Letting Others Cook For Your Child

[dandelionmom]

I'm having a hard time trusting other people to prepare food for my daughter, even when they're making a conscious effort to make something gluten-free. Even if I trust their label reading, I don't know how gluten-free their kitchen is, so I worry about CC.

Does anyone else worry about this? Is it something I just need to get over? How do you handle it?

I'm much more willing to take a leap of faith for myself but I just can't seem to trust anyone when it comes to my daughter! How paranoid do I sound.

[gdobson]

I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. Nobody really understands this the way we do. There are so many little things that regular people just don't think of. Well-intentioned they might be, I could not trust someone to fix food for my son, unless I bought all the ingredients and they fixed it in my house. I don't think I'll get over that one.

[Cheri A]

I don't let others cook for our dd either. I make whatever she needs to take with her. Other people have good intentions but are just not used to having to prepare meals or cook the way that we do. It isn't worth the risk of her getting sick.

[buffettbride]

There are a few people who I trust to prepare her meals. Both sets of my in-laws do a great job and have purchased a set of cooking utensils, etc just for when they cook for her and we made them a "high alert" list about hand washing, CC, reading labels as a quick checklist to refer to when cooking for her. My folks keep their house stocked with gluten-free goodies for when my daughter visits. They were all pretty ahead of the curve in understanding the diligence of dealing with Celiac Disease, so it was easy to let them give it a go and we haven't had any problems as a result.

Other than that, unless it is me or my husband, she doesn't eat anything from anyone else unless it is pre-packaged and she knows it to be safe. We send snacks with her everywhere she goes, or $ for her to purchase items if needed (she's 10 so this is like field trips, sporting events, scout outings, etc). She's on the ball of what she can and can't have and doesn't risk it. We usually feed her before she leaves, just so she's not super hungry.

However, if I had not had such a positive response from my family, I absolutely would NOT trust them to cook for her and make other arrangements. It really is a judgement call on how well you think someone has grasped the necessity to be completely perfect when cooking gluten-free.

My one other exception was Girl Scout camp. We provided all the meals, pre-made and only required heating. We covered the risks of touching other food before hers could be problematic, and they accomodated us by good hand washing, safeguarding the microwave, and preparing her food before everyone elses. It was a little scary and daunting, but she made it through camp with nary a glutening.

[celiac-mommy]

The only other person who is 'allowed' to cook for our DD (and now son) is my mom. She's done as much research as I have, lives almost entirely gluten-free since my DD's diagnosis and knows what is OK and what's not. She's the ONLY one I trust. My inlaws tried to talk us into taking our trip to Europe for 2 weeks and leave the kids with them. I had a panic attack at the thought, thank goodness my DH agrees with me completly. I guess I would be more OK with it if they were at our house cooking our food, but otherwise, I can't in good faith trust anyone. That's another reason we hardly eat out, and when we do it's a gluten-free restaurant. I never though of it that way, I can let a stranger prepare her food but not most family members!!

[CeliacMom2008]

That's another reason we hardly eat out, and when we do it's a gluten-free restaurant.

Eating out is something we've only done 2 times since our son was diagnosed and it was very stressful for me. When you say a gluten free restaurant, what do you mean? A real live Celiac restaurant or just a Celiac friendly restaurant?

[celiac-mommy]

Eating out is something we've only done 2 times since our son was diagnosed and it was very stressful for me. When you say a gluten free restaurant, what do you mean? A real live Celiac restaurant or just a Celiac friendly restaurant?

We actually have a few restaurants in this area that are almost completely gluten-free. Hawthorn and Corbett Fish House (best catfish EVER), Andina's and Assiago's. We also have 2 pizza places nearby that have gluten-free pizza and are made separately from the regular pizza. Cold Stone Creamery is a great place to go too-they're SO great with us, we just call ahead and have them dig us ice cream from a new container and add gummi bears from a fresh bag-to the kids, there's nothing better!!

[texasmama]

The only person I trust to cook for my kids is my dad, who is a long term gluten-free celiac himself. His whole house is gluten-free. It is nice knowing he knows what is safe for them and won't make any mistakes. I get panicky about restaurants, too. We are new at this - about 6 weeks into it - so some of this may be just me getting comfortable with what is safe...but I don't think I will ever trust my in laws or many other people. I think I will always be packing things for my kids to take. I just feel better about it.

[Darn210]

Probably the only people I would trust are two extremely good friends. They have been the most interested in the details of Celiac and we have had thorough discussions on how little it takes to mess things up. Even with that said, I would probably still provide all the food that they would then just heat up (with detailed instructions on how to properly heat something up )

Maggie Moo's is also a great place for an ice cream treat . . . they will scoop from a fresh container (with a clean scoop) and toppings come from closed containers from the back and not the "open" buffet of toppings up front. And the one that we go to has a tendancy to give my kids extra ice cream and toppings.

[Izak's Mom]

Eating out is something we've only done 2 times since our son was diagnosed and it was very stressful for me. When you say a gluten free restaurant, what do you mean? A real live Celiac restaurant or just a Celiac friendly restaurant?

Open Original Shared Linknames a few places that have gluten-free menus....I know Legal Seafoods in the Boston area has a gluten free menu - and even goes so far that if you request the menu, they actually won't let you order off the regular menu (my friend was there with her gluten-sensitive sister, who asked for the gluten-free menu, but then decided she wanted to try the risotto off the regular menu and they wouldn't let her order it!)