Need Help For Friend

[happygirl]

She has a 1.5 year who has had horrible eczema. I suggested allergy/intolerance testing.

He showed up positive for wheat, corn, soy, and yeast. She thinks she is going to do gluten free also, just because of what she knows of my history. (he is ok with dairy though).

Can some of you parents with kids of multiple intolerances help me out with things you've learned or products that are safe? Corn is the tricky one here, because it is in more things than gluten and soy, and is hidden horribly. It is used in processing, paper goods, lotions, almost all meds, etc.

[AndreaB]

Laura,

Corn is in everything, you are right. I know Rachel had posted a list in the omg thread somewhere. When I have time I'll search for it. I do know that one of the things with corn is citric acid which is in everything. It is grown on or derived from corn.

You already mentioned enjoy life foods. My family has had their bread, cookies, choc chips, bars and cereal. My husband is the only one who eats the cereal. It has good fiber in it. I really like their bread, the sandwich bread.

I'll have to think more on that. I know other people on this forum are corn intolerant. Hopefully they'll see this and pipe up.

[happygirl]

Thanks!

[RiceGuy]

Well, I'm sure she will be cooking/baking a lot herself, so that's where the many substitutes can be tried out. I make my stuff from scratch, so I don't have a lot to suggest for the pre-packaged items, but I did just run into a few mixes by Open Original Shared Link which seem perfect for her child.

Here are some gluten-free flours, including the ones she needs to avoid in gray just for reference:

Almond Meal Flour

Amaranth Flour

Black/White Bean Flour

Buckwheat Flour

Cashew Flour

Cassava Flour

Chestnut Flour

Yellow/White Corn Flour

Fava Bean Flour

Garbanzo Bean Flour

Mesquite Flour

Millet Flour

Green Pea Flour

Pistachio Flour

Plaintain Flour

Potato Flour

Sweet Potato Flour

Quinoa Flour

Brown/White/Sweet White Rice Flour

Soy Flour

Tapioca Flour

Brown/Ivory Teff Flour

Hope that helps.

[happygirl]

Thanks!

[AndreaB]

Laura,

Enjoy Life bread has yeast in it.

[happygirl]

Thanks for the heads up...did not know that.

[Izak's Mom]

Hi Laura - Oy. I feel for your friend - it's tough enough to have a toddler, let alone one with a special diet! It seems like corn is the most insidious of his no-no list, so I took a minute to look around online for 'corn-free' stuff (since she can substitute for any other no-no products that might appear in a corn-free recipe), and here's what I found:

Open Original Shared Linkwebsite lists things to watch out for - your friend might want to print it out to have onhand when she shops.

Open Original Shared Link, with some of the trickier 'hidden' corn items.

Open Original Shared Link!

Open Original Shared Linkthat are Wheat free, Gluten free, Dairy free, Casein free, Corn free, Egg free, Soy free, Peanut free, Tree nut free, Fish and Shellfish free. They contain no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or animal by-products. They are a Vegan product. But she'll have to watch out for any yeast...

Open Original Shared Link for products that sound like they might be OK for him...

And Open Original Shared Link has a good list of products too.

From one mom to another (my son is 14 months), I wish your friend the very best in dealing with her son's allergies...it's tough, but I'm sure she'll figure out something that works for both of them. And she's incredibly lucky to have such a great friend!

-E

[happygirl]

Thanks for your help!

[Izak's Mom]

No problem!

It is so overwhelming for an adult, but it must be so different when you are doing it for your child.

It is - but the toughest thing about doing it for a toddler is the teething issue. My Izak is just starting to get his molars, and it's been a try-and-see kind of thing with figuring out what's too crunchy for him to eat properly (he still seems to choke on tortilla chips) and what's too 'baby' for him to be interested in (he prefers finger food over pureed stuff, although now that using a spoon by himself is a new exciting thing, I've been giving him pureed stuff to eat from his own bowl). Some of the foods that may meet his allergen criteria may wind up being too difficult for him to eat, chewing-wise.

The good thing is that at 1.5 years, her son hasn't been corrupted by junkfood, so he should still eat healthy things that are good for him. Since dairy's not an issue for him, yogurt is a great portable easy-to-eat snack. Izak also loves the Cascadian Farms brand organic tater-tots. Bananas he can eat by the bunch. Does he have any nut issues? Ike sometimes likes to eat his bananas with a bit of peanut butter smeared on top. Izak loves golden beets, creamed spinach, sweet potatoes, green beans - all kinds of vegetables. And since your friend's son (what's his name?) can have egg, that makes things easier - like this morning, Izak had a scramble for breakfast that was basically some onions chopped up & sauteed in butter, then I poured cooked rice and beaten egg mixed together with a little salt on top of the onions in the pan and cooked it like an omelette. He chowed it, with some ketchup. Applesauce he loves, and sometimes I make him a 'smoothie' with those frozen sliced strawberries you can buy, in the blender with vanilla soy milk (but her son could use regular milk). He's really into using a straw these days too, so it's perfect for that.

The learning curve is definitely steep - but once she gets it, it'll be like second nature. Might want to invest in a good pair of reading glasses for all the label checking she's going to have to do! lol...

-E