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Packing A Lunch Vs. School Lunches?

darkmindead

By darkmindead
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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darkmindead Newbie
darkmindead
Posted

My 10 year old is the only one of my 4 children in school at this time. We recently started going gluten free for the whole family. Although it is only my 5 year old daughter with the issues. I have debated weather or not to let him eat regular school lunches ( which almost certainly contain gluten) or to pack him a lunch? Since he doesnt ""need"" to be off gluten. Should I go through the trouble of telling the school and his teacher no gluten? Or should I allow him to eat it away from home since everything at home is gluten free?

As a side note I get that not everything is cause by gluten ( it sure kinda seems that way though when you first get into it lol) But he has had some bad bad exzema on his stomach we have never been able to get rid of... was kind of curious if being gluten free would take away that pain and itch?? Maybe?

BTW: I'm Mel ... Mom of 4! Ages 10, 5 , 3, 1. Our whole famiyl started being gluten free Monday :) Long story :)

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JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted
As a side note I get that not everything is cause by gluten ( it sure kinda seems that way though when you first get into it lol) But he has had some bad bad exzema on his stomach we have never been able to get rid of... was kind of curious if being gluten free would take away that pain and itch?? Maybe?

BTW: I'm Mel ... Mom of 4! Ages 10, 5 , 3, 1. Our whole famiyl started being gluten free Monday :) Long story :)

Try it! That's the cool thing, it can't hurt!

alamaz Collaborator
alamaz
Posted

have you tried taking him off dairy? i get exzema on my hands when i eat dairy. you could try that first since it's easier than being gluten-free and see what happens. if it doesn't help him, then try him on gluten-free. Have you all been tested since your daughters diagnosis? it's a good idea for the whole fam. to be tested before going gluten-free to see if any one else has celiac.

bakingbarb Enthusiast
bakingbarb
Posted

It seems since they are all young if you all go off of gluten now it would be easier. If you do then you will know soon enough if it affects his health in a positive manner. Personally I would pack his lunch, have you seen school lunches blech!

Ask him, what does he think about it?

cruelshoes Enthusiast
cruelshoes
Posted
I have debated weather or not to let him eat regular school lunches ( which almost certainly contain gluten) or to pack him a lunch? Since he doesnt ""need"" to be off gluten. Should I go through the trouble of telling the school and his teacher no gluten? Or should I allow him to eat it away from home since everything at home is gluten free?

I am very confused. If he doesn't need to be gluten-free, why would you tell the school to not feed him gluten? Can you help me understand?

Normal school lunch fare is full of gluten. If you are going to want to have a gluten-free school lunch provided by the school, they most likely will not be able to do it without special preparation and effort. We are going through that process with our school district right now. They are very willing to work with us, but we had to have a documented medical diagnosis first. Without that diagnosis, they would not be able to change the school lunch menu at all.

If you don't have/don't want a diagnosis, but still want to avoid gluten, I think your safest bet would be packing his lunch.

gfgypsyqueen Enthusiast
gfgypsyqueen
Posted

Couple of things:

I personally don't think the county school district will be able to make 100% gluten-free non-CC'd food. From our experience, asking a school that in our case feeds close to 2000 kids adn teachers to feed my kid a perfectly safe meal is pretty risky. I pack my daughter's meals every day. They requested "cool" lunches, so we do that. The game is try to make the other kids wish they were eating her food. It works for us. She loves home lunch now.

The other item is your 10 yr old doesn't have Celiacs. right? So I would either have him tested at the Drs and see if Celiacs is the cause of his exzema or put him on a limited period of Dairy free and then possibly a limited period of dairy free and gluten free. But both will require you to pack all lunches. But track the exzema and the changes to see if it is benefitting him to be gluten-free/CF. If he does not benefit from it, then let him eat whatever outside of the house.

From our experience, the siblings resent having limited foods because of an allergy or disease that affects someone else. We work through it. We comprimise. And we keep everyone safe. Our house is a mixed house and everyone does fine.

BTW, my oldest is not a celiac, but she has severe food allergies. I had to remove all of her dairy because she kept making her gluten-free/CF sister sick. Turns out the exzema on the older sister all but disappeared when she went dairy free. Now she is dairy free, but with a lactaid she can have an occassional slice of pizza.

Mom23boys Contributor
Mom23boys
Posted

It was suggested to us that we try a gluten trial with the whole family instead of just the one suspected member. We saw changes in the WHOLE :o family.

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gfgypsyqueen Enthusiast
gfgypsyqueen
Posted

Well sounds like you have a house full of Celiacs! That makes it easier. Please ignore my previous post about getting tested and not forcing the diet on someone.

I've had to do battles with the school system over severe food allergies. Call the School District Office and find out who is in charge of policies regarding food allergies and see if they have heard of Celiacs and the policies that relate. Find out what documentation the school system needs for your son. For me it is the head of nursing. That person should be able to tell you if the cafeteria is technically able to handle a gluten-free diet. After you have that info, go in and talk to the Principal and nurse of the school.

You may need to look into a 504 plan for your son, if the school does not make accomodations. It does apply to Celiacs.

Personally, I would still pack his lunch and never let him eat school lunch. Too hard to single out one kid in line and to keep that meal safe. Just make him cool lunches - chicken fingers, pizza, stuff the other kids will want.

Also talk to the teacher, art teacher, and any other area that may touch or use materials in the class.

Hope your son's school is easy for you.

tennyson Newbie
tennyson
Posted

My whole family and I just went gluten-free- I am gluten sensitive, (ulcerative colitis, iritis, psoriasis, arthritis) and dh has undiagnosed ADHD. ds has attentional issues, and dd has gastro issues- bloating, pain, constipation, etc.

We all took the plunge on Monday with the attitude- "can't hurt- might help", and it is really bringing us all together on a new level- kinda like our own little club. the kids love their homemade lunches- they were getting sick of sandwhiches all the time anyway. good luck and let me suggest glutino pretzels- my kids took tuna salad today with those to dip into it and LOVED it!!! Also Florida Naturals fruit snacks.

Lori

Offthegrid Explorer
Offthegrid
Posted

I personally don't even see this as a question of gluten versus non-gluten. If you pack his lunch, then you get to put much healthier foods in there.

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