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My new little 13 month old has been off with Diarrhea for 3 days. He's back this morning as he seems to be doing better. Mom has a history of Celiac disease in the family and is concerned this might be the case and the reason for the diarrhea.
I have no experiance at all with this allergy. I'm looking for any advise or thoughts on this.
I'm going to stick to rice and veggies and fruit today to be on the safe side. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I was diagnosed last year with Celiac. It is a highly hereditary disease! Gluten is hiding in a billion places that you wouldn't even think of and cross-contamination is a huge concern as well...especially at first. Separate toaster, basically dcks food needs to be prepared in it's own sanitized section of your kitchen. Even rice....plain rice is fine, but packages almost always have gluten. Natural is the way to go. If it turns out that it is celiac I'm sure mom will guide...basically you have to be hyper-anal! Has mom started dck on a gluten-free diet? If she plans on testing him, he'll need gluten in his diet still.....
Ya - I would suggest mom find out for sure ... it is a PITA way to have to live if you do not NEED to live a gluten free life ... and you want to know for sure because while it is not an 'immediate anaphylaxis' health risk like some food allergies .... prolonged exposure can be deadly due to complications the disease creates - with Celiac the body thinks of gluten as a 'bacteria' instead of a food and the blood cells attack it as they would any other bacteria - the body actually has an auto immune response trying to 'kill' it .... so being consistently exposed to gluten causes damage to the villa in our digestive tracks (villa are little fine 'wirey' like things that slow down our food as it passes by and allows the body to absorb the nutrients out of food) because the gluten 'sticks' to the villa it too is getting damaged as the body attacks the gluten and eventually the villa is just GONE and as long as gluten remains in the diet they cannot grow back because they just die the second they try - the absence of the Villa in our body causes malnutrition - even in someone eating a healthy diet which can lead to other health complications including cancer :(
A strict gluten free diet is the only 'treatment' to Celiac - and thankfully in Canada if you have a positive 'test' for this you can than claim your 'treatment' as a medical expenses ... aka the difference in cost between 'normal' gluten filled food and 'gluten free food' in your diet ... which is why mama should want a CONFIRMED diagnosis ... cause without one you do not get to write off those expenses.
As GCJ shared it can hide in places you would not even think .... like 'fat free' dairy products will often use 'modified' thickeners to get the texture of full fat ... so your cheeses, yogurts and ice-creams as well as some full fat products that are 'cheap' often have a glutenous filler in them and less 'quality' ingredients that would make they thicker or fuller naturally which is why they are 'cheaper'.
Basically when you are Celiac - you cook from scratch so you can control what 'thickener / filler' are used in them or you buy products 'labelled' gluten free and you read every label and if anything is 'iffy' that you call the manufacturer and ASK ... so things that say 'modified starch' you would have to call and ASK what is it modified with?
Also if you dine out with the kids ever - I would personally bring my own food - but if you want to do a 'treat' you have to watch for things like are 'french fries' which SHOULD be gluten free if they are REAL verses 'dehydrated potato flakes squished into a french fry shape' which could contain gluten and than you have to ask how they are cooked cause if it is in the same fryer as chicken nuggets or other gluten things you've cross contaminated.
I myself can easily accomodate a 'gluten free' child in my program .... because I cook that way for myself and accept that extra expense and loss of income as a result as an investment in my own health ..... however for example of the COST of eating gluten free .... you can get a loaf of multi grain bread for $1.89 ... a loaf of gluten free bread costs between $5.99 - 7.99 a loaf, a bag of no name pasta is $0.99 a bag of gluten free pasta is $3.89 and is much smaller ... basically everything 'processed' is going to cost you a good $2-3 extra to get 'gluten free version' ... so are YOU going to want to absorb that cost for your daycare kid or would it be easier to just ask them to supply food from home that way no cost to you and no 'concern' about cross contamination or accidentally serving gluten to him?
If it is Celiac disease I would get Mom to supply lunch and you do snacks as yoghurt and fruits are easy snacks, apple sauce.Quote:
Originally Posted by apples and bananas
The key to gluten-free cooking is simple: take a little bit of homework on your part, a dash of extra effort, and dump in a whole lot of creativity - voila! You're a gluten-free gourmet! But some of the greatest culinary challenges are for those meals-on-the-run, which seem to be the most common kind sometimes. Kids with Celiac Disease has extensive menu suggestions for all meals and snacks, but the following is a short excerpt of on-the-go snack ideas
· string cheese
· Taquitos, quesadillas, tacos, tamales (made with corn tortillas - they travel well)
· Nachos
· Corn Nuts
· Raisins and other dried fruit
· Chex mix
. There is a gluten-free cereal available at many grocery stores or health food markets thats just like Chex--make the mix as you would Chex mix.
