How Do You Handle Birthday Parties?

[johalex]

Hello!

My son is 8 and has been diagnosed with Celiacs for about a year-and-a-half. He is also lactose intolerant. I was curious as to how others handle it when sending a child with Celiac's to a birthday party. My son knows the foods he can and cannot eat, for the most part since he is older. I always make a point to call to RSVP ahead of time to find out what type of foods will be served. Then, I try to send with him something similar, but that requires time and planning, so I can't always manage that with all my other obligations.

I keep some homemade brownies in the freezer with non-dairy frosting on them. I send him one in a container and it is usually thawed out by the time he gets it. Most times, I will go and buy him a special treat to send- such as marshmallows or fruit snacks I know he can have and can share with others. I often pop a bag of popcorn to send with him too. Or, I'll make his own pizza if they are having pizza.

I guess my worry is in that if he brings something and there isn't enough to go around, KWIM? I don't always get to stop at the store to buy a special treat to share.

How do you handle birthday parties like this?

[Guhlia]

If it's a birthday party, I see no need for your son to feel like he has to share his special treat(s). Chances are that the other kids wouldn't even notice if nothing was said about it. I just bring my daughter one gluten free cupcake and a snack similar to whatever they're serving. I ask when I RSVP.

[Cruiser Bob]

Jello jigglers and cool whip. I know we went through the same issues and more than once had little devils return home, rather than the little angels we usually have - when they stay on their gluten/dairy free diets. The simple little birthday party turns into a 2-3 day long event, just like sleep overs.

I'm not sure there is much else you can do, but allow your kids to be kids as much as possible. My kids are 14 & 16 now and have been gluten-free since 2&4. They were dairy/egg free until 8/12 range. I do know they will sneak fun foods and I do know we the parents can tell by their attitutudes, but it's all part of growing up and learning.

Not sure where you are located, but you might look into one of the two gluten-free summer camps through GIG. Not only do they get proper food, (the Vashon Island camp is integrated in with normal diet kids. The eastern camp I think is 100% gluten-free) the gluten-free food is better than the normal camp food. Camp easily deals with other allergies (Dairy, soy, peanut, egg, etc). Bob

[gfgypsyqueen]

I keep a stash of Cherry Brooke Kitchen cupcakes in the freezer and icing is easy to make. Cherry Brooke Kitchen cupcakes are gluten-free, dairy free (lactose free), egg, free, nut free and they taste great!

You might need to find a "cool factor treat". If he is too old for cupcakes, see about making choclates or buying some, but make it something fun like chocolate covered marshmellows. Sometimes it is not so bad when you "special food" is better than the normal food being served.

[2Boys4Me]

90% of the time we have at least seven days notice, so I find out what they're serving and send one along. A week is usually plenty of time to bake something. It's almost always a cupcake and pizza.

At one party, they were having a chocolate fountain, so I checked on the chocolate and provided cookies and pretzels for dipping - all the kids had the gluten-free cookies and pretzels, the mom hosting the party provided fruit for dipping. They had Angel food cake for the other guests and instead of dipping the cake (which would render the fountain unusable for my son), they used a ladle to drizzle chocolate over the cake.

Another time when I spoke to the mom she said since it was in between meals I should provide a cupcake and then she went over all the snacks and juices they were having and everything was fine. (My son has celiac, but has no problems with dairy, soy or other allergens.)

[taweavmo3]

Well, every party we've been to has had pizza and cake. My 8 year old is casein free as well, so I just send him with a bag of hot wings and his own cupcake. I usually stay at the party so I can give him his food when it's time to eat. The other kids do not even notice, and the parents hardly even notice b/c it's so chaotic. One thing I have foud hilarious at parties, is that the kids usually eat in about a microsecond b/c they want to go play......and they usually only eat the icing off the cake. So really, even if my child had nothing to eat, he probably wouldn't care, lol. I used to stress about it, but now it's not that big of a deal!

[janelyb]

My 3 yr old just went to his 1st party last week since he's been Gluten-free Casein-free. When I rsvp'd I told the mom the situation and I told her I'd provide a slice of pizza and a cupcake/cake that was Gluten-free Casein-free for him. She was concerned that the party place wasn't gonna allow outside food in but we called and they agreed it was completely fine. *Gosh I would have never thought to ask the party place but I guess some places have problem with outside food coming in; had this been the case we probably would have only came for the 1st part of the party which was about an hour in the party room full of jumpy houses*

My son did great he didn't even notice his food was any different until it came to the cake when they had yellow frosting and his cake had none (I ran out) but he acepted it and was completely fine.

