Books To Read With Non-Celiac Child?

[nanderson85]

Our 1 year old son is in the process of being diagnosed with Celiac so we are preparing to go gluten free in our home. Can anyone recommend any books to read with our daughter (she's 3) that can help her understand why our food needs to change/why her brother can't eat certain foods, etc. Any suggestions are welcome...even if they seem a little over a typical 3 year olds head - i can tweak the wording to work for her! Thanks! 

[SMRI]

I don't know of any books but I would tell her that her brother will get sick if he eats certain food so we have to make sure he doesn't have any of some kinds of food.  She will understand that.  Your food choices, to her anyway, probably won't change all that much unless you are eating a lot of processed foods, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc.  

[BlessedMommy]

This one looks like it might be good.

 

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[nvsmom]

The gluten-free Kid  is good but it is aimed at older kids.  No More Cupcakes & Tummy Aches is cute. Eating Gluten Free with Emily is also a good book.

 

Have you had your 3 year old tested too?  celiac disease tends to run in families so her risk of contracting it is about 10%, but some families it runs much higher.  If her sibling has celiac disease, she'll need to be retested every two years (for life) or as soon as symptoms present.  The same goes for you, the parents.

 

Have you considered having a gluten-free home?  It makes things MUCH safer for your 1 year old and since your older child is only 3 it will be easier for her to change her eating.  I know it can be tough to change a family's diet but doing it sooner rather than later is easier, and safer too if she turns out to have false negative celiac tests (it is not uncommon in toddlers).  I switched my kids to gluten-free at ages 9, 7, and 5, and because our home was gluten-free, they did not feel much deprivation; the only time they feel deprived is when people they are around get to have treats they can't - there's another reason to have a gluten-free home.  LOL

 

Good luck with the tests.

[africanqueen99]

I will ditto Nicole.

 

* Test the older child before you stop gluten in her diet.  And test you (and dad) too!

 

* My whole journey started when my 1.5 y/o tested positive and we 100% made our house and my car gluten-free.  Turns out the older sister also had it - and the middle boy is a "latent celiac" so he will get it too.  Gluten took over my kids!  Anyway, we realized that having a toddler in the house that couldn't eat certain things didn't make sense knowing she was going to eat off the floor and play with the dog's food (also went gluten-free for that!).  I went a little nutso over the whole thing, though.  We are like *really* gluten-free.  I could die tomorrow and a new mom could walk in and feed them anything my house, wash their hair/bodies with anything in the bathroom, even let them play in my perfectly safe make-up.  Piece of mind was totally worth it, IMO.

 

The middle kid was 3.5 at the time and he realized easily that "gluten hurts Q and C's bellies."  It was an easy enough concept.  He also knows that he can still eat Cheez-its at Nana's house so he's ok with what he's fed at home.

[julissa]

kids understand anything we take the time to explain. my 6 and 3 yr old granddaughters know I won't touch gluten at their house. when I take them out to eat, they know I won't help them cut or deal with their food. they completely get that grandma will get sick from their food, and it works out fine. 

 

good luck 

[GFinDC]

Here's another one.  Actually, Deb Simpson has versions with different kids names.  For a while she was custom printing them with kid's names that were requested.  I think she might still do that do that but for an extra fee.

 

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