Just When I Thought Feeding My 3 Year Old A Gluten And Dairy Free Diet Was Hard Enough

[Hailiesmom08]

Hi everyone!

My name is Amanda and I am new to the forums! Reason I am posting this topic here is because I would like imput from all not just from people that view the parents with kids thread. I have a 3 year old daughter that has been dairy free since 4 months old and gluten free for about 6 months. Three weeks ago we were advices to give her gluten to get her blood work done to test for celiac. Since then her system is still not back on track and she seems more sensitive now to foods than ever. I myself have discovered within the past month that I cannot handle gluten as well. I have really noticed this for months but I think I was so focused on my daughter I just kept excusing my issues rather than dealing with them. Ever since giving our daughter gluten for the blood work

we have noticed that she has reactions from bananas and can't handle corn or potatoe's. She is such a picky eater as is now I'm just lost on what to feed her aside from meats and fruits (she won't touch veggies)

Thank you much in advanced!

[mushroom]

Have you tried her on purees of roast pumpkin/squash, parsnips, mashed boiled parsnips and carrots, other root vegetables like turnips and rutabagas - perhaps different flavors from what she has been used to? Does she like strong or mild flavors? It might be a way to get her to eat veggies - maybe with some more adult-type seasoning flavors depending on where her tastebuds are right now. Perhaps adding in roast onions and garlic. Or really mild like the rutabagas. Just tossing ideas out here because she does need veggies These are all non-nightshade veggies which could be a problem. Have you tried her on some swiss chard in an omelette or scrambled egg? Will she eat avocado in scrambled egg? Just tossing out ideas here.

[srall]

That is tough. My picky eater was diagnosed gluten sensitive at age 7. (BTW, I hate "gluten sensitive"...how about we thought she had cancer until she was diagnosed? A little more than "sensitive." But I digress...)

Your daughter is still pretty new to the diet. I noticed that eventually my daughter started trying things she would never had tried before. Our situation is like yours because she also is dairy free and corn free, and we avoid soy. I now keep us on a mostly whole foods diet. Here are some things she'll eat

EnerG (?) bread with peanut butter

eggs

home made muffins with almond flour and rice flour. I use 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of oil in the recipe to get protein and calories in her.

soup...sometimes helps get the veggies down

cut up fruit (obviously)

there are gluten free hot dogs out there (Applewood I think)

rice crackers with toppings...again mostly peanut butter

a simple rice and bean dish with tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and italian seasonings. I use white beans for this

fruit smoothies with coconut milk, or fish oil thrown in...or even just a little canola oil, again for calories and vitamin absorbtion. Sometimes I can actually get her to drink a green drink, but that's rare and it took time.

Oy...Typing this on my first cup of coffee. I know there is a lot more. You could try a search on this forum too. I know in the Parents with kids section there have been a ton of great posts with awesome suggestions. Good luck

[Hailiesmom08]

Mushroom- Thank you for all of the ideas! she is so picky to boot all of her allergies. She likes plain bland flavors. I have tried just a fruit smoothie (in hopes if she liked it I could start incorperating veggies) she won't touch it... I put all fruits in she would eat by themselves too.

It's like pulling teeth to get her to eat an egg. She will however eat avacado no problem.

I honestly think she is so picky because she is fearful new foods might hurt her :/

Srall-

We have found gluten free hot dogs and she will eat meats such as chicken, pork, beef and steak, even some fishes so that surely is a plus.

She is not able to digest beans though, we tried them when she was 2 and she was so gassy and pooping out whole beans for a week. They are also considered acidic and ahe has acid reflux. Right now she also can't handle dairy free butters and she has never been able to digest oils of any kind.

The hard part with muffins and such is they use to hurt her when she ate gluten so she thinks they all may hurt even if we tell her no gluten.

I sure hope this get's a bit easier the older she get's.

[srall]

Mushroom- Thank you for all of the ideas! she is so picky to boot all of her allergies. She likes plain bland flavors. I have tried just a fruit smoothie (in hopes if she liked it I could start incorperating veggies) she won't touch it... I put all fruits in she would eat by themselves too.

It's like pulling teeth to get her to eat an egg. She will however eat avacado no problem.

I honestly think she is so picky because she is fearful new foods might hurt her :/

Srall-

We have found gluten free hot dogs and she will eat meats such as chicken, pork, beef and steak, even some fishes so that surely is a plus.

She is not able to digest beans though, we tried them when she was 2 and she was so gassy and pooping out whole beans for a week. They are also considered acidic and ahe has acid reflux. Right now she also can't handle dairy free butters and she has never been able to digest oils of any kind.

The hard part with muffins and such is they use to hurt her when she ate gluten so she thinks they all may hurt even if we tell her no gluten.

I sure hope this get's a bit easier the older she get's.

I believe it will get easier. The huge advantage I had was my daughter's age. I've said this on this site before: She was feeling so awful she would have been willing to eat rocks for the rest of her life if it made her feel better. And she did her own cheating when she was away from me a few times, and was completely beaten down, so she is her biggest advocate now.

The beans seem to be okay for us, thank goodness...we also have problems with bananas and also avocados.

We try nuts (like I said, lots of peanut butter.) Well, I've had my coffee and I still don't have a lot of great ideas. I'm home with a sick kid today and I'm trying to find foods to entice her to eat, and I can't think of anything.

I really do believe it will get easier for your daughter. I did think about roasted sweet potatoes (in olive oil, salt and pepper. I can get my daughter to eat those. I thought you wrote earlier that she had problems with potatoes, but can she handle sweet potatoes?

[Hailiesmom08]

Sorry to hear your daughter is home sick. No fun.

You are one step ahead of me I have yet to have my morning coffee I need to get on that.

When my daughter was a baby she lived on sweet potatoes and pears so now she won't touch either. I'm just going to keep pushing the veggies and smoothies and hope and pray she gives in and realizes even though she may not like them as much as she likes other things that they won't hurt her.

[mommida]

Is your "picky eater" getting scoped? It sounds like she has multiple food sensitivities to me. Does she eat slow? Keep a food journal.

Sometimes PICA (iron defiency) symptoms can seem like a "picky eater". Especially in young kids. Does she chew food and then spit it out?

By the way eggs are in the high reaction allergen, avocados are not as likely to cause a reaction. It may be an egg sensitivity.

[Hailiesmom08]

Mommida- she is a slow eater but then so am I.

I have started keeping a food journal as of last week. She does chew food and then spit it out. Say I give her a pancake she loves them but sometimes she will put a piece in her mouth then spit it out and say that one's not right.

I think she may have the egg sensitivity too but I haven't been able to pin point that one for sure yet. She has not had a scope, her doctor told us if we can manage her diet and pin point the intolerance to avoid putting her through tests if possible.

[mommida]

It's hard to tell, you recently challenged gluten for the blood work.

You should get the iron levels. I really think iron supplementation should be monitored by a doctor.

Some things are hitting the red flag for me with my daughter's Eosinophilic Esophagitus. (This also has a seasonal timing so add the weather into the food journal ~ airborn allergy counts)

If it just Celiac the gluten free diet should make her so much better. An extra sensitivity to a few other foods would be usual for Celiac too. She's 3 and communication is so limited, but it seems to me that she is in pain and not wanting to eat. Even when my daughter was 6 she could not give me an isolated area of pain for damage happening in her esophagus. She just said her whole stomach hurt and circle from her chest area down to her hips. (Completely consistant for EE)

Further testing could be complicated by waiting, seasons change and the initial cause of damage may be eliminated from the diet by the time of testing.