Favorite gluten-free foods for kids?

[gatorsmom]

I need some help. For the past 2 years Gator has often complained of a stomach ache about half way through his dinners and other meals. He always has said, "I have a tummy ache, I need a rest." At first I thought he was just trying to get out of eating his meals, but after he rests he usually has to go #2. So I thought the stomach aches were from his body pushing a difficult bowel movement through. But lately I'm not sure that's the case. He is starting to complain about headaches at the same time as the stomach aches, he acts lethargic and just out of sorts.

So I don't know what this is. But DH has nausea and stomach aches all the time and has always had them as long as I"ve known him. I asked the pediatrician about it and suggested it might be celiac disease (sp). She said DH should go in for testing and if he has it then we should definitely test Gator for it. But it has been months now of nagging and DH is always too busy to go to the clinic for testing (grr insert sarcastic, fed-up, eyeroll). So I've decided to try to put Gator and Cha Cha on a gluten free diet for a week. However, I have no idea what food to serve them. Is there anyone here who can make some recommendations? The kids are picky and already won't eat dairy.

Maybe someone here recognizes these symptoms? I'm just at a loss and don't know what to do. I feel so bad for Gator who seems to just take this all in stride, my little trooper. Maybe I should just put Gator through the testing. But the doctor suggested it's not a fun experience and should try other ways of figuring out what it is.

any helpful thoughts for me?

[bubbaray]

OK, posting on the right thread.... By the time I finished typing, it was gone, LOL!

Gluten-free is hard, but definitely doable. Its a wheat intolerance from what I understand. So, no wheat products -- flour, oats, barley, etc.

Check out http://www.celiac.org/cd-main.php

One girl in our daycare has it. She eats a "normal" diet, except no wheat. So, rice flour bread, baked products, etc..

[mamicka]

Hmmm... DS1 has these kinds of symptoms a lot &, like you, I assumed he was either not wanting to eat or had an imminent #2. I have on & off tried to eliminate much of the gluten from his diet because I had a suspicion that it affected his behavior & still think it makes a difference. I made rice instead of pasta & that sort of thing. I found this website helpful: http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_grains.php

[Mermanaid]

The author of this blog has gluten free options. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Not sure if you wanted croockpotting, but I'm sure you could adapt if you wanted to.

[jhmom]

My mom has celiac disease.... it is one of the most underdiagnosed medical problems. There is a ton of info online so I am sure you can find recipes, etc. Specialty food stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes usually have hand outs that list all the gluten free products in their store.

Gluten free can be very difficult but if he truly has celiac disease taking him off gluten will change his life for the better!! This is my biggest piece of advice, if you are going to do it you have to do it 100 percent. Two bites of a donut will totally set my mom off, so if you don't go gluten free 100% there is no point in doing it. I would also suggest trying it for longer than one week to really see results. It means being super vigilant about reading labels. For example, my mom CAN have Chun King soy sauce but if you buy Kikkoman the second ingredient is wheat. Who knew there was wheat in soy sauce?

There is a blood test that can be done on DS to see if he has the antibodies in his system. GOOD LUCK!!!

Kerri

[dotgirl]

One of DS's best friends is allergic to gluten and peanuts, so we always go gluten free when he is around.

If you have a Whole Foods near you, they have a great selection of gluten-free foods.

There are some good rice crackers out there, but my favourite gluten free cracker are the Mary's Gone Crackers - they're really tasty.

If your DS is a big mac n cheese fan, Annie's Organics makes a rice pasta mac and cheese that's really tasty.

Newman's Own and Pamela's make really good gluten free cookies, as well.

A couple of places you wouldn't expect to find gluten, but do include soy sauce (for gluten-free soy sauce, buy 'Wheat Free Tamari Sauce'), oatmeal, various other savoury sauces (anything that says 'natural flavouring' is suspect) and hot dogs.

Good luck!

