12 Year Old

[MJH]

I have a 12 year old that is scared to eat anything not prepared by me. If we go to a restaurant that offers gluten free options she will not eat for fear she will get gluten which results in nausea, pain and hours of throwing up. I cant blame her but we like to travel. Any suggestions?

[Juliebove]

I know the feeling. Gluten isn't an issue for me but I can't tell you how many times I have gotten food in a restaurant only to find something in it that I can't have. Even after I thought I was clear to the wait person.

It might help if you could have the wait person or the manager have a talk with her. At The Old Spaghetti Factory, the manager came to our table, told us she would prepare our food herself and that they used a special pan to cook the pasta. This after my dad told us that the pasta couldn't possibly be gluten-free because they cooked it in the same water. Turns out my dad is wrong about a LOT of things but he talks like he is an expert so people tend to believe him. Actually the gluten-free food there is prepared in a separate area of the kitchen even.

At home we tend to frequent the same restaurants. Ones that cater to people with food allergies and have no problems making special meals for us.

But for traveling? Ah, that can cause a problem. The restaurant is unknown and even though they do have a gluten-free menu, you have no way of knowing how well they get it. We also tend to really limit what we get in a restaurant. Fresh or canned fruit, cottage cheese (for my daughter, not me), hamburger patty, bacon, maybe some form of potato. Potatoes sometimes aren't safe.

One thing you might consider is packing some food and having your daughter eat in the car before or after the restaurant and while in the restaurant only ordering some small thing that is most likely to be safe. Like a fruit cup.

What we always packed when we traveled were small cans of green beans, canned kidney beans, canned refried beans and tortilla chips. That way we could make a meal if we needed to. We also always looked at every stop for things like individual packs of cheese, meat, fresh fruit and veg.

[MitziG]

This is exactly the same as my 13 yr old daughter! While 3 of us have celiac, she is the one who reacts worst to cc, and so she refuses to eat anywhere but home, and it IS a challenge. What we have gotten in the habit of doing is packing snacks for her (kind bars, fruit, gluten-free pretzels, etc- and her trusty pb &j sandwiches. Yes, it is not as good a meal as the rest of us, but it is her choice and what makes her comfortable!

[mayrooni]

my son is the same way, but with tree nuts. we have slowly talked to him about it, and have had people we know and people he can trust make him meals....then we were able to move to other places once he knew it was safe...it can be scary for them.