Just Learning

[osmmommy3]

My daughter who is 7 was just diagnosed with celiac disease. So needless to say my family is justing learning what this is all about. Her celiac disease was confimed by a blood test. We only had one blow up so far , because we have two other children who as far as I know are fine. I guess it is just very over whelming to me and my husband of how to make a 7 year old realize that she can not eat like her friends pretty much fo rthe rest of her life. If any one has any advice we surely would appreciate it.

Thanks

Jen

[reneelt]

I am new as well. We are in the process of getting a diagnosis for my 3 year old son. I don't have any advice but I wanted to let you know I know what you are feeling. I am sure you will get lots of great answers. This forum has been so helpful for me.

[mamaw]

Hello & Welcome

Please do not make your daughter feel like she is different from other kids. SHe is exactly the same but her eating habits are going to be different to the extent that other grains will be used to replace wheat. By telling her she cannot eat like other kids will cause emotional issues. & stress.. Our grandkids stated being gluten-free when one was 2 1/2 & the other was 6 1/2.... they are not deprived or starved. They go to parties, school functions, scouts , football & more.

It will take time on your part to make sure she has goodies to match the other childrens. I make lunches for school to match what the school is serving that day , somtimes they just want something different to eat.... About once a month they can have what the school offers....

Make her understand that she still can have ice cream, popcorn, snickers, chocolate bars ( without krispies), fruit snacks , chips, doritos, gluten-free pretzels, popscicles to name a few.....

When the kids get invited to CHuckie Cheese for a party we see that they take their pizza in foil cooked & then the server will heat it up. Same for home parties or stay overs. We let the parents know they can not eat certain mainstream things & we always send a care pkg. for the children for supper, breakfast & snacks. A toasta bag helps for toast.... when I make cupcakes , cookies I alway send enough for everyone to share that way again the child does not feel different. I have kids who ask at parties for the gluten-free goodies!

Sharing with extended family members also makes it easier...I always make dessert for everyone & that way all of us can enjoy dessert ..

So she can eat like everyone else......plus there is a ton of things you still can buy at the regular grocery store...

If possible rave about all the gluten-free goodies..today there is so much in gluten-free choices & some way better than wheat.....if you need to know whats good & whats not let me know .... with all foods some are much better than others.

I will recomend Open Original Shared Link this is a flour blend. I use it to make hot pockets crossiants & more.... A great cookbook is from Annalise Roberts called Baking Classics.

Amy's makes gluten-free mac & cheese. Joan's gluten-free great bakes has english muffins & bagles & pizza that are excellent. We make Mickey D's breakfast sandwiches out of these....

If I can help just let me know.

blessings

mamaw

[swalker]

If school lunches are the problem I would concentrate on making her lunch enviable. I would buy a soup thermos and fill it with her favourites and put in a fancy napkin and her own special utensils.

Recipezaar has tons of good gluten free recipes.

Someone else suggested sending in enough for everyone and I think that's a great idea. Cupcakes or mini muffins are easy to make great gluten free.

My whole family is gluten free and if we don't keep a freezer full of baking we all start to feel hard done by. I try to keep two kinds of cookies, two different healthy muffins, a snack cake and a bar of some sort as well as bread and pancakes in the freezer at all times.

Everyone goes through a greiving period when they realize that they are going to have to eat differently for the rest of their lives. Listening closely to how she's feeling and letting her know that you understand and will do what you can to help her adjust should help with the process.

[osmmommy3]

Thank you so much for your kind words of advice. I have found alot of items to make her. I think eventually our whole household will go Gluten free. But till then we are trying to keep things as normal as possible. Because my daughter is very emotional we are just trying to keep her sirits up. Thanks again for your help.

Jen

[osmmommy3]

Thank you for your advice. It is just very hard wrapping my brain around all of this. Because it came on very sudden. It sounds like you can make alot of normal things for her to eat. If you don't mind xould you share some recipes.

Hello & Welcome

Please do not make your daughter feel like she is different from other kids. SHe is exactly the same but her eating habits are going to be different to the extent that other grains will be used to replace wheat. By telling her she cannot eat like other kids will cause emotional issues. & stress.. Our grandkids stated being gluten-free when one was 2 1/2 & the other was 6 1/2.... they are not deprived or starved. They go to parties, school functions, scouts , football & more.

It will take time on your part to make sure she has goodies to match the other childrens. I make lunches for school to match what the school is serving that day , somtimes they just want something different to eat.... About once a month they can have what the school offers....

Make her understand that she still can have ice cream, popcorn, snickers, chocolate bars ( without krispies), fruit snacks , chips, doritos, gluten-free pretzels, popscicles to name a few.....