· Popcorn
· Cheese cubes with toothpicks in them and rice crackers
· Fruit rolls
· Lettuce wrapped around ham, cheese, turkey, or roast beef
· Rice cakes (check with the manufacturer; not all are gluten-free)
· Hard-boiled eggs or deviled eggs
· Applesauce
· Apples dipped in caramel or peanut butter (if youre sending apples in a lunchbox, remember to pour lemon juice over the slices; that will keep them from turning brown)
· Individually packaged pudding
· Jello
· Yogurt
· Fruit cups (individually packaged cups are great for lunchboxes)
· Fruit snacks (like Farleys brand)
· High-protein bars (e.g., Tigers Milk, GeniSoy)
· Nuts
· Marshmallows
· Trail mix
. Combine peanuts, M&Ms, dried fruit, chocolate chips, and other trail mix items for a great on-the-go snack.
- Beware of commercial trail mixes--they often roll their date pieces in oat flour.
That's a fantastic list.. thank you... unfortunatly my own son has a severe peanut allergy... LOL I can't win! I'm hopeing this is a case of a panicing new mom and not an alergy.
Thanks for all the info everyone.
Beware of caring for a Celiac then who is on a gluten free diet and wanting 'variety' in their bread products ... a nut allergy is one thing I could not accommodate in my program ... most of my flours are NUT based because I am also diabetic and the corn / rice based options are too high in carbs for me and well they do not bake as nice either :(Quote:
Originally Posted by apples and bananas
watch out for your ham, too!
Ya - anything 'processed' is suspect and 'smoke flavor' can contain gluten too ... even Butterball Turkeys have gluten in them ... they inject the butter under the skin with a gluten based flour to help thicken it!
Oh and a side note if you travel down to the States - be wary of 'scrambled / omelet style eggs' in fast food chains like Ihop and so forth .... many of them add pancake batter to the eggs to help them stay 'fluffier' longer ... my sister learned that lesson the hard way!
I have a grandson with Celiac disease and it is really insane the changes my daughter had to make in their diet. Virtually everything had to change and it is really expensive. Even the things that say 'modified milk ingredients' may be thickened with wheat products, so they have to read every label and finally just went all raw & natural foods as much as possible.
I also have a little boy in my daycare who has a lactose allergy and his poop at age 13-14 months were like a newborn. The parents didn't believe me when I told them it wasn't normal, then the Dad told me he was lactose intolerant. They have finally switched their baby to lactose free products and he has improved in leaps and bounds in his health and temperament in just the last few months. It's a lot of work but worth it to have a happy baby.
Definitely get the parents to supply any specialty foods because it shouldn't cost you any extra to run your daycare.
I started doing homedaycare a few months back, and now i am thinking to advertise a complete gluten free option. My daughter is celiac and i am a gluten free pro. I never wanted my daughter to eat differently than everyone else so i would make gluten free versions of whatever they were going to serve at camp or birthday parties and all that. I am hoping that other parents in my area with gluten free parents would want this service for their children, what do you guys think have you had an increase in food allergy's in your daycares?
with celiac or suspected celiac you are not sposed to take gluten out of the diet until they do a biopsy to confirm, if you eliminate gluten from the system their tests will come back normal cause their is no gluten irrupting their intestines. So you gotta wait for mom to do the whole doctor process
Angela - I have Celiac myself and cared for a Celiac child my first couple years - I started out being totally gluten free ... however ended up going to a 'able to accommodate Celiac' in my website and I still cook a mostly gluten free menu because I want to be able to eat most meals with the kids ... however I now serve them normal bread products if I serve them (toast, sandwich, bagels, English muffins, crackers etc) cause well they were not eating the gluten free options cause they are a different 'texture' and when I do not NEED to serve it to a child who is not Celiac watching it go into the garbage stings when you think of the cost of it.
My experience at least in my area was there was not enough 'demand' of people who were willing to pay EXTRA to cover offering a service like this - so if you want to cook this way or organic and so forth you have to be willing to invest in that for the 'market value' that your area is able to bare for childcare in 'general' regardless of the menu being served .... so for example I charge $35 a day for my program and so does the lady 4 blocks over from me whose menu is mostly 'quick, easy and kid friend' as she describes it ... aka KD and hotdogs, chicken nuggets & fries, pizza pockets, ravioli, grilled cheese & noodle soup and so forth which is a heck of a lot CHEAPER to provide on her end than making those similar meals from scratch ... and while we are drawing from the same client pool - I might get more people who choose me because between us they want the 'healthier option' so I am able to remain full and rarely have a space in my program between clients leaving and a new one coming - I know if I started charging MORE than $35 a day as that seems to be the 'tipping point' for what the market will bare in our area the balance would tip back towards her getting the clients and me sitting with empty spaces trying to find that 'rare' person willing to invest in helping to cover the cost of offering a more expensive menu and nutritional practice.