Gluten Free Home

[sara78]

Hello, I haven't been on in a long time. My son has been a diagnosed Celiac for over three years now, he is 5. He of course has been gluten free for all of this time. We are a family of four, my husband and I and yougest son do not have Celiac. My question is has everyone went completly gluten free in your homes? We still have gluten in our house. We didn't buy new utensils or anything like that. My sons GI specialist said that it wasn't necessary as long as things were cleaned well. When cooking I keep everything seperated and we use squeeze bottles and he has his own on certain things. I feel confident that he is gluten free and safe from contamnents in my kitchen. I see where alot of people took it completly out of their homes. We did get rid of playdoh and went to gluten free and moonsand. We still attend hayrides and petting zoos. We make sure his hands get washed well. I really keep up with what is going on, I just wondered how others kept their kitchens when cooking for one Celiac.

Thank you!

Sara

[Nantzie]

I think it varies from family to family. It sounds like you're doing what I would do if there was only one gluten-free person in the family. I would advise seperate toaster, cutting boards, nonstick cookware, wooden spoons for the gluten-free stuff though. I know those type of things are enough to cause a reaction in me, so I always advise that. I also replaced a few old plastic cooking utensils as well. Just because they were so mangled that there was no way I would be able to feel like they could be cleaned well enough.

For the first few months I was the only gluten-free one in our house, and it worked fine to just work around my own issues and everyone else could have gluten. I got glutened back then about as often as I get glutened now. So I think it was working pretty well.

It became more obvious after a while that both my kids were having issues that pointed toward gluten. After putting them gluten-free, there was such a significant improvement in their health and mood that we decided to just put the whole house gluten-free. The only one in the family that eats gluten anymore is my husband, and he only eats it at lunch sometimes. He usually comes home for lunch.

Considering that celiac is genetic, it's possible that if you put the whole family gluten-free for a period of time, you might end up discovering that gluten causes problems for other people in the family. Some people find that headaches go away or energy levels go up, or hair starts growing back.

My belief is that if one person in a family has celiac, it's worth it for the whole family to go gluten free just to see what happens. Even if all you notice is an increase in energy, or that someone's headaches go away or concentration or memory improves, it's worth it to know everyone's reaction (or lack of reaction). Even just to avoid gluten on vacation or during finals at school or something - because who wants to have migraines or low energy on vacation? or concentration and memory problems during the SATs?

If additional people in the family end up finding out that their lives are so significantly improved by going gluten-free that they want to be on the gluten-free diet full-time, that says a lot about that person's personal reaction.

My daughter has been gluten-free since right after she turned 4. As much as kids are cravings-driven when it comes to food at that age, all I ever have to say to her about food that she can't have is that it has gluten in it. It stops her right in her tracks. She knows gluten makes her tummy hurt and that's all she has to know about. If it has gluten, she doesn't care a whit about it. In the year that she's been gluten-free, I've never had an argument or had to force her to eat gluten-free. Even though she wants to argue about just about EVERYTHING else in the world. Her tummy must have really been bothering her a lot more than I ever knew before she went gluten-free. If it was only a little, or only sometimes, I don't think she would have stuck with the gluten-free like she has at her age.

We just went to her cousin's first birthday party. Big, huge, Chocolate, gluten-laden cake. My daughter was eye-balling that cake from the time we walked in. I brought a little gluten-free cake for us. All I had to say was that Kassidy was eating a gluten cake. Both my kids never mentioned her cake again and dug into their little gluten-free cake. No drama at all. Says a lot at ages 3 and 4.

Nancy

[hannahsue01]

I felt so horrible when I decided to go gluten free with myself and my symptomatic 5 year old daughter that I was willing to do anything to feel better. We gutted the kitchen of any gluten containing foods and got rid of anything the wasn't stainless steal/metal. We replaced anything non-stick, plastic, or wood. We replaced the toaster as well. Now as long as it's on a paper plate I let my husband and guests eat things like a bun with there hotdog or hamburger. But with the four of us it works pretty well to all be gluten free. To the best of our knowledge my husband isn't celiac but he swears he feels much better eating this way. My one year old starts spitting up when she gets gluten so we try to avoid gluten with her as well. For one I think part of it is that we are making so many things homemade rather than packaged chemicle filled conveinence foods. At first the two of us would get really sick when glutened but not so much now so it's hard to say if we are getting a crumb here or there.