When the kids get invited to CHuckie Cheese for a party we see that they take their pizza in foil cooked & then the server will heat it up. Same for home parties or stay overs. We let the parents know they can not eat certain mainstream things & we always send a care pkg. for the children for supper, breakfast & snacks. A toasta bag helps for toast.... when I make cupcakes , cookies I alway send enough for everyone to share that way again the child does not feel different. I have kids who ask at parties for the gluten-free goodies!

Sharing with extended family members also makes it easier...I always make dessert for everyone & that way all of us can enjoy dessert ..

So she can eat like everyone else......plus there is a ton of things you still can buy at the regular grocery store...

If possible rave about all the gluten-free goodies..today there is so much in gluten-free choices & some way better than wheat.....if you need to know whats good & whats not let me know .... with all foods some are much better than others.

I will recomend Open Original Shared Link this is a flour blend. I use it to make hot pockets crossiants & more.... A great cookbook is from Annalise Roberts called Baking Classics.

Amy's makes gluten-free mac & cheese. Joan's gluten-free great bakes has english muffins & bagles & pizza that are excellent. We make Mickey D's breakfast sandwiches out of these....

If I can help just let me know.

blessings

mamaw

[mamaw]

Hello

Yes , let me know what some of her favorite foods are & I will guide you to purchasing or making them from scratch....

you can send me a pm if you like & I will give you my reg e-mail addy also. Either way....

I have started a cookbook for each of the kids... so someday when they are grown they will have their favorites......

It is over whelming at first. Many go through the six stages of mourning or grieving. This is natural . You are losing a very important part of your daily being.FOOD! ANd it doesn't help that we all have been programed into thinking wheat is a staple of good life & eating. But for some it is deadly. That is hard to change what was bred into us all from early years.It will take time.

I think that is wonderful that you all may go gluten-free...we humans only have one stomach to digest & I do not believe we are able to digest these hard grains. Cows can a better chance since they have more than one stomach...

Another thing I can say is with most other illness one must take a battery of drugs, chemo,& terrible surgeries but for celiacs we just must change our diet. I for one love this dx's over my doctor dx's of Lou Gerhig's Disease, a death sentence...

Being gluten-free is a lifestyle not just a diet.

AS I tell everyone Special Food For Special People.............

Lets make your daughter happy & get her some of her favorite things!

blessings

mamaw

[linsmad]

My 7 year old daughter was just diagnosed with celiac too! My husband has celiac so we have eaten quite a bit of gluten-free food over the years. When I told her that she needs to eats gluten-free like her dad she said-OK. That was it. She sees that he eats well-and she eats most of the same stuff too. It is a great idea to make the homemade lunch enviable. Someone recommended Annalise Roberts cookbook-and I can't say enough about that one too! Amazing. You don't miss the gluten in those recipes at all! My non gluten-free family members LOVE the bread! (And they don't even have to eat gluten-free!)

What did everyone do with the school-did you let them know right away? Just the teacher and school nurse? I am not sure how to go about informing everyone. Did you send a note or anything to classmates parents so that you can get a heads-up of class birthdays and such? Any help would be great.

Thanks,

Tracey

[CeliacMom2008]

Regarding the school question...

We told our son's teacher, the principal and the school nurse. We don't feel comfortable with him eating hot lunches, so we didn't tell the cafeteria. We have sat down with all of his teachers and the principal and talked face to face as well as leaving them with some written info on Celiac.

As for birthday treats, we got a list of birthdays from the teacher and then I send in a treat on the days there are birthdays. We also give the teachers goodie boxes - tupperware filled with gluten free goodies he likes for occasions when there are treats that I don't know about ahead of time.

Ask the teacher to let you know if there will be any food related activities in the classroom (for example, our son's teacher used pretzel sticks for a math activity and she gave him toothpicks instead).

As for lunch, we bought a lunch box that opens up sort of like the old fashioned metal ones with the cartoons on the side. It's a cloth type fabric with a plastic tray inside. This is nice because he can keep all of his food inside the box, removing the need to set the food on the table and possibly get contamination from crumbs on the table.

A thermos is very valuable for our lunch routines. He takes things like mac & cheese, lasagna, fried rice, quiche, chilli, etc. in it. He also LOVES PB&J on Pamela's pancakes. For special treats I use the pancake/egg thingies that you can pour the batter into and make the pancake into a shape. I got Mickey Mouse ones for Christmas and even at 9 he really likes getting Mickey sandwiches. I just bought a star one this week for another option.

For birthday parties, I keep pieces of cake frozen that I can just send with him. He actually likes this better because he always has the kind of cake that HE likes.

I know it's very overwhelming right now, but trust me that it gets much easier and this is really not that bad. It's just different.