Glutened Her Again...

[wsieving]

So I guess I win this year's worst Mother of the year award. We can't get more than a week and a half without ME glutening my daughter. The past couple of days DD hadn't had much of an appetite at all, which gradually got worse as the day went on last night. She started drinking more again, and by last night was sooooooo super cranky. After she refused to eat her dinner and started fussing again, DH put her in the bath tub. He called me in to look at her tummy and it was incredibly bloated... My initial reaction was that it must not be gluten, that the diet wasn't working, and we needed to figure out what else was the problem. But just in case I started re-checking everything she had eaten in the past couple of days. Now... please don't shoot me for this, I already feel bad enough. I had been letting her eat Doritos for two or three days! The thing is, when I grocery shop, I check the label on EVERYTHING before I buy it, even if I have bought it before. But when they Doritos were bought I had sent DH out for them and said I remembered looking at a Frito Lay gluten-free list and I thought Doritos were on that list. When he came home with them I assumed it was ok. Well, DH didn't check the label as I just assumed that he had done. I was FLAT wrong as I am sure you all probably know, but never even thought to check the bag b/c I just thought that DH had already done that and would not have bought them if they were a no-no. I had noticed that my joints had been hurting really bad the past couple of days, I just assumed it was the weather..... I just feel awful, and hopeless at the same time. DD is never going to get healed completely b/c I keep glutening her!!!!

[Mango04]

Here is the list of Frito Lay products not containing gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

Doritos are on there. I don't eat them so I don't know but maybe someone else can weigh in on whether they are indeed gluten-free.

To keep things less confusing, it helps me to stick to obviously gluten-free foods (more natural stuff - like fruit, veggies, rice etc. - things without really complicated ingredient lists...) Just an idea...

[Nancym]

The "normal" type of doritos does contain gluten, it's just some of the other flavors that don't.

[ShayFL]

I agree. We stay clear of things with a ton of ingredients and/or chemicals. Simple is best and less worry. There are certified gluten-free corn chips that are yummy.

[HAK1031]

the nacho cheese ones are not...they have wheat flour on the label (see my post on a previous thread where i managed to gluten myself with the only gluten item (those doritos) at a party thrown by a CELIAC!!!). but i eat the cooler ranch ones without a problem, although it's definitely not an everyday thing for me.

no worries, we all mess up. i know it must be harder because it's your daughter and she can't help herself. but what might help you is, while you're figuring it out, to just eat meat, fruits, veggies, and rice, with your only seasonings as salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh herbs. Then you can start to slowly add things back in. This will give her some time to heal and hugely minimize error. but don't beat yourself up...what's done is done, and as bad as gluten is over a long term, it's not a peanut allergy where one incident can kill her. just let her heal, and then move on.

[Jestgar]

It's a journey, not a sudden arrival. Don't beat yourself up, you'll get there.

[happygirl]

It's a journey, not a sudden arrival. Don't beat yourself up, you'll get there.

Agree. Hang in there....we've all been there. It will get easier.

[nikki-uk]

It's a journey, not a sudden arrival. Don't beat yourself up, you'll get there.

Ain't that the truth!

It is a constant learning curve as unfortunately ingredients change as well.....but don't be so hard on yourself!!

Mistakes will happen, and as a wife and Mum to 2 coeliacs have made some!!!

[dandelionmom]

I posted a similar post when we were first figuring out the diet. I think everyone goes through this when making this lifestyle change; there is a learning curve.

To help you avoid my mistake: I took my daughter out for ice cream and researched the safe flavors, totally forgetting that the scoops cross contaminate everything.

[wsieving]

Thank you for your all of your support. It is nice to know that I'm not the only one that made mistakes in the beginning. On the bright side of things, now that we have identified the culprit she seems to be recovering more quickly than she did in the beginning. She ate better today and seemed a lot less cranky. Hopefully this was only a minor set back!

[still tiredofdoctors]

It's a journey, not a sudden arrival. Don't beat yourself up, you'll get there.

More true words were never written . . .

Living a gluten-free lifestyle is a really large learning curve. Nikki is right, also. Ingredients are constantly changing, even within the medications that are supposed to help us. Staying on top of that is no small task. There is no magic wand that someone can wave that lets you have all the answers right at your fingertips.

I think the biggest issue here is STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP!!

If you were a horrible parent, you wouldn't give a rat's arse as to whether your daughter consumes gluten. The fact that you are learning, researching and doing whatever possible to help your daughter with this illness more than confirms that you are a very caring, loving mother. How LUCKY your daughter is to have a mother so concerned with her health and best interest.

{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Lynne

[Guest Mommy2aiden]

Im pretty much positive that i have given my son gluten here and there over the past week. So now i have got a list of like1 5 company's to call abotu certain things to make sure they are gluten free!

[happygirl]

This information on companies may help you regarding gluten free label reading:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[MarsupialMama]

Oh boy,....I think everyone who has started this route has done this numerous times. I was in a very bad situation of having to prove to doctors that gluten was the problem with my dd (with the threat of CPS) - and yet I kept accidentally glutening her!! Every gluten accident SET US BACK 3 weeks!!! Every time she would start to improve, I would send her back to square one. I felt like crying, shooting myself, and banging my head on a wall.

Hang in there and don't feel too bad about it.....it is not a matter of "if" your child will get glutened, it's a matter of "when". It's impossible to live in a society full of gluten without being contaminated in some way, shape, or form at one time or another.

[ang1e0251]

I think your daughter is lucky to have a mother who loves her enough to worry over her every mouthful. DH will be more carefull next time & you can both know it will happen again. It's hard enough to deal with for oneself but a toddler, WOW! I think you're the best kind of Mom!