It cost a bout $3 and for an additional $2 they offered to flavor it. The flavoring really didn’t mask the taste and the aftertaste was still heinous. So, to me, that just added another questionable, artificial ingredient into the mix, which, at this point, I didn’t need. In short, Ferrous Sulfate was not much better than gluconate and he refused it as well.

Pleading for Help
I called his pediatrician’s office and pleaded with the nurses for help. They were useless, which was amazing to me because this office had a strong reputation. This is the first time I truly needed help beyond well-check or a fever. I had found a tablet online that mixed vitamin C in the iron chewable. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron so this was a perfect combination if it was the right thing. The nurses insisted that it was not ‘elemental iron’ so it wouldn’t work to raise his ferritin serum levels, I asked what they meant and they gave me a half-hearted explanation that truly made no sense. They also said that they never had a child that wouldn’t take any of the irons I had tried. Yeah, right. Incidentally, my neighbor learned her son had the same issue after us — and went to the same pediatrician — and had the same problem. I started to doubt his pediatrician and the nureses and considered switching.

I also continued looking for more iron alternatives. I called my local CVS pharmacy, I talked to a pharmacist who just found out that her 14 year old daughter was finally diagnosed with the same issue — after 14 years. Which made me so guilty about figuring it out (myself) after only 18 months.  She faxed me a list of 75 iron products that they carried that I could try. The issue with all of them was that none of them were chewable and trying to get an 18-month old to swallow a tablet was not an easy task — or a good idea. I continued my quest.

Bariatric Advantage
I found a couple potentially promising leads including a product for Bariatric surgery patients called Bariatric Advantage – chewable flavored iron. But in addition to the iron, it included ‘Fructooligosaccharides.’ I had no idea how to say it, letalone what it was. FRUCTO – OGLIO- SACKA – RIDES. I didn’t want to administer something that would hurt him, so I started researching more. The reason that I mention this specific product is because I thought it’s worth mentioning that I found that Fructooligosaccharides is considered a ‘generally safe’ ingredient in the U.S. but has been banned for it’s use in baby formulas in the UK because of questionable safety in infants. I thought it was probably best to stay away from that product because the UK seems to have a leg-up on the U.S. where food safety is concerned — including the regulation of artificial colors.

Midlothian Laboratories Iron Chews
At this point, I called Hawthorn Pharmeceuticals — the makers of Icar, because if it werent for the dye in their product, he could take their chewables with no issue. I asked if they made Icar without red dye. Not only did they not make a dye-free version, they were planning on halting manufacturing of Icar altogether.

I felt defeated. But had some more fight left in me and thought to find a generic version of the Icar tablets might might have red dye #40. I ended up getting in touch with an awesomely helpful chemist at Midlothian Laboratories named Phil Knight who gave me better service than the peditrician’s office. I communicated with him both on the phone and over email. He told me that their generic Icar product also used red dye #40 — so their iron chews were out. But, he said he was happy to help in any way he could. Since that was the case, I decided to ask him about the Nature’s Plus High Potency Iron with Vitamin C Plus Herb that his current pediatrician’s office said wouldn’t work. I emailed him the supplement information and asked him what the difference was with this and ‘elemental iron.’ He said there was none. He added that the tablet that I had found may be even better because it was ‘chelated iron’ which is more easily absorbed by the body and gentler on the system — especially that of a child. This was great news and I started gaining confidence, but I still to wanted to check with a physician because I wanted to be sure I was giving my son the right iron and the right dosage. Iron overdoses are deadly.

I made an appointment with another well-respected pediatrician in my area. She personally researched the iron and told me that it would work well. I was ready to give it a go. He liked the tablets and they didn’t have a strong taste at all. After a few weeks of taking them he got tired of them so I looked for other foods to mix the crusted tablets in. I landed on Blue Sky Ginger Ale and haven’t turned back. I crush the pills with a mini mortar and pestle I found at World Market.

More infants should receive iron supplements and their parents don’t know it. Once your child’s stored iron is down, the only way to get it up again is by using supplements, but it’s a good idea to aggressively integrate iron-rich foods in your  child’s diet.

There are a couple different kinds of iron in foods; one is ‘heme’ and the other ‘non-heme.’ Non heme iron is found in vegetables like broccoli and spinach and heme iron found in meats such as steak and liver. Heme irons are more quickly absorbed by the body than non-heme irons. But, non-heme irons encourage the absorption of heme irons. So eating a balanced diet truly is the way to go. Read more about heme and non-heme irons.

In addition to eating foods high in iron, I learned an interesting tidbit; I never knew that if you cooked in a cast iron skillet, it infuses iron into your food. Read more about the Journal of the American Dietetic Association study Cast Iron Pans, Iron and Carcinogens in Cast Iron, Techniques for Restoring an old Cast-Iron Skillet. Here’s a great cookbook for that: The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pan in Your Kitchen

My account of the supplements I’ve tried with my son is just one account of my own, personal experience. There are many more different types of irons out there, although I’m not sure how many of them are in a chewable, non-offensive form. You may be reading my articles because you are having the same troubles as I did, I hope I can help and wish you the best of luck! Part 3 of my series article will focus on natural ways to deal with restless leg syndrome.

