12mo Old Just Diagnosed

[Smunkeemom]

My 12 month old was just diagnosed with celiac disease at first I was relieved because I knew what was wrong with her and how to fix it. It's been 2 weeks now and I am starting to freak out a little.

How do I shop for her? How do I make 2 meals 1 for her and one for the rest of us? What if she goes to spend the night with someone and she eats something she isn't supposed to. any tips or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Kim]

Your daughter can live a wonderful life. She (and you) will adjust -- in fact, it will probably require more adjustment from you than her, since she will look at gluten free as normal for her.

You can cook generally gluten free for everyone -- for example, you can easily make meatballs and sauce gluten free and then just have 2 kinds of pasta (Gluten free and gluten) if you want. Or prepare rice dishes, or potato, or corn, as your dinner carb. If you do breading on chicken, etc., just use gluten-free bread crumbs for everyone.

When she's older and spending the night at someone's house, you can send along gluten-free treats and make sure the mom/dad she's staying with understands what is okay, and what is not. I would recommend you get the book by Danna Korn, Raising our Celiac Kids, and also I would recommend you join a support group, such as ROCK (Raising our Celiac Kids) so you meet other parents of celiac children and share ideas.

Does she like mac and cheese? IF so, you can use the cheese packet for Kraft Mac and Cheese with Gluten Free noodles (the packet itself is gluten-free).

Just remember, your daughter will follow your lead -- if you don't freak out (in front of her), she won't either. And remember, you can always get support on this site (and others like it). good luck. Kim.

[flagbabyds]

I was diagnosed @ 20 months and I find the diet so much easier than my friends just diagnosed. They get cravings for gluten food and I don't. I find going to friend shouses easy. If they are really her friends then they will have no problem with you bringing your own food to their house and heating it up. Amys frozen food is what i bring to my friends houses and all I have to do is heat it up. If you have any questions you can always e-mail me.

[tarnalberry]

Honestly, it's probably easiest for the shared family meals to be gluten-free. It's not that hard, and it doesn't mean you don't have bread or other things yourself, just not food that you share with her. When my husband and I have kids, I expect that aside from bread, even the non-celiacs will eat what I cook! ;-) I know lots of people do make two meals, this is just my own two cents. :-)

[Boojca]

First, you are in good company. My son is 2 1/2 and was just diagnosed on June 3. He's been gluten free since that day, and I cannot believe the difference already!! It's truly amazing.

I feel the same way as you. First, relief that we knew what it is and that he's going to be ok and it's "simple" in that it's a diet change and not medications, surgeries, etc...and then I freaked out about birthday parties, school, spending time with his friends. And then I realized that I was getting a little ahead of myself, and maybe I should relax and tackle this one day at a time.

The good news? I've found that most of the foods we eat are gluten-free anyway. Maybe not the exact brand but there is usually some brand that works. For instance, my son LOVES BBQ chips. He can't have Wise brand, but thankfully he can have Lay's. My best advice for you, one mom to another, is to get Danna Korn's book (I don't have it right here, but the title is something like Raising Celiac Kids) and get a mainstream product list to get you started. You can order one for $20 from The Celiac Association, or there's a link for one somewhere in the Food, shopping & something else forum I have both and am sooo thankful.

Some other good advice if you have a question about a specific food item, post it here. Someone else has probably already done the work and knows if it's ok or not!

Bridget

[maya]

Hang in there. My daughter (2 years old) was diagnosed four months ago. I gave myself permission for a month to just be overwhelmed and knew that I would have to go through the process of figuring it all out. After that month, although it was still a little overwhelming, it was definately easier. Now we are just in a groove. Just as the other posts mentioned, the easiest thing to do is to cook mostly gluten-free--especially for shared meals. Both my daughter and husband have celiac so I have a lone cabinet with glutenous stuff. Just like my daughter, your baby will just have to learn to say "no thanks". With my daughter, I tell her that certain foods make her feel "yukky" and I point to her belly. Even though she is 2, she already kind of understands this concept. Just be happy you figured it out so early. She'll be a pro before you know it!

Take care,

Maya