She Ate Fruit Loops Today

[sugarsue]

My daughter came home today and was crying because she "had something to tell me" and she had bought Fruit Loops at school for breakfast. The school only got the form yesterday so the caffeteria may not know about the gluten free yet. But should I expect that they will know what that means? Should I take away her money and somehow shut down her ability to buy anything at school?

I feel sick. She got glutened on the 3rd day. Now I'm watching