Educating Day Cares On celiac disease And The gluten-free Diet - Newly Diagnosed 2 Year Old

[TawnyaK]

Hello, everyone!

I'm interested in hearing what others have done to educate and prepare the daycare for a 2 year old child with celiac disease. My husband and I are in the process of finalizing our adoption of our daughter. Finalization will be November 15th. Gotcha day was June 6th evening at the orphanage in India. I'm on FMLA and will be returning back to work in October. We will be sending our child to daycare after having been home with her for four months. A month ago, she was tested and had a biopsy that confirmed that she has celiac disease. As a result, we are in the process of transitioning to a gluten-free lifestyle.

If you have any suggestions for us with regards to educating the daycare staff, please post them. We are particularly looking for daycare facility/teacher handouts, but do not want any that reference other dietary issues and/or ADHD/behavioral issues as these do not apply to our daughter. She has celiac disease only.

If you have any ideas on snacks and lunch menus for a two year old, that would be helpful. We will need to provide these for the daycare. The current menu at the daycare for three weeks include the following gluten items: cheerios, cheese pasta with marinara, graham crackers, bagel, hamburger on a bun, fig newton, whole grain bread, chili and beans, corn bread, soft pretzel, apple pancakes, chicken strips, whole grain cracker, string cheese, blueberry muffin, chicken enchilada casserole, granola bar, turkey hot dogs, marinara sauce, chicken nuggets, zucchini bread, bread sticks with marinara sauce, cheese pizza, cheese crackers, English muffin with jelly, beef stew with carrots and potatoes, granola bars, turkey tortilla, cheese wrap, wheat crackers, golden grahams, chex mix, bean and cheese burritos with salsa, and sugar cookies. If you have ideas on substitutions and where to obtain them, that would be helpful. We will be sending all of her foods and snacks to the daycare; however, we'd like for her to eat similar items, just gluten-free.

Looking forward to your suggestions!

Tawnya K.