Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Help Explaining Celiac Disease To A Little Kid?

pretty in paleo

Recommended Posts

pretty in paleo Apprentice
pretty in paleo
Posted

My friends' daughter is 7 or 8 I think. Whenever I come over now she puts a snack in my face, usually a cupcake or something and is like "Here you go!" And I am always like No thank you! We tried to explain to her, nothing with wheat or dairy but she doesn't understand really what that means. We also said I mostly eat fruits and vegetables too. Her parents also feel guilty that they couldn't find anything in their kitchen that I can eat ( take out, tv dinners and cereal) and she might have caught onto that. Its an interesting situation, since even adults are clueless about wheat ( "can u still have white bread?") so explaining my condition to a small child is especially challenging. Anyone else went thru this?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


gfreemarketingguru Rookie
gfreemarketingguru
Posted

7/8 is not too young to understand. My 6&7 yr old r gluten-free & completely understand what food is safe & what food is dangerous for them and that different people have different problems with food. May I suggest u arrive with your own snacks to share... maybe something they can relate to as "normal" like tortilla chips & salsa, ice cream, cut up fruit w/ caramel dip or delicious cupcakes that happen to be gluten-free..that way they don't think you are "odd" just eat a little different.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

While she's not too young to understand, she also doesn't have to deal with it every day, or REALLY live with it, since you are a friend, so it's going to be hard for her to internalize.  That said, I don't find her behavior of offering bad - that's an excellent behavior!  But not asking if you want it and respecting your answer (of no) is the problem.  (Well, this is my approach for teaching my 3-year old, anyway.)

 

What we say to my 3-year old is that wheat makes mommy sick, and it's not something that vitamins or medicine can make better; wheat will just make me sick for many, many days, so mommy doesn't eat wheat.

 

It's an over simplification, but I think it's suitable for very young kids.

NotMollyRingwald Apprentice
NotMollyRingwald
Posted

"What we say to my 3-year old is that wheat makes mommy sick, and it's not something that vitamins or medicine can make better; wheat will just make me sick for many, many days, so mommy doesn't eat wheat."

Going to remember this, my son loves sharing his snacks with mom & dad, it will be easier to say no w/o breaking his little heart by telling him like this.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

"What we say to my 3-year old is that wheat makes mommy sick, and it's not something that vitamins or medicine can make better; wheat will just make me sick for many, many days, so mommy doesn't eat wheat."

Going to remember this, my son loves sharing his snacks with mom & dad, it will be easier to say no w/o breaking his little heart by telling him like this.

 

My daughter CAN have wheat, though, so when I go off to teach yoga Saturday mornings, she has taken to asking daddy to have lunch "with wheat", since she knows she won't get it if I'm home. :P  It's hilarious.

Nikki2777 Community Regular
Nikki2777
Posted

Kids that age know about allergies.  I just say, no thanks, I'm allergic to that.

notme Experienced
notme
Posted

my grandson, now 9, picked up on the whole concept really fast.  he could already read by the time i got diagnosed.  he would ask me if i could eat something and i asked him what's in it?  then he would read the ingredients and when he got to 'wheat' he said NOPE.  he is actually pretty educated about it for a kid his age.  the 4 yr olds do not care as long as i make enough for them :)

 

edited to say:  actually, he 'gets' it better than many adults!!  hahaha

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


julissa Explorer
julissa
Posted

tarnelberry, I teach yoga too!

 

my granddaughter is 4 1/2 and whenever I go over there I bring my own food. sometimes we eat out, and take my food with me. about a month ago she asked why I am always eating my own food, and I told her I have food allergies and some foods make me sick. she was happy with that answer, as she has allergies so she knows what they are.

 

last week I was eating with them and she turned to my daughter and said in the course of conversation, you know mommy, grandma has allergies so she can't eat what we eat. 

howlnmad Newbie
howlnmad
Posted

edited to say: actually, he 'gets' it better than many adults!! hahaha

HEY! What's that posta mean?

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

My daughter CAN have wheat, though, so when I go off to teach yoga Saturday mornings, she has taken to asking daddy to have lunch "with wheat", since she knows she won't get it if I'm home. :P It's hilarious.

Too cute!

Actually not much different at my house - 17 & 20 yr olds - "Dad, can we go out for gluten food?"

howlnmad Newbie
howlnmad
Posted

Too cute!

Actually not much different at my house - 17 & 20 yr olds - "Dad, can we go out for gluten food?"

Answer: Yeah, bring me back something good, I'll pay you later.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Answer: Yeah, bring me back something good, I'll pay you later.

