Trick Or Treating....how To Cope ?

[Mamato2boys]

My son will be turning 3 in just a few short days. About two weeks ago he was diagnosed as gluten sensitive/milk sensitive through EnteroLabs. His birthday party will be fairly easy to deal with (gluten-free/dairy free cake & foods). What about Halloween though ? He seems to be starting to grasp the idea that certain foods can make him sick and will even point out foods that he can't have, but I would think that pretty much everything he would get from trick or treating would be off-limits. Naturally, I want him to have as normal a life as possible so I don't really want to keep him from trick or treating, if possible. DH and I are going gluten-free as well, because through my son's testing we discovered we have at least one gene each for gluten sensitivity, as our son has two genes for it, so we won't be eating the goodies either.

Any suggestions ?

[LKelly8]

Get a big bowl full of gluten-free/df candy, treats, little toys etc. Show it to him; tell him when he gets home from trick or treating, he'll get to trade "bad" candies for good candy.

[Guest nini]

I actually just wrote an article about this that was published in our local co op (health food store's) newsletter

you can read it online at Open Original Shared Link

once you click to enter site, along the right side of page there are links to "Store Flyers" Click on the Sept/Oct 06 newsletter and download the pdf of the newsletter, my article is "How to have a Spooktacular Halloween Gluten Free"...

[2kids4me]

We have 2 kids that are fine with staying home and handing out candy, one is diabetic and celiac - but they are older now. They help pick out the treats (gluten-free and we know carb count) and then they get to fill their own plastic pumpkins first with their choices. They dress up and delight in seeing all the costumes but staying warm at the same time....

When they were younger - we took them out trick or treating, sorted through the candy and picked out "OK" stuff (mini bags of plain chips /cheesies mini choc bars). I bought the rest from them for 5$ and they got to spend it at the dollar store. They thought they were rich! The candy we couldnt have - we gave to the vet clinic and they handed it out or ate it themselves. Another year - the "exchange" was a trip to the swimming pool with a friend each... a big deal here when our outdoor poool is closed and they get to go to an indoor pool in the next town.

Kids are fine with doing something different - instead of "we can't take you trick or treating cause you wont be able to eat the candy"......... say: "Mom and Dad are going to do "this" for Halloween" and then it becomes the ritual/routine at Halloween

treats we pick out ot hand out at the door - ones that we can eat too if we have leftovers.

mini caramilk / jersey milk /aero

sugar free gum

mini cheesie bags / plain chips

lifesavers

skittles (the halloween size bags are also perfect amt for treating low blood sugar)

I'll think of more but those are the favorites here.

[2Boys4Me]

We've only had one gluten-free Hallowe'en and we bought some gluten-free treats for trading. Ty came home and we read labels, and traded. We'll probably do the same this year.

[eKatherine]

My daughter was not gluten-free, but I always thought Halloween candy was garbage - already stale or low quality - so here's how I handled the situation, which would probably work in this case. We would take the candy and repackage it in a plastic bag, while picking out an item or two she would get to eat right now. Then I put away the bag, and she never thought about it again, because I would keep REALLY GOOD candy and other treats at home for us to nibble on. After a while it would disappear and she would not miss it.

When she was in high school she went trick-or-treating with a friend one last time. Her friend called afterwards, saying that her mother was carefully picking through the candy for tampering, like she did when the girl was a child. My daughter yelled over to me, "You never did that, didn't you love me?" I told her that I didn't need to, that I had spoiled her tastes by giving her such good candy that I knew she would never have been tempted by the candy in the bag. A look came over her face. She knew this was true. "You ruined my childhood!" she wailed...

[tarnalberry]

I like the 'get candy he can have and trade it'. There's plenty of Gluten-free Casein-free candy out there (including some dark chocolates), so he won't be deprived of candy, you'll just have to trade with the stuff he can't have. Another option, depending on how much he wants to trick or treat (I never cared that much) would be to just walk through a well-decorated neighborhood to see the sights, or have a kids party.

[VydorScope]

A look came over her face. She knew this was true. "You ruined my childhood!" she wailed...

[Mamato2boys]

Thanks so much for all the tips - great ideas !! I'll probably try a little of everything - picking out candy he can have, trading for little toys/candy he can have.

[celiacgirls]

This is our first gluten-free/CF Halloween. Luckily, a few years ago, I did the "candy witch". She comes at night and replaces the candy with a toy. So this year, I asked the girls what they wanted to do about Halloween thinking it wouldn't be much fun to go around and get a bunch of candy they couldn't eat. They didn't see a problem at all since the candy witch would come.

I'm also planning a Halloween party in order to make a new tradition for them.

[shayesmom]

My son will be turning 3 in just a few short days. About two weeks ago he was diagnosed as gluten sensitive/milk sensitive through EnteroLabs. His birthday party will be fairly easy to deal with (gluten-free/dairy free cake & foods). What about Halloween though ? He seems to be starting to grasp the idea that certain foods can make him sick and will even point out foods that he can't have, but I would think that pretty much everything he would get from trick or treating would be off-limits. Naturally, I want him to have as normal a life as possible so I don't really want to keep him from trick or treating, if possible. DH and I are going gluten-free as well, because through my son's testing we discovered we have at least one gene each for gluten sensitivity, as our son has two genes for it, so we won't be eating the goodies either.

Any suggestions ?

Some decent candies can be found here:

Open Original Shared Link

Also, you may find some luck with Gimball's candies and even the Chocolate Emporium. I will try to find some links for the last two!