Saying Hello And A Question

[Notso]

I'm new to the board and wanted to say hi. My daughter was diagnosed after her one year checkup. She had text book digestive symptoms and failure to thrive. We are four months into our journey, and I am so thankful for the diagnosis. She is a different child now: happy and thriving!

My question is is your whole house gluten free? Harper just started walking so cross contamination from crawling over crumbs in the kitchen is les of a factor. I have a four year old, and while she is handling it well, I know she misses goldfish, etc.

[melikamaui]

Our whole house went gluten free when my 6 year old was diagnosed a year ago. My 9 year old doesn't mind eating gluten-free at all because he knows it helps his brother. My thought was that the rest of the world can be an unsafe place for my 6 year old and I wanted our home to be a safe haven for him. We don't allow gluten into the house AT ALL. All visiting friends know this and for anyone who pops by there is a sign on the door that reads...

"Due to health concerns for our child with celiac disease we ask that you please

- Wash your hands upon entering

- Remove your shoes

- And do not bring any foods containing gluten into the house

Thank you for helping us to keep him healthy!"

This is just what works for our family, feel free to take what you like and leave the rest!

Melika

[nmlove]

With it being the younger child it might be more difficult to have gluten in the house. My two older children have celiac (6 and 4) but we still have gluten in the house. I do make gluten-free lunches and dinners for all (though sometimes there is gluten like with tacos or spaghetti). In general, I have a small gluten area for preparing those foods, wash all gluten-free stuff first and keep the kitchen clean and the floors swept. The biggest thing is I have the boys wash their hands well before eating (as we should anyway!). They seem to be doing ok and have only had a problem with gluten in their diet once and that was from them consuming something on a near daily basis that said it was gluten free but indeed was not (Trader Joe's rice milk). Good luck with everything!

[Mummyto3]

This is something I've been thinking about constantly. My 9yr old was diagnosed last month, just waiting for biopsy. My hubby and I were tested via blood test, which came back 'normal'. We haven't tested our younger two. At the moment, I'm thinking we'll probably be mostly gluten free and will put on bright stickers for my daughter for things she can have. We'll also obviously be careful for cross contamination.

[Notso]

Thanks so much for sharing what y'all are doing. We went totally gluten free at first, and are still gluten free for my older daughter since she is a messy eater, and I have become terrified of crumbs. My husband and I were only eating gluten in restaurants, and we were bringing food for Harper that was gluten free and cut up so we wouldn't cross contaminate it by touching it.

However, my husband and I are getting tested right now and I need to eat gluten to be tested. I am a stay at home mom, so to get as much as I need I'll have to have some at home. We've been eating gluten when she is sleeping, and only eating bought, non crumb foods (ie. Pasta and stuff that I am not cooking in our gluten-free pots). I've been really worried about it, though. It's so hard with a non verbal child, and i worry all the time about making her sick.

[shayre]

That's a hard place to be in. Our house went gluten -free, because mixed just wasn't working. I did notice a big difference in how I felt when we started being very careful with the gluten, but I did notice more difference after going gluten-free for all. Maybe some people could manage it, but we couldn't. It will also depend on the sensitivity level of your child which I am assuming that you don't quite know yet. My opinion is that you should get your testing done, so you know...then consider going gluten free for the whole house if you want.

[mylittlepeanut]

I am curious about this as well, I see that folks are using separate pots? I had know idea how intense this is... we just had my daughter tested and came back positive last week, she is 22 months old weighs 19 lbs and is 31" tall. We are scheduled to see a gastro. doc soon to get better help. Our pediatrician seemed a bit clueless. Any help would be appreciated!