[lablover]

If you have a Whole Foods near you, they have pamphlets up front for special diets. There is one for gluten free and it will list their products that fall under that category.

One thing about testing - and this is just from reading about others, so I'm not an expert - I've heard that you should be tested (via blood test) when you still have gluten in the diet, because when you remove it the antibodies will decrease. Just something to think about - maybe you could get the blood test before you remove it from his diet?

In terms of pasta, Tinkyada makes a really good rice pasta. My niece with no food restrictions asks for the noodles every time she's over here. You can get them at Whole Foods, and my local grocer sells them too.

[lizajane]

you need to get the blood test done BEFORE you go gluten free or you will get a false negative.

after you get the b lood test done and you are sure it is GLUTEN and not wheat, then you can start gluten free shopping.

a few notes to remember:
gluten is often used as a thickening agent in anything from margerine to ketchup to salad dressing. you have to read every single label. "modified food starch" is gluten.
wheat is not the only thing with gluten. barley and rye also have gluten. i think there is one other, too. it has to be GLUTEN free, not just wheat free.
fresh produce, meat and dairy are usually safe. BUT not deli-meat, some vanilla flavored products, or things with vinegar (need to know what kind of vinegar.)
even one tiny bite of a gluten containing product can take a celiac's health back a MONTH.

trader joe's has an EXCELLENT choice of LABELLED gluten free products. better, i think, than whole foods.

FIL has celiac. hope you don't have it in your house afterall!!!!

OH!!! another thing- celiac stunts growth. is DS short? super skinny? celiac's often lose weight from not being able to absorb nutrients, or gain from constant eating to make up for hunger from not absorbing ingredients. small stature or sudden decline in height percentile is an indicator. also bloated or distended tummy after eating gluten foods. and, gross, grayish/light colored floating greasy poop. (ew!)

[ThreeofUs]

I have celiac, and let me tell you that even though options become a lot more limited, life becomes a LOT better if you give it up.

Most grains that we think of as normal in this country have gluten - or will make a gluten-intolerant person react. (Even such things as white rice and oats, besides all the wheat, rye, spelt, etc.)

Let me know if you want more info, and we can pm back and forth.

[gatorsmom]

gosh, you guys are wonderful. Lizajane, it actually WAS his height and weight (besides those symptons) at his last well check that caused the doctor to suspect celiac's. He still wears size 4T pants in length and in the waist and he's been 5 yo since July!

Well, I think I'll go ahead and have him tested. We don't ahve a Trader Joe's near us or a Whole foods. I'm not even sure where the closest of those are. It will take a major overhaul in our diet (and I don't have the energy for that now) to go to a completely gluten-free diet. And if just cutting back isn't going to help, I think the blood test might be simplest for our family.

Thanks again, guys for the info and advice. I may be pming some of you and/or posting again if we find out it IS celiac's. Ugh, let's say a prayers it's something else.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We just tasted some gluten-free oatmeal yesterday at a store nearby. I can get the name if you're interested.

[chlobo]

I just wanted to say that while the symptoms could be celiac they could also be *any* food sensitivity/allergy. Non-IgE allergies can cause malabsorption, etc. Unfortunately, most doctors are unfamiliar with non-IgE allergies so its hard to get help.

Also, here is an anecdotal story about a non-IgE milk allergy in my friend's son. He was very small since the time he was little. His sister has numerous IgE allergies so they had him tested but everything was negative. Because of his small size the doctors/nutritionists, etc told the mom to push dairy products, which the kid was just not interested in. But they literally forced them on him - cheese, yogurt, etc. Well I just saw this mom recently and her son was looking a *lot* bigger. She told me it turns out he had a non-IgE allergy to milk. Once they stopped giving him dairy products he started to grow.

Just something else to think about.

[brittone2]

I am not a person with Celiac, but I read a low carb blog that is mostly gluten-free cooking. Around our house, we use ground almonds (almond meal) as a "flour" for a lot of baking (cakes, cupcakes, crackers, muffins, etc.)

