Feeling Horrible About Glutening Of My 8 Year Old Boy

[velveeta]

Feeling scared and awful... We have been gluten free for 18 months (our whole family-- dh, me, and our three kids). Never had a major glutening. Last year, my son ate a wheat cookie that someone gave him, and he was very ill for three weeks. Plus, he has dermatitis herpetiformus And it was so awful!

Last time, there was a few days lag before the sickness. Well, he went to a party on Sunday where I had even made the birthday treats for the entire group! And the venue provided wheat cake. UGH! We are dairy free and sugar free, too and there is no telling what was in that cake!

He is already super irritable and sleep walking and having stomach pain. I am really scared he will start non-stop vomiting in a day or so as he has done before.

It is torture watching him suffer. Of course, I am HATING myself for not being there. I was gone one hour, and I thought I had made good arrangements. Honestly, the party was given by a friend in my inner circle, so a high level of trust. It was just a perfect storm.

Just so sad and miserable....

[Takala]

I have no idea if this would work, but could you try some ginger root on him ?

You can also experiment with him drinking a lot of water to try to flush it out. He may not want to eat much of his regular food, humor him.

Do not beat yourself up too much, just resolve to try to do better next time. Alas for almost all of us, we need to be trained to always say no to other people's food in social situations, always. Only cooks, some older people who were forced to take "home economics" in school, (and celiacs) actually have any idea what is really IN food these days, the rest of them are stumbling around in the dark, happily oblivious.

When they say "Devil's Food Cake" they aren't kidding.

[Benshell]

First - it is not your fault! Whomever was left in charge was responsible for giving your son gluten. Had it been a severe peanut allergy, would they have not said anything???

I found water and sleep are the best medicine for being "glutened". He needs to get it out of his system to feel better. I know its not a medical treatment, but the only thing that I found helps is pepto, tons of water/broth and naps. Sometimes ginger candy drops.

To prevent something like this happening in the future:

How much have you taught him about celiac and being gluten free? My daughter is 8 also and has been gluten free for almost 3 years now and knows that she doesn't eat anything that mom hasn't given her. People have made her gluten free cupcakes and she will still refuse to eat them as she tells them "you don't know how to avoid contamination" then proceeds to give them the 'butter example' - when you use butter on your toast, you leave crumbs in the butter - that is gluten contamination and can get her sick. People are usually shocked at this coming out of the mouth of an 8 year old and only a few are offended, but she needs to consider her health first. The only snacks she eats at friends houses (I usually provide a gluten-free one for all the kids) is fruit and carrots and only if it's washed off in front of her eyes.

Teaching him to be responsible is the best thing you can do for himself and for you. I keep thinking, what am I going to do when she goes to college. The kids need to learn now so as they grow older and are more independent (being left alone at parties) they can assert themselves or decide what they can or cannot eat. If they make a bad choice, they pay the price. We never want to see our kids sick, but in a way, its the only way they'll learn.

[Skylark]

Poor kiddo. You can't blame yourself. No matter how vigilant we are, gluten seems to slip by. You are doing well if your son only gets into gluten once a year! He will be miserable for a bit but he will be fine. Pepto-Bismol is my remedy of choice for gluten.

As Benshell mentions, you can use this as a teaching opportunity. You need to be sure your son connects how he feels to wheat in the cake. Unfortunately, it can be hard for kids to connect an action to a very delayed consequence. He needs to learn that he must say "no thank you" if he's not sure the food is gluten-free, or he could be sick a couple days later.

[xjrosie]

Poor kiddo. You can't blame yourself. No matter how vigilant we are, gluten seems to slip by. You are doing well if your son only gets into gluten once a year! He will be miserable for a bit but he will be fine. Pepto-Bismol is my remedy of choice for gluten.

As Benshell mentions, you can use this as a teaching opportunity. You need to be sure your son connects how he feels to wheat in the cake. Unfortunately, it can be hard for kids to connect an action to a very delayed consequence. He needs to learn that he must say "no thank you" if he's not sure the food is gluten-free, or he could be sick a couple days later.

Ditto. You will never be able to prevent every possible glutening. Just always be prepared for what comes next by keeping the usual "sick" supplies on hand at all times.