Switching To Gluten Free For 2.5 Yr Old

[stolly]

My 2.5 yr old daughter's biopsy results should be back by tomorrow (but the more I read online, I'm thinking we will try gluten free even if biopsy is negative). Anyway, if definitely positive for celiac disease, I want to get her gluten free as soon as possible. Any suggestions for how to make the switch to a gluten free diet as easy as possible? Did you immediately cut out all gluten out of your child's diet as soon as he/she was diagnosed?

My daughter eats a very limited selection, and doesn't do well when we try to switch things up. She wants what she wants when she wants it. For example, she's been snacking on some gluten free cereals I bought in the past few days, so she likes them ok, but she wanted Cheerios yesterday. I tried to get her to eat the Gorilla Munch instead, but she just cried and cried. She really wanted Cheerios. This happens often with other food options (when not trying to go gluten free, like we suggest waffles and she wants pancakes) and we usually give her what she wants after she calms down and asks nicely, but now I won't be able to give her some of her old favorites even when she asks nicely. How have any of you handled this? We plan to focus on the naturally gluten free things she can eat (fruit, cheese, etc) that she already likes, but how did you handle cutting out the things they really love?

I know eventually it will get better once she's feeling better, her appetite will probably increase and she'll be less selective about foods. Just looking for some advice for the initial transition period. Thank you

[Guest j_mommy]

Part of what she's doing with food choices is normal 2 yr old stuff. At this point they are testing their limits and trying to make choices for themselves.

Personally if you are choosing to go gluten-free I would go all the way right away. If you have gluten foods in the house(especially the ones she likes) you are more likly to give them to her if she's refusing a gluten-free food. It's tuff at first. But eventually she will figure out that you aren't going to buy or have those other foods in the house. I am gluten-free and my son eats gluten, but he doesn't at home. We are a totally gluten-free house. He is 3.5 and now loves the gluten-free foods, he was a really picky eater before I went gluten-free. Now he prefers them and I actually take some of them to daycare for him because he prefers the gluten-free version of cereals ect!

good Luck

[crittermom]

We went gluten free all the way with both of our kids. We explained to the them that "that food makes your tummy hurt, lets try this one instead" and we offer them something gluten-free that we know they like. Have you tried the Perky O's for a Cheerios substitute? Michael loves them.

Michael's biopsy came back normal but we still put him gluten-free and it has made a HUGE difference. Try to find gluten-free substitutes for the things your dd likes ASAP so when you go gluten-free when she asks for Cheerios, give her the gluten-free version. Another trick I use, put all of the foods in tupperware or storage containers that way they won't see the box is different. Sometimes it works and they don't even notice!

Good luck, let us know how the biopsy comes back!

[Darn210]

Sounds like a two year old to me . . .

I would get all of her old favourites out of the house, even if the whole house is not going gluten-free. It's just not fair to have them where she can see them and want them. Initially, my daughter was gluten-free and my son wasn't. Meals were gluten-free but there were some snacks around for him. All of his snacks had her approval. That meant he couldn't have anything in the house that she was really missing.

As far as two/three year olds go, they are just testing the boundaries. I didn't give them an open-ended question of "what do you want?", I typically would give them a choice between two or three things "Do you want Gorilla Munch or Perky O's?". They get to pick but I've already set the limits . . . I still do that.

[stolly]

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I really appreciate it. This forum has been so helpful the past few weeks.

[Izak's Mom]

I agree with Darn210 - if I ask my 2.5 year old what he wants without specifying 'you can have x or y', it's a recipe for disaster! Perky-Ohs are a great Cheerios sub - Izak loves the frosted and apple-cinnamon flavors. Right now he's big into snacking on the Envirokids Amazon corn flakes - I put some in a little bowl or baggie and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar on top. It's his favorite take-along-in-the-car snack. He also likes the Envirokids krispie bars - peanut butter and the berry ones. They're kinda pricey, but a good snack. What are some of her old gluten favorites? I'd be happy to suggest gluten-free alternatives that might not even make her blink.

-E

[Worriedtodeath]

It's like ripping off a bandaid. DO it slow and it's way more painful. ONe quick snatch and it's all over. We came home from the biopsy and anything in the house that contained gluten hit the trash. I couldn't stand the thought of 2 kids eating something she could't have, so everybody went gluten free. Their responses have been so great just like hers that we are staying gluten free. Obviously everyone has some kind of trouble with gluten whatever you want to call it. Due to how sick she was, our diet to begin with was very simple and basic. Frutis/veggies no grains little meat. THen we introduced gluten free cookies and such.

HTH

Stacie

[stolly]

Thank you for all of your thoughts.

Her favorites are Cheerios, Raisin Bran, graham crackers (plain, won't eat cinnamon), goldfish (but she won't eat cheez-its or other shapes, at least not yet), mac n cheese, pizza, waffles, and pancakes.

Just a note that we often offer her the choice between two things, but she'll want a third thing we didn't offer. I know some of the struggles are due to her age, but I also think some may be due to the gluten diet making her more moody/whiny. I am looking forward to getting her feeling better.

Thanks again

[home-based-mom]

I can't agree more with the people who say go "cold turkey." Get the stuff out of the house. The plastic containers are another good idea. Toddlers will pitch a fit to get what they want, and if it works they will continue the behavior because it works. Unpleasant (not nearly strong enough of a term!) as it may be, once she realizes that the behavior doesn't work any more, she will quit. If you can keep your sanity until that happens, you win!

Eventually she will forget about the old stuff - same as she would if you moved to a foreign country where her "former favorites" just don't even exist.

[Darn210]

Her favorites are Cheerios, Raisin Bran, graham crackers (plain, won't eat cinnamon), goldfish (but she won't eat cheez-its or other shapes, at least not yet), mac n cheese, pizza, waffles, and pancakes.

There are some recipes for mock gold fish and you can use a little fish cookie cutter to make them . . . at that age, shape does help them try things sometimes.

Open Original Shared Link

Tinkyada pasta is a great brown rice pasta. It holds up better than most of the other rice pastas. It comes in a variety of shapes. They have one called little dreams (I think) that is geared for kids with noodles shaped like rockets, dogs, bicycles, stars, etc. The powdered cheese packet out of the Kraft blue box mac & cheese is gluten-free. You can buy the box, pitch the pasta and use the cheese packet. Kraft also sells the powdered cheese in small blue canisters for popcorn or potatos or whatever . . . it's the same stuff. Price ends up being about the same. I have found it a Wal-Mart with the parmesean cheese. For waffles, my kids prefer Van's (check to make sure it's gluten-free, they sell several varieties). For pancakes, we use Pamela's pancake mix. I make a bunch on the weekend and freeze the leftovers to nuke on school mornings as needed. We make our own pizza using Gluten Free Pantry french bread mix (I get two big crusts out of this) and ragu pizza sauce and our own toppings.