Family Members (Especially Young Kids) Eating Gluten Outside The Home

[BlessedMommy]

All my kids are eating gluten now. (yay!)  It's very convenient when away from home, but as soon as they come back in the house, it can create some logistical problems.

 

If you are gluten free and have small gluten eating kids, what is your protocol? Do you make them change clothes and take baths when they come back from eating gluten? Or is just hand washing and face washing enough? If they eat out at a restaurant, do you just make them line up and wash up before they come home? Or do you wait until they get home?

 

I'm wondering if it's better just to feed the kids stuff outside the house that doesn't have obvious gluten ingredients, even if it's not guaranteed gluten free. Then at least they wouldn't be potentially contaminating every surface that they touch or lean on before I get them around to washing their hands. LOL! (the 2 year old is in a phase where sometimes she pitches a fit when I want her to wash up) I'm more worried about kids than my husband, because kids are more likely to drop food on their clothes than adults.

 

Thanks for any logistical help that you can give, especially if you also have small gluten eating kids.

[StephanieL]

The kids all wash any time they walk in the house.  It doesn't matter if or what they have eaten.  People with Celiac disease should wash up before every time they eat.  Between these two, it should be enough. Yes, kids are messy but you can teach them to be careful.  If we eat out and the middle kid has something her brothers can't, she does wash up before we leave as well as when she gets home.  

[BlessedMommy]

Thanks so much for your input, I will start trying to implement that routine.

 

I think that I'm still on a learning curve, trying to adjust to having so many gluten eaters around me. I will definitely have to insist that they absolutely wash their hands and face every time they come home. So much easier in the long run to implement that habit than to deal with all the problems that come from little hands touching my gluten free food. 

 

Stephanie, if someone gives your gluten eating kid a glutenous treat (especially one that's not intended to be consumed on the spot), what do you do with it? I would like to have a totally gluten free house, but it's challenging to tell my kids that they can't bring things home that people gave them. My kids actually got a gingerbread kit for Christmas. We took that over to a friend's house and iced the gingerbread men over there and shared with them. Some of the other Christmas cookies have made it in the house, though, and I would just rather not have them around. Should I wrap stuff like that up, put them in a bag, and throw them in the barn freezer, and then take them out for out of the house outings?

I got glutened pretty badly a few weeks into the kids' gluten challenge and I'm really not wanting to relive that....

[StephanieL]

The only people here in the house who eat gluten are my DH and I.  The kids all eat gluten-free in the house and I only cook gluten-free in the house (DS1 is the one who is dx, DS2 hasn't had it yet as we don't feed it to the kids in the house and he isn't in preschool yet which is when we typically do the challenge for testing when they are young).  

 

We have life threatening food allergies on top of Celiac disease.  We don't tolerate things in the house that are unsafe. That's just how it is.  Tonight at dinner my DD had mac and cheese. She was refusing to wash off her face when we got home. I informed her that if she didn't wash up she would no longer get to eat whatever she wanted out of the house because it's a safety issue.  Period.  It isn't negotiable.  When she is out alone she can do whatever she wants but once she's home, wash up and any outside treats that aren't safe are pitched.  She gets plenty of treats that are safe. She gets plenty when she is out. We just remind her it's a faster issue for her and her brothers and that's it.  

 

Remember if Mama ain't happy (and well meaning NOT gluten), ain't no one happy  Take care of you or you can't take care of them.  They'll get use to it.  

[sunny2012]

Celiac can become life threatening if not treated seriously by all who are in the household. Limited choices is the perfect way to deal with this issue. IF they choose gluten items out of the house, they are also choosing to wash up according to your requirements. Otherwise, no more gluten.

[africanqueen99]

I have a lot of play dates over here and every child that walks in my door walks straight to the bathroom to wash hands. After taking off their shoes it's the first thing they do. Kids never question it, but I'd be honest if they did. My own kids have been doing that since birth (pre celiac). I'm not even a germ phobe, but it has always been our standard.

[bartfull]

It's got to be tough with a two year old. Not only does she "sometimes pitch a fit" when asked to wash up, but unless you supervise the washing up, is she going to do a good enough job? Maybe you can get the older kids to help her with that?

[africanqueen99]

Stephanie, if someone gives your gluten eating kid a glutenous treat (especially one that's not intended to be consumed on the spot), what do you do with it? I would like to have a totally gluten free house, but it's challenging to tell my kids that they can't bring things home that people gave them.

 

My gluten eating kid is almost five.  He knows that his sisters need us to keep the house safe and that food can't enter our house or my car unless they are approved by me.  So when he is given something (say a party at school or a birthday party) he will do one of two things: 1. hand it over and ask what we need to leave behind (I go through the bag and put the gluten stuff in another kid's bag) OR 2 ask if he can eat it really fast before we leave.  It's not negotiable for me.  We bill it that our house has to be safe for all the members and having unsafe food will hurt the girls.  I'm really good at spinning things, though!

 

He does ask to go to Nana's house when he wants a cheeze-its fix...