[jacqui]

  johalex said:

Hello!

My son is 8 and has been diagnosed with Celiacs for about a year-and-a-half. He is also lactose intolerant. I was curious as to how others handle it when sending a child with Celiac's to a birthday party. My son knows the foods he can and cannot eat, for the most part since he is older. I always make a point to call to RSVP ahead of time to find out what type of foods will be served. Then, I try to send with him something similar, but that requires time and planning, so I can't always manage that with all my other obligations.

I keep some homemade brownies in the freezer with non-dairy frosting on them. I send him one in a container and it is usually thawed out by the time he gets it. Most times, I will go and buy him a special treat to send- such as marshmallows or fruit snacks I know he can have and can share with others. I often pop a bag of popcorn to send with him too. Or, I'll make his own pizza if they are having pizza.

I guess my worry is in that if he brings something and there isn't enough to go around, KWIM? I don't always get to stop at the store to buy a special treat to share.

How do you handle birthday parties like this?

Hi,

Our 6 1/2 year old diagnosed celiac last summer brings a gluten free pizza if it is a pizza party and we have slices of cake in the freezer that we defrost for her to take with her. She has never complained or said anything about other kids saying anything. Ok, she just told me that when they see her flourless chocolate cake they wish they had some. And she replied it's b/c of my special diet and then they reply they wish they were on her diet!

For her birthday we made gluten free cupcakes and all the kids chowed them down not knowing they were gluten free. We did tell them and they didn't care they said they tasted great!

Hannah has been very open about her celiac disease since diagnosis and we let teachers and parents know all they can grasp. Parents have even called me and said that Hannah said it was OK for her to eat something and they just wanted to make sure. I tell them if Hannah says she can have it than it is fine otherwise she calls us and asks us to call the company... As you know when you have celiac disease you do not want to be sick so you don't cheat no matter what your age.

The school cafeteria is not very helpful though, so if anyone has advice please fill me in. We are in Antelope, California (just outside of Sacramento).

Good luck!

jacqui and family

[LisaJ]

I remember when I was a kid at birthday parties, I ate what I could (chips, ice cream) and always brought snacks along. My mom definitely felt more sorry for me than I did for myself! I didn't really care - all my friends knew about it, and I just got used to it.

[jacqui]

  johalex said:

Hello!

My son is 8 and has been diagnosed with Celiacs for about a year-and-a-half. He is also lactose intolerant. I was curious as to how others handle it when sending a child with Celiac's to a birthday party. My son knows the foods he can and cannot eat, for the most part since he is older. I always make a point to call to RSVP ahead of time to find out what type of foods will be served. Then, I try to send with him something similar, but that requires time and planning, so I can't always manage that with all my other obligations.

I keep some homemade brownies in the freezer with non-dairy frosting on them. I send him one in a container and it is usually thawed out by the time he gets it. Most times, I will go and buy him a special treat to send- such as marshmallows or fruit snacks I know he can have and can share with others. I often pop a bag of popcorn to send with him too. Or, I'll make his own pizza if they are having pizza.

I guess my worry is in that if he brings something and there isn't enough to go around, KWIM? I don't always get to stop at the store to buy a special treat to share.

How do you handle birthday parties like this?

Sorry I skimmed your post you do everything we do too. And I say no need to bring enough for the gang b/c afterall it is a party, right? If his friends know about his celiac disease then they will not question or hopefully they won't - kids are kids though.

[Cheri A]

I also send something only for my child. When she was younger, I would stay to make sure that she got it without being contaminated. Now I send it in a backpack/purse thing and SHE gets it for herself to avoid cc. Mostly, it's pizza and she chooses cookies as a treat. Still haven't found a cake that she likes.

[mandasmom]

  Cheri A said:

I also send something only for my child. When she was younger, I would stay to make sure that she got it without being contaminated. Now I send it in a backpack/purse thing and SHE gets it for herself to avoid cc. Mostly, it's pizza and she chooses cookies as a treat. Still haven't found a cake that she likes.

I always found it helpful to make sure that my child did not arrive at the party hungry...We have gotten in the habit of eating before we go anywhere..it just makes the limitations more comfortable. A hungry child is more likley to whine than one who is comfortable full. I fyou feed him before the party and bring along a cupcake he will liekly be just fine. Frankly, I t works for me too. Whenever I attend a social even I eat before I go. Always seems to keep me from feeling badly or being tempted to eat an unknown item.