I also like that she uses whole food ingredients.

http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/

[Laurel]

We deal with several non-ige allergies here. Enjoy Life Foods is a great company for cookies. I love the cake mixes from Cherrybrook Kitchen. Rice Chex are now gluten free. Basically, I do almost all our shopping at Whole Foods, there are so many more options there.

[Laurel]

[So I don't know what this is. But DH has nausea and stomach aches all the time and has always had them as long as I"ve known him. I asked the pediatrician about it and suggested it might be celiac disease (sp). She said DH should go in for testing and if he has it then we should definitely test Gator for it. But it has been months now of nagging and DH is always too busy to go to the clinic for testing (grr insert sarcastic, fed-up, eyeroll). So I've decided to try to put Gator and Cha Cha on a gluten free diet for a week. However, I have no idea what food to serve them. Is there anyone here who can make some recommendations? The kids are picky and already won't eat dairy.

Maybe someone here recognizes these symptoms? I'm just at a loss and don't know what to do. I feel so bad for Gator who seems to just take this all in stride, my little trooper. Maybe I should just put Gator through the testing. But the doctor suggested it's not a fun experience and should try other ways of figuring out what it is.

any helpful thoughts for me?[/QUOTE]

Ok, so I just went back and re-read your whole post- I also have a DH who was asked by DS's ped GI to get a Celiac test months ago- and he hasn't!!! So, I can feel your frustration there for sure!

I also want to echo waiting to go gluten-free until after a Celiac screen, which sounds like you may want to do- from what I have heard ongoing damage from celiac is not something to mess with.

[spanannie]

I would highly recommend forgoing the blood test and getting the stool/DNA test instead. It is not expensive, easy, and the most accurate . . . and you do it at home (and mail it off). http://www.enterolab.com

I'd recommend the testing before altering his diet. This company can test for the major food allergens at once.

Going gluten free was a huge adjustment for me and took a long time to fully commit to (even though I knew I had to). I don't miss it at all now.


I need some help. For the past 2 years Gator has often complained of a stomach ache about half way through his dinners and other meals. He always has said, "I have a tummy ache, I need a rest." At first I thought he was just trying to get out of eating his meals, but after he rests he usually has to go #2. So I thought the stomach aches were from his body pushing a difficult bowel movement through. But lately I'm not sure that's the case. He is starting to complain about headaches at the same time as the stomach aches, he acts lethargic and just out of sorts.

So I don't know what this is. But DH has nausea and stomach aches all the time and has always had them as long as I"ve known him. I asked the pediatrician about it and suggested it might be celiac disease (sp). She said DH should go in for testing and if he has it then we should definitely test Gator for it. But it has been months now of nagging and DH is always too busy to go to the clinic for testing (grr insert sarcastic, fed-up, eyeroll). So I've decided to try to put Gator and Cha Cha on a gluten free diet for a week. However, I have no idea what food to serve them. Is there anyone here who can make some recommendations? The kids are picky and already won't eat dairy.

Maybe someone here recognizes these symptoms? I'm just at a loss and don't know what to do. I feel so bad for Gator who seems to just take this all in stride, my little trooper. Maybe I should just put Gator through the testing. But the doctor suggested it's not a fun experience and should try other ways of figuring out what it is.

any helpful thoughts for me?

[mytwosons]

Celiac runs in my family and my son has it.

Many doctors don't know anything about Celiac. If you opt for blood testing, get the full celiac panel. I don't remember the details off-hand, but one of the tests only comes back positive if there has already been substantial damage to the gut. Make sure you get the sed rate, k reactive protein (something like that) and white blood cell count as they are indicators of a problem/inflamation somewhere in the body.

Regardless of the test results, try going GF. If Gator feels better, thats all that matters!

Going GF will seem overwhelming at first, but you'll quickly get used to it! There are a ton of good substitutes and lots of info on the web.

Good luck!