[JennyC]

My son is the only one that has Celiac disease, although I feel better when I don't have gluten. I have brain fog, and as soon as I pay off my son's lab work I plan to get myself tested. We are 90% gluten free. The only gluten foods that we buy are bread and pasta. I try to be really careful with gluten. (I basically treat it like poison .) All of our dishes were quite old and we used a lot of cast iron, so I replaced almost everything. I was especially sure to replace wooden spoons, cutting boards, flour sifters, pasta strainers and bake ware. I basically replaced everything that was not glass. I also bought a separate toaster, waffle iron and deep fryer. My son had plastic kiddy plates and cereal bowls with straws that I got rid of because they were possibly scratched or hard to clean. I also use wash gluten-free dishes first. (We don't have a dishwasher. ) We also have separate condiments for those that require dipping like butter and peanut butter. Not to mention deep cleaning my kitchen...it's probably time to do it again.

I think that each person needs to do what is right for their family.

[kbtoyssni]

Again, it's a very individual decision, but when I lived at home our house was 99% gluten-free (mom and I were gluten-free, dad and brother not). We bought gluten-free brands of condiments, used corn tortillas instead of wheat, etc. There's lots of little things you can do that don't cost any more to lessen the amount of gluten in the house. But then you have to make the decision on bread and pasta - the things that do cost more to get a gluten-free substitute and do taste differently. We ended up buying gluten crackers and bread - but dad had to keep those on his side of the kitchen and use his special knife. He was also very careful to wipe everything down, etc. And I pretty much refused to touch his stuff so if he wanted bread, he got it himself. Honestly, I think it was harder on him because all of a sudden everyone's watching him with hawk eyes and making sure he didn't do things like double-dip in the mayo when I double-dipped all I wanted.

[Nancym]

I guess the real answer to "Is it good enough" is... How is your son doing? Is he showing any symptoms? The other thing to consider is... how is a young kid going to feel being around people that eat things he can't eat, but might like to. What if he starts getting into your foods? This disease can be very isolating socially and it would be sad to think of it happening even within a family.

[sara78]

I guess the real answer to "Is it good enough" is... How is your son doing? Is he showing any symptoms? The other thing to consider is... how is a young kid going to feel being around people that eat things he can't eat, but might like to. What if he starts getting into your foods? This disease can be very isolating socially and it would be sad to think of it happening even within a family.

First off I really hope that you are not saying that my son is going to be isolated in OUR home, because we choose to still eat gluten. That is very hurtfull if that is what you are saying. I understand how isolating it can be, it has been very difficult for all of us and has changed all of our lives. My son doesn't even ask for other food, because he knows what is his. I love my son very much and do all I can to make sure he is healthy and happy. I don't think that is a fair thing to say, when you don't even know my household. As far as my son feeling isolated I don't think that is going to be a problem. The only gluten the rest of us consume is pasta or bread and he has his own so the nights we eat pasta he eats his. He understands what is his so he doesn't get into our food. For a five year old he has a very good grasp on his disease. We make everything as normal as possible for him. We have a very full life of parties and playgroups. He is around other kids then and we just prepare with his stuff and he gets it and is happy as can be.

My husband, younger son and I get tested for Celiac every year and have not been found to have it for the most part we are gluten free except for bread and pasta.

The doctor says my son is doing great. He hasn't showed any symptoms at all even after accidently consuming gluten on a few occasions.(when he was first diagnosed) The only thing I can figure is that maybe his stomach hurt, but he never said it did. So honestly if he was to be getting gluten we wouldn't know on the reaction side of it. The main symptom that he had before diagnoises was vomiting and slow growth. He gets blood tests done every six months and sees the doctor and he has not seen anything alarming. We do have a separate toaster, waffle iron things like that, but we use all the same plates, silverware and things like that. I just run things throught the dishwasher and we keep all his stuff separate he has his own containers of butter and things like that or we use squeeze bottles, like I said we have been doing this for three years now. I guess just reading surprised me how many people actually have separate everything. I also asked the doctor right away when he was first diagnosed if we needed to buy separate things and he said not if it if getting cleaned well.

