Help Me Help My 3 Year Old Daughter

[sspringer]

I have a 3 year old daughter who was diagnosed about a year ago. About 6 months later I went through a divorce. I know it probably sounds terrible but I don't know how well educated I am. I talked with the nutritionist, doctor and in the beginning went to support group meetings, but like I said I don't know how much I absorbed. I have a handle on alot of the stuff, but I am unsure of some ingredients, like dyes and other hidden stuff. Also I was not aware until I was reading this that I need to be careful of beauty products, I knew of make up, envelopes and some stuff but I guess there is a lot more I need to know. She goes to preschool and I send her lunch every day. I am just so scared after reading all this that I am harming her health by my lack of knowledge. She has acted fine and once in a while will complain of a stomach ache although she is very hyper and has pretty testy behavior, very unlike my other children. I want to make sure I do the best I can for her as I am her only advocate. With my personal issues behind me now I am able to solely focus on her and educating myself further. Please if you have any suggestions let me know. I appreciate everyones help and I am so glad I found this forum.

[mama2two]

I have a 3 year old daughter who was diagnosed about a year ago. About 6 months later I went through a divorce. I know it probably sounds terrible but I don't know how well educated I am. I talked with the nutritionist, doctor and in the beginning went to support group meetings, but like I said I don't know how much I absorbed. I have a handle on alot of the stuff, but I am unsure of some ingredients, like dyes and other hidden stuff. Also I was not aware until I was reading this that I need to be careful of beauty products, I knew of make up, envelopes and some stuff but I guess there is a lot more I need to know. She goes to preschool and I send her lunch every day. I am just so scared after reading all this that I am harming her health by my lack of knowledge. She has acted fine and once in a while will complain of a stomach ache although she is very hyper and has pretty testy behavior, very unlike my other children. I want to make sure I do the best I can for her as I am her only advocate. With my personal issues behind me now I am able to solely focus on her and educating myself further. Please if you have any suggestions let me know. I appreciate everyones help and I am so glad I found this forum.

[mama2two]

I have a 3 year old daughter who was diagnosed about a year ago. About 6 months later I went through a divorce. I know it probably sounds terrible but I don't know how well educated I am. I talked with the nutritionist, doctor and in the beginning went to support group meetings, but like I said I don't know how much I absorbed. I have a handle on alot of the stuff, but I am unsure of some ingredients, like dyes and other hidden stuff. Also I was not aware until I was reading this that I need to be careful of beauty products, I knew of make up, envelopes and some stuff but I guess there is a lot more I need to know. She goes to preschool and I send her lunch every day. I am just so scared after reading all this that I am harming her health by my lack of knowledge. She has acted fine and once in a while will complain of a stomach ache although she is very hyper and has pretty testy behavior, very unlike my other children. I want to make sure I do the best I can for her as I am her only advocate. With my personal issues behind me now I am able to solely focus on her and educating myself further. Please if you have any suggestions let me know. I appreciate everyones help and I am so glad I found this forum.

Have you ever read "gluten-free living for dummies" by Danna Korn? I am reading it now and she did talk of gluten in make-up and beauty products and what she said is that unless they are on your mouth or near it so that it may be ingested it usually does not bother you. But she said that some people say that beauty products, shampoos etc. with gluten do bother them, in which case you should obviously avoid them. GOod Luck!!

[chrissy]

are you having your daughter's Ttg levels tested on a regular basis? this is a really good way to monitor how well you are following the diet. we test our girls about every 6 months. i would imagine that over time we will test them less often, but for now, it helps us to keep an eye on things.

[sspringer]

Thanks for your replies. I actually was told to follow up with her pediatrician and that the GI doctor didn't need to see her anymore. Do you go to your ped. to get the test or the GI doc? I have also heard alot about the celiac for dummies so I am going to order that today. Thanks again.

[JennyC]

If you are buying from reliable companies then you don't have to worry about hidden gluten. Nestle, General Mills and Kraft to name a few will not hide their gluten. I suggest going to their websites are printing off a list of their brands. You usually do not need to worry about caramel coloring, but I will not feed my son anything with natural flavoring from an unknown brand without calling them first. Many people say that modified food starch is fine unless it says that it is made from wheat, but I follow the same policy as I use with natural flavoring. The best thing to do besides finding the safe brands is to just start calling companies. Each company usually produces many products so you can sometimes get lots of information from one company. If you send me a private message with your email I will send you an email attachment of some gluten free food lists to give you a head start.