This means they want money for food or Dad to take them to this bar with pool tables and steak sandwiches.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      127,977
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    P Jackman
    Newest Member
    P Jackman
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121k
    • Total Posts
      70.5k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Conflicting results

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      It's possible he's in the early stages of celiac disease, and it has been caught before villi damage. The blood test results so far do indicate possible celiac disease, as well as his strong family history of celiac disease. If his symptoms get better on a gluten-free diet this would be another strong indication. Personally I think it's definitely better to proceed on the safe side and go gluten-free, rather than to risk severe villi damage and all that comes with it.
    • Dora77
      Permanent Floating & Undigested Stools for a Year

      By Dora77 · Posted

      For some context: I have type 1 diabetes (T1D) (since 11 years) and celiac disease(since 4 years) For about a year now, I’ve been experiencing permanent floating and undigested stools. I’ve had a pancreas elastase test done. The first result was extremely low at 44, but a second test came back at 236. My doctor said that since one result is normal, it rules out pancreatic insufficiency because, according to them, elastase levels would always stay low if that were the issue. However, could the 236 have been a false result? My doctor also thinks I don’t have pancreatic insufficiency because I’m able to gain weight. I also get hgh injections as my bone age is younger than my real age, this also contributes to weight gain, so I dont know if weight gain can rule out malabsorption. But maybe if I had real malabsorption I wouldnt gain any weight even with hgh? For celiac, I’m on a gluten-free diet, but there might b small cross-contamination from things like pepper labeled as “may contain gluten.” or sausages which dont have gluten ingredient but say may contain. My doctor said that small amounts like this wouldn’t harm me and even mentioned that an occasional small exposure to gluten may not do much damage (which seems questionable since I thought even tiny amounts could be harmful). She also said that when Im older (Im m17) I could try eating small amounts of gluten and do antibody blood tests to see if I can tolerate small amounts or not. For reference, I’m asymptomatic when it comes to celiac, so I have no idea if I’ve been “glutened” or not. My first concerning celiac blood test was semi high IgA, then 3 months later we did a check up and my IgA was high so it was confirmed celiac. Since than I’ve had celiac antibody tests done yearly to see how my diet is going, and they’ve been negative, but I’ve heard those aren’t always reliable. I’ve never had a follow-up endoscopy to confirm healing. I also always kept eating „may contain gluten“ food. (I live in Germany so I dont know if „may contain gluten“ is as risky as in the usa but I suppose both are as risky) These stool issues started around the same time I was doing excessive heavy lifting at the gym. Could stress or lifting have triggered this, or is that less likely since the symptoms persist even after I stopped lifting? Occasionally, I’ll feel very mild stomach discomfort, but it’s rare and not severe. My doctor (also a dietist) said floating, undigested stools could still be “normal,” but that doesn’t seem realistic to me. Could this be impacting my vitamin or protein absorption? I also did a fructose intolerance breath test and had a high baseline of 20 ppm, but it never increased—only decreased over time. I fasted for 12 hours and didn’t eat fructose beforehand, but my stomach didn’t feel completely empty during the test. Could this mean the test was inaccurate? For lactose intolerance, I did the breath test but only fasted 10 hours and had eaten lactose prior because I wasn’t aware of the proper diet restrictions. My results were: 14, 12, 15, 25, 35, 40, 40 ppm—which would be considered positive. But given that I didn’t fast long enough or follow the right diet, could this result be unreliable? Has anyone else dealt with similar symptoms? What ended up being the cause for you? And sorry for the long text!
    • TerryinCO
      Status Update...

      By TerryinCO · Posted

      The Docs' and NP haven't committed to Celiac determination yet but say go gluten-free diet because...  And I have with improved physical results - feeling better; overall functions better, and more energy.  Still 10 pounds down in weight but I still have BMI of ~23.  It's been just over a month now gluten-free diet.  I'm fortunate I get along with diary/milk well and most other foods. I wanted ask about this site's sponsor, gliadin X.  If this is legit, seems like a good product to keep on hand. Though it says it's only a safety for incidental gluten contact - not a substitue for gluten-free diet. What's your input on this? This may be sensitive subject since they're a sponsor. I've used resources here and other sites for information, gluten-free food/product lists. So thank you for all that support. That's it for now - Stay warm...  -2F this morning in Colorado!
    • cristiana
      Increasing symptoms after going gluten free

      By cristiana · Posted

      I did suffer with gastric symptoms before diagnosis, but got all sorts of weird and wacky symptoms after going gluten free.   Things got much better once my antibodies fell to normal levels, but it took years (please don't panic, many people's go to normal levels relatively quickly when following a gluten-free diet). Causes of the symptoms you mention that I also experienced were iron supplements, a temporary dairy intolerance (this is common in coeliacs and should pass when your gut heals properly), and eating oats, as mentioned above.  Other symptoms I got were musculoskeletal pain after diagnosis, but again, once my coeliac blood tests were normal, I had no more pain. I did notice patterns emerging in foods that I reacted to and learned to steer clear of them, then gradually reintroduced them when my gut healed, such as soya, pure oats and dairy products.    You might like to keep a food diary. Cristiana
    • Jy11
      Conflicting results

      By Jy11 · Posted

      Well the conflicting results continue as the biopsy has come back negative. 😵‍💫 Waiting to discuss further but I really don’t know what to think now? Eight biopsy’s were taken from duodenum which surely should be sufficient if it was coeliac? 
×
×
  • Create New...