I just wondered how many people really felt like gluten could hide in a plastic plate after running through the dishwasher or washed with soapy water?

Thank you for all the replies

[JennyC]

I just wondered how many people really felt like gluten could hide in a plastic plate after running through the dishwasher or washed with soapy water?

I personally don't trust plastic dishware. I know that our plastic bowls and plates get little scratches and nicks in them over time. That is hard to clean. Anything that is not very hard and resistant to scratches like glass and ceramic I got gluten-free replacements. I know that I may have went further than some people, but I just don't see any reason to risk it. I figure that there will be enough mistakes through the years and I don't want to add to the possible glutenings. I also feel that if you wipe a dish with a sponge that was just used to clean a gluten containing dish that you will spread gluten to the gluten free dish. It is true that much of the gluten will be washed off the gluten-free dish by the water, but again why risk it. I wash my gluten containing dishes last, and it's not a big deal. That's just my opinion.

[gfgypsyqueen]

We have multiple food allergies in our house. I am the Celiac. As an adult, I can keep myself safe easier than the kids with their allergies. So we do not have a gluten-free house. We do have strict rules about how foods are made, placed in the kitchen, etc. I have a gluten-free collander and metal slotted spoon. All teflon, wooden utensils, wooden cutting boards, and heavily scratched up items are removed. I do not get sick very often and I can usually pinpoint the item - never been a contamination problem.

Due to the severity of the peanut allergy, no nuts are allowed in the house - ever. The dairy allergy is new and we are working to keep the her safe. But, the other kids know that if they misbehave withthe dairy products, all dairy will be removed from the house. That keeps them in check - at least so far.

Every food product is marked with who can eat it. That helps when the kids grabtheir own foods.

Also, you said your son is 5? When he starts learning to read, give him a few gluten words each week in addition to his sight words from school. It helps them feel in control of their allergy and they can start reading labels on their own. My kids loved this.

[VydorScope]

Did not have have time to read the whole thread yet, but my 3 year old son is the only one that has celiac disease in our house, but we made the house gluten-free because its simpler and MUCH less stressful.

[Guest j_mommy]

It comes down to personal choice!!!! Sounds like you're doing a GREAT job at keepong things seperate and still including your son so he doesn't feel left out. In my house it's just me and my two year old. We have went totally gluten free at home. I have not replaced any of my utensils, pots and pans or tupperwear. When i was diagnosed I took everything to my moms and used her industrial strengh diahwasher and washed everything in hot water and we have had no problems!!!! I went gluten free in my house(i'm the only one diagnosed) b/c it's easier. my son doesn't really have any preferences yet(except for fruit loops...which he doesn't even miss) and since celiac is genetic I figure I want him to get a head start on gluten-free living!

[Karen B.]

Our home is just Hubby and me. Either one of us can cook but during the week, he usually does the cooking. When I was diagnosed, we tried separate stuff for a little while but I kept having problems. Hubby was sneaky and kept a log of when he ate raisin bran or not and when I had an upset tummy at work or not and proved to me that his eating gluten and kissing me was making me sick. I didn't think it could be that sensitive. Then he cleared all the gluten out of the kitchen, got a new wood cutting board, pitched the wood spoons, etc. As I got less exposure from other things, we noticed everytime we used the cast iron skillet, I had a mild reaction so we re-seasoned it and that stopped.

The other thing I did was get rid of my non-stick cookware and get stainless steel cookware. I didn't like the non-stick for a variety of reasons and had seen a debate online about whether or not it could have the gluten cleaned out of it. I finally decided that if birds couldn't handle the fumes from it, I didn't want to either. Now, I love the stainless cookware and you couldn't make me go back.

I finally stopped eating in the breakroom at work because bread crumbs are scattered everywhere. Now, my home is my refuge where I don't have to be on hyper-alert. I'd really miss that if I had to share a kitchen.