Diabetes And Celiac

[samie]

My daughter just turn five and has had diabetes for a year and celiac about august diganosed. I have been trying to teach her about asking what stuff she can have and she does good sometime but sometime she gets mad and upset. Just wondering how others deal with it.

[M0Mto3]

My daughter is only 16 months, so right now we are not dealing with this. I am hoping that I can teach her to be responsible for her health. She only has Celiac's (but my husband has type 1 dm), but I think with both it is important to find positive ways to teach them to take control of this.

Maybe someone else can suggest things that they have used to teach their child to be responsible for their diet?

[missy'smom]

I have both. Adult onset T1 for me. I am also a mom of a food allergic kid(13).

Maybe you could give examples of situations if you are comfortable. I think it is important to empower kids to speak up for themselves and teach them to manage their health issues and educate them but I think it is a process of many years and have to consider what is age appropriate and what they individually can handle. If she is getting angry then maybe it's too much. She is still very young and that's a big burden. I think you still need to do most of the advocating at this point. If you are worried about situations when you are not with her then maybe you need to be having better communication in advance with the adults who are with her and/or she needs to learn to just politely say no thank you or the like, whatever is needed to avoid choices that are of unknown safety.

My son is learning to order for himself at restaurants and speak up on school field trips when they eat out but I still need to do the communicating in advance and he still needs an adult to help him get started at the event. I always tell the teacher "you need to call the manager over and start the conversation, then my son can take it from there" he's just not 100% confident enough to do it all on his own. He knows what to order though. At restaurants when we eat out as a family, I have him order for himself because he needs to learn and speak up, but still we are there as emotional support. Your daughter needs that safe buffer still until she can grow in confidence.

All the usual, helping with cooking, shopping, while keeping it fun and not too much of an "education" can go a long way towards secretly educating kids on ingredients and preparation methods and have positive influence on their ability to advocate.

Again feel free to share situations, I'm sure that we can come up with strategies. The above is just all that I happen to think of at the moment. I'm sure I've got more in me somewhere

[samie]

She is only allowed to go to people that i know are gonna take care of her needs without me. She did go to the neighbors a few weeks ago but not anymore cause she told her daughter togive out cotton candy to kids that were their and i went to check her sugars were high. She didnt tell me even though she new her medical needs because we had talk before how she only can have certian things and that i need to know if they want to get her something. My other neighbor she gets to go to their house anytime because they will not give her anything without my saying its ok. Their kids know to and their yougest son has a medical problem so they understand it. The parents also are diabetic so they are good with that. She has a speech delay so some people dont understand her as well. I am trying to teach her some so she can start understand it better. When we go food shopping i let her pick out some thing that she wants cause i want her to feel like she has choices. She does do better sometimes but their have been some fits in a store cause she wants something but i cant get it cause its not gluten-free like some crackers or certain chips. She is also shy so getting her to talk up is hard sometimes. Alsoonce she she got some crackers that were not

[samie]

She is only allowed to go to people that i know are gonna take care of her needs without me. She did go to the neighbors a few weeks ago but not anymore cause she told her daughter togive out cotton candy to kids that were their and i went to check her sugars were high. She didnt tell me even though she new her medical needs because we had talk before how she only can have certian things and that i need to know if they want to get her something. My other neighbor she gets to go to their house anytime because they will not give her anything without my saying its ok. Their kids know to and their yougest son has a medical problem so they understand it. The parents also are diabetic so they are good with that. She has a speech delay so some people dont understand her as well. I am trying to teach her some so she can start understand it better. When we go food shopping i let her pick out some thing that she wants cause i want her to feel like she has choices. She does do better sometimes but their have been some fits in a store cause she wants something but i cant get it cause its not gluten-free like some crackers or certain chips. She is also shy so getting her to talk up is hard sometimes. Alsoonce she she got some crackers that were not gluten-free she strated crying cause she couldnt have it. I keep the house almostal gluten-free beside a regaulal loaf of bread. Thankgiving dinner is at our house i want to make it all gluten-free and told daddy that he tried saying we could do both but i to him no i dont plan on it. I want her to feel like she is comfortable in our house. I also have celiac. So when we teach her i will say we dont eat gluten cause it bothers our tummy.

[samie]

Also when she does get glutened she is so irratable and fussy.

[samie]

Also when she does get glutened she is so irratable and fussy. She is still eat dairy though i have thought about elimanting it to see if it will help.

[missy'smom]

I think it's important to have an all gluten-free Thanksgiving and that she be able to eat everything on the table, that she wants. There is a time and a place for learning to accept that we cannot have what others are having but there is also a time to have a safe zone and holidays are it IMHO. Even for me as an adult, this year, I need that. We were invited for T-giving but I am choosing to stay home because I really need to be able to eat everything on the table. I have alot of coping skills but emotionally I need that safe zone this year. Too many restrictions and too many time when I have to go without or be separate.

You are making some good choices and decisions. When you offer her choices, that's good but it would be good to make sure that she is allowed to choose from safe options only. Offer her X or Y or Z that are all safe and let her choose from those. That will help. Short-term she may still have trouble but stick with it and long-term she will get used to it and it will eliminate some adverse outcomes. If she has speach delay that means she may need extra time to be able to learn to advocate for herself so give her that time. One step at a time.

You both can do this and it will get better. Hang in there. I've been gluten-free 5 yrs or more but just started insulin when the school year began so I know it is an adjustment and journey that takes time and patience as well as a lot of hard work

[samie]

Thanks missy's mom.

I also noticed since she went gluten-free in august she talks more than before. I am cooking thanksgiving so her dad isnt gonna argue about it. I think home should be her safe zone to. When it was just me diganosed i keeped my own food and would let them have gluten burlt she is so young i dont have anything but daddys bread that is wheat. The rest is gluten free and his bread is put separte.