Toddlers And Putting Hands In The Mouth

[tbakins]

My 18mo was just diagnosed a few moths ago. We have been fight docotrs and specialists with this since he was four months old. At his las check-up he actually gained a little bit of weight (YEAH!!!) but he is still having massive amounts of diarrhea. The doctor told us we are on the right track now but we are missing some kind of gluten in his diet. I suspect it is contamination. I have three other children (7,5,3) that are not gluten-free. How can I keep their food away from my son? Or even harder, he is a baby and likes to out his hands in his mouth. That will contanimant him too! I am trying so hard and I am so frustrated that we can not help him. Any suggestions aside from making the whole family gluten-free would be appreciated. (We can not afford to do that). I could also use help on nursery workers. That could be a source of contamination too. Thanks!

[ptkds]

That's really tough. I have 2 toddlers w/ Celiac. Our whole family is gluten-free, but 4 our of 6 of us have Celiac, so that is more logical for us.

Are you sure he only has a problem w/ gluten? He could be reacting to milk, soy, eggs, etc. An elimination diet may still be in order.

You should just keep on you older kids to make sure they clean up after themselves. You can designate a certain room for gluten food that the toddler can't go into. Wash his hands often (that hand sanitizer won't do it. The gluten has to be rinsed off with a wipe or running water).

Or try more naturally gluten-free foods, such as bananas or other fruit, yogurt, Trix cereal, Dora stars, most fruit snacks are gluten-free. If you make cookies, there is a great gluten-free recipe that doesn't require any special ingredients that I can send to you if you want.

Good Luck! You will get the hang of this! YOu have defintely come to the right place. The ppl on here are awesome!

ptkds

[gfgypsyqueen]

Is your 18 mth old gluten-free and dairy/casein free? Yes it takes time to heal. But my toddler had a bigger problem with dairy than we thought. She has always had Soy formula but I never worried about trace milk. After long battles with pediatricians and gastro she was made Dairy free down to the trace levels and that made a big difference, but making her gluten free and casien free has changed her. She finally has no mroe diarrhea or rashes. So maybe look into removing the casein if you have not down that already.

I have a 2.5 yr old with celiacs and a 6 yr old with nut allergy. I also have Celiacs. My whole family is not gluten-free either and we make it work. We had to make rules to make it work. And rules have consequences. No sharing of food or drink is the most important rule! No double dipping of anything! Squeeze bottles for condiments are really helpful. Food is only eaten at the table. No place else. And then plates are immediately put into trash or sink as needed. Personally, I think assigned seats at the table would be a huge help for you. His chair and surrounding area at the table would be gluten-free. Make sure older responsible kids sit next to him. Food is forbidden in bed rooms. All low level access cabinets and counters only have gluten-free food. If she can reach the surface, she can steal the food and get sick. I learned that one the hard way Make a safe snack shelf in the fridge. Keep fruits available on the counter. All of the kids can grab fruit or the safe snacks whenever they want and no risk to the toddler.

Change the idea of snacks and dinner to naturally gluten-free. I try hard to buy as many foods and drinks that are gluten-free, CF, Peanut free, Treenut Free as possible. All food are labeled in the cabinets. (gluten-free/CF, PF). That way my non-readers and guests can figure out what is safe. All dinners for us are gluten-free except for pizza and pasta nights. Breakfast is harder, so if possible make breakfast gluten-free. If not, be clear on who is eating what. For us, everyone gets a waffle, some are gluten-free and some are not. Syrup is always gluten-free. Butter is always gluten-free/CF. I found that having two butters didn't because the non-Gluten-free Casein-free butter would be used to make a part of a meal and then the left overs were hard to track. Now the rice, mashed potatoes, etc are made with Gluten-free Casein-free milk and butter and that works easier. Snacks may be chips or fruit that are gluten-free. We used to have snacks that were mainly gluten and the cookie/cracker crumbs were a nightmare! Now those are a rare treat. Ice cream for dessert is easy. No crumbs and everyone is happy. One container of ice cream, like Bryers chocolate worked great. Now with the dairy allergy, she has her own non-dairy gluten-free ice cream.

As for the hands in the mouth, I hate to say it but can you encourage a binky? At least the binky is kept clean. toddler hands are nearly impossible to keep clean! My youngest still has a binky, and I am not happy about that, but it s better than a thumb IMO

The rules sound awful, but it really is the only way. As the kids get older or more accustomed to the new way to eat safely the rules change or go away as needed. The only way my oldest got the message about keeping her sister safe is the day I took away all of her dairy products. She kept leaving half eaten yogurt out where her sister could reach it, eat it, and get sick. No more dairy products = no more accidents. BTW, we found out the oldest was having trouble with dairy as a result of her being dairy free for a few weeks. Now that she showed responsibility she earned an occassional dairy product with a Lactaid and everyone is happier!

Long winded today