Looking For A Celiac Friend For My 7yrs Old Daughter

[celiac dad]

My daughter is finding it very hard dealing with her celiac, I am looking for someone around her age with celiac that he or she can talk to her so she doesn

[cyberprof]

I forwarded your message to a friend of mine who has a daughter about 10. We are in Seattle.

Good luck!

~Laura

[gfpaperdoll]

Have you contacted your local celiac support group or the ROCK group? There are also children's books that are good...

If the above is not an option how about contacting the local doc that dx her & also an allergist to see if they can make some contacts - wheat is one of the top ten allergies.

You might also ask at her school - surely she is not the only one that has celiac - ask about kids with allergies also - because they all go thru the same things... maybe they can eat wheat but are allergic to chocolate, eggs, strawberries, milk, nuts, etc... Chocolate cake would be out of the question for that child.

yes, all kids need a gluten-free friend...

[fedora]

my daughter is 7 also!!!!

We live in northern california(around Eureka).

she has not been diagnosed celiac but is now on a gluten free diet. We are seeing if it helps with her issues(not growing, mouth sores, moodiness)

She loves to write and would probably be interested in a penpal. We know lots of people who don't eat gluten, but they are all adults are younger kids. There is one boy here who is six.

[Rondar2001]

My daughter is seven and was diagnosed last month. She has actually been adjusting alot better than I thought she would. She checks the ingredients of items she might like and if she sees something she can't have she puts it back and we try to figure out how to make it gluten free. I take her shopping with me to the health food store and she sees some of the good stuff that she can try that we never would have bought before. There are of course the hard times when she wants something but I can usually distract her before she gets too down about it.

On a side note, she was having huge mood swings that have seemed to have settled down a bit since we went gluten free.

We are in Calgary and I'm sure she would love to have a pen pal in the same boat as she's in.

[olena]

Have you contacted your local celiac support group or the ROCK group? There are also children's books that are good...

If the above is not an option how about contacting the local doc that dx her & also an allergist to see if they can make some contacts - wheat is one of the top ten allergies.

You might also ask at her school - surely she is not the only one that has celiac - ask about kids with allergies also - because they all go thru the same things... maybe they can eat wheat but are allergic to chocolate, eggs, strawberries, milk, nuts, etc... Chocolate cake would be out of the question for that child.

yes, all kids need a gluten-free friend...

We have tried everything, support group, doctors, school, no luck localy...

[olena]

my daughter is 7 also!!!!

We live in northern california(around Eureka).

she has not been diagnosed celiac but is now on a gluten free diet. We are seeing if it helps with her issues(not growing, mouth sores, moodiness)

She loves to write and would probably be interested in a penpal. We know lots of people who don't eat gluten, but they are all adults are younger kids. There is one boy here who is six.

Thank you! please do write to sasharockstar@shaw.ca. She has already found two new gluten-free friens in Florida.

She will be so happy!

[olena]

My daughter is seven and was diagnosed last month. She has actually been adjusting alot better than I thought she would. She checks the ingredients of items she might like and if she sees something she can't have she puts it back and we try to figure out how to make it gluten free. I take her shopping with me to the health food store and she sees some of the good stuff that she can try that we never would have bought before. There are of course the hard times when she wants something but I can usually distract her before she gets too down about it.

On a side note, she was having huge mood swings that have seemed to have settled down a bit since we went gluten free.

We are in Calgary and I'm sure she would love to have a pen pal in the same boat as she's in.

When our daughter was diagnosed last year, she was good with it in a beginning. It made her feel better, everything was Ok. She is having a hard time since recently. The reality is sinking in- it's not going away... her friends at school are all eating gluten... lanch is a torcher! She started withdrawing herself from the group, thinking she is diferent and dosen't belong. Then she started cheatting, trying other kids foods and now it gets to the point were she doesn't want to eat at all. Don't know what to do!

We had a response from a family in Florida with two girls, and my daughter loves corresponding with them.

If your daughter is interested in making a friend, please write

sasharockstar@shaw.ca. We are in Vancouver. Thank you!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

There are so many kids with peanut or dairy allergies--would your daughter feel better hanging out with someone else with a food allergy which isn't the same as hers? You could contact the teacher at school, explain the situation, and ask him/her to put you in touch with other parents dealing with food allergies.

My kids have friends who are allergic to dairy, peanuts, and one who is a vegetarian. All the parents are really good about stocking "safe" food for the affected kids to eat when they are over, since they know what it's like. And, interestingly, the toughest one is the vegetarian! (He is unusually picky, and hates trying anything new, even different brands of ranch dressing and different kinds of cheese! He turned up his nose at cheddar, asking if I didn't have "regular" cheese. Turned out, he meant American, which I turn my nose up at! ) We give him cottage chees, salad, rice, and carrot sticks when he's at our house for dinner.

[fedora]

hi,

I told my daughter. I think she would like to write, but needed time to think about what to say. She just went on the gluten free diet(we did a short test run before). It has not been easy this week, she cheated with a cookie on Friday at a play(I will be way more prepared next time). We are not sure if it is going to be the answer, but she has a lot of suggestive symptoms. We have 4 more days of school left. Glad your daughter has made a couple new penpals.

Take care