I used to laugh at Restless Leg Syndrome commercials. I thought it was a “disorder” that drug companies invented. I was at a party once and those commercials came up and I unknowingly cracked a joke to a lady and she said, “I have that, it’s very painful.” Next, a neighbor told me that her six year old son had it. Since then, I’ve found more and more people with this very real affliction. Then, I realized it was affecting me — indirectly.

After my son was born, like all babies, he woke up every couple of hours throughout the night to nurse. But, as he started getting older, he didn’t stop. Some nights were non-stop. It was exhausting. We tried bed-time routines, going to bed earlier, going to bed later. Nothing worked, we dreaded bedtime. When I’d tell people in social circles that he wasn’t sleeping through the night when he was 9 months old, their jaws would drop and gasp, “He should be sleeping through by now!” I’d get defensive because this almost inevitably led to the “let him cry it out” conversation, which I do not believe in. There had to be a reason why he was crying and I needed to help him by comforting him and also finding out what he needed. He continued to sleep in a co-sleeper next to our bed because because it was the only way I could get at least a little rest. Being up all night and being a walking zombie all day became a way of life. I had heard and hoped that he would outgrow it by the time he turned 2.

Aside from the sleeping. I’m constantly interviewing respected friends about different natural approaches to caring for their babies and children. I became interested in what friends were giving their children as far as supplements. One friend told me that in addition to an organic multivitamin, she gave her son iron. I asked why. She explained that he had low ferritin serum levels and that at bed-time he had been refusing to go to sleep and would run in circles. “Wait a minute…” I asked, “what’s ferritin?” She went on to explain that this was the body’s stored iron. The bedtime situation sounded too familiar. At that point, I began researching ferritin serum and landed on an article in Wikipedia and read through it. I read that low ferritin could cause Restless Leg Syndrome and a number of other undesirable effects. I quickly dismissed the RLS part since it didn’t occur to me that my son was actually showing RLS symptoms and continued reading.

Low Ferritin Serum

If the ferritin level is low, there is a risk for lack of iron, which could lead to anemia. Low ferritin levels (<50 ng/mL) have however been associated with the symptoms of restless legs syndrome, even in the absence of anemia and sickness.[17]

In the setting of anemia, serum ferritin is the most sensitive lab test for iron deficiency anemia.[18]

Low ferritin may also indicate hypothyroidism or vitamin C deficiency.

In a certain study in Paris, France, the level of iron in the blood (measured by ordering a ferritin serum test) has been connected to ADHD in children. Specifically, the lower the iron level, the more severe the ADHD symptoms.[19]

via Ferritin – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A few days later, while I was lying in my bed trying to fall asleep, I started putting things together;

OH MY GOODNESS. It’s his legs. His legs must hurt.

Then, I remembered my neighbor’s six year old son and how he had RLS.

My mind was spinning. At this point, he was he was not quite 18 months old — too young to say, “mama” let alone tell me that something hurt. I called the doctors office and made an appointment for a Ferritin Serum test. When he was a year old, he passed his regular iron heel prick test with flying colors but the Ferritin Serum or ‘stored iron’ is different and you can have a healthy iron reading but still have a low ferritin reading.

I asked my husband to join us at the pediatrician appointment, knowing it could be traumatic. Thank goodness he was there. At the time, my son was probably more active then than he is now. So, they suggested a we “papoose him” for the blood draw. Which meant “tethering” him to a board so he couldn’t interfere with the draw.  Although it seemed unnatural, I agreed, because i didn’t want him to flail his extremities and get injured by the needle. As we got him onto the board, he probably started feeling claustrophobic and wondered what on earth we were doing to him. He starting crying so hard that his face was turned purple. We talked to him and sang him the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” twice and then it was over and he was fine.

A few days later, I received a phone call from the nurse at his peditrician’s office. His ferritin serum level was at 15ng/mL. They want it above 35ng/mL and ideally, 50ng/mL. They suggested iron pills.

When I hung up the phone, I felt validated. I felt that I had known that something was not right. I’d finally found it. I called a good friend and as I started telling her and just broke down crying because I was replaying moments in my head that it was so pronounced. For example, his first birthday party when he was so tired from being up kicking all night the night before so he was too fatiqued to hold it together to open his presents and had to go upstairs and relax (or hopefully sleep). I also felt relieved that I hadn’t let him cry it out in his crib alone and in pain.

At least we could get on with treating this thing. My goal is to treat his Restless Leg Syndrome naturally, which sounds easy enough, but it’s another long story that I will reserve for Part 2 of my series – Medication, Natural Remedies and Pitfalls.