Picky Eaters And Celiac/ Gs

[mykidsmommy]

I'm wondering if you see a pattern that celiac/ gs individuals seem to be picky eaters.

My 2 1/2 year old DD has always been picky. But I have also thought it is just the age as well - 2 year olds seem to eat enough to sustain a bird some days!

I'm wondering if there is a connection and why? She never complains of stomach pains or anything like that when going to the bathroom. She still wants to go in her diaper but I'm feeling that is a toilet training issue that I just cannot deal with at this point (when she's 3 I'll take that one on if it hasn't resolved itself by then!).

I'll ask her - does your tummy hurt? and the reply is always "no."

So I'm wondering if picky eating has a connection with gluten sensitivity - celiac.

[Darn210]

My personal opinion . . . picky eating doesn't have anything to do with celiac and everything to do with being a toddler.

That being said, depending on how long she has been gluten-free, she still may be having some tummy troubles - that is if she had any in the first place. My daughter didn't have stomach aches.

I don't know that when my kids were 2 1/2 that they really understood when I asked if their tummy hurt. It wasn't even that long ago, that I felt like they could adequately convey that they had a sore throat. I also know that at one point (when he was still pretty young) that I kept asking my son if "something" hurt. He kept saying no. I kept asking. He finally said yes. And then I figured out that he changed his answer to get me to quit asking.

[dandelionmom]

In our case it really did. My 3 year old was a very picky eater before we went gluten-free. Now that we've been gluten-free for only 2 months, she will try anything and likes the majority of what she tries. Before her diagnosis, she hated pasta, bread, pizza, and many other very "gluteny" foods.

Julia pre-diagnosis was legendary for her picky eating (she spent 6 months only eating orange foods like carrots, oranges, orange colored yogurt, cheese). Everyone is amazed at how adventurous her eating has become.

[JennyC]

My four year old was a very picky eater before diagnosis, and is still a pretty picky eater 6 months after diagnosis. Before diagnosis all he would eat is gluten, gluten, gluten, poultry, and dairy. He was a gluten junkie. Now he is much more open to trying new things, especially meat. He likes almost all meat now (even salmon ). The only fruit he will eat is bananas (it's a texture thing) and he just started eating corn on the cob this week. I do let him eat too much junk, but with such a picky eater I just don't know what to do.

[mykidsmommy]

Thanks for teh responses - I don't know whether its the age or the gluten or what. I'm thinking my daughter is going to starve when we start this because she is a pasta and diary junkie - that is all she will even attempt to eat. I have read where its like a drug - they are addicted to the gluten but they obviously shouldn't be eating it, and it's almost like withdrawal from a drug.

We'll just have to stick to our guns -- I figure when she is really, really starving, she'll eat!

We have already been trying to avoid the food becoming a control or power play issue figuring it waas the age and stage.

[Ridgewalker]

My son wasn't a particularly picky eater, before or now. But I do think it's possible that it can be linked to Celiac. (In fact, it's one reason I'm trying to convince one of my cousins to get tested. I swear he lived on the BRAT diet till he was 16, etc.)

But he did go through a typical toddler picky phase, and my other son is much pickier.

Jenny, mykidsmommy--

One thing that helped me stop stressing so much, is when our family doc told me to view their nutrition on a weekly basis instead of a daily basis. It helps you let go of those days where the child will eat nothing but American cheese (something Ezra is notorious for.)

Also, if there are ANY fruits or vegetables that the kid will eat at all, load 'em up with it! You can work on variety later. If they'll eat green beans at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but no other veggie on the planet- Why not give them green beans with their breakfast, lunch and dinner? Don't worry about burning them out on it- by then it's highly likely they'll be willing to try a new one.

Ezra went through a jag when he was 2 where the only vegetable he would eat was frozen (thawed, cold) green PEAS! At all hours of the day, he would eat them like candy. And that's ok, too.

It's not possible to get a toddler to eat 3 square meals. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing the best you can!

PS- Hmm... cheese and peas... is Ezra rhyming his food?!

-Sarah

[NewGFMom]

My son is the pickiest eater, both pre and post gluten free.

He eats

Cereal (Health Valley Corn and Rice Crunch 'Ems)

Muenster cheese (and no other)

Fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries and suddenly PEACHES)

Pasta (rice) with butter or plain.

Milk

Popsicles and tootsie pops (and no other sweets)

The nutritionist said it's fine. As long as he gets 2 slices of cheese and 2 cups of milk per day we're OK for protein. We do a chewable vitamin to make sure he gets his iron, etc.

but we have yet to see any changes in acceptance of new foods after 3 months on the gluten-free diet. But he's growing like a weed.

[Darn210]

If you want to hear picky . . . when my niece was two, all she would eat was multi-grain cheerios, milk, toast, mac&cheese and marshmallows. And my SIL would follow her around begging her to eat . . . "Here, honey, have some marshmallows."

mykidsmommy - she doesn't have to give up her pasta. Tinkyada brand (rice) pasta is great and they have one called "little dreams" (or something like that) that has all kinds of shapes.

I'm always amazed how something that was a favorite one week, they no longer like the next week. Then, anywhere from months to years later it's OK again. My daughter's favorite food when she was two was grilled cheese. By the time she was three, she would rather not eat anything than have grilled cheese She only started eating it again, right before she was diagnosed (age 6). Of course now, because gluten-free bread is involved, it's low on the list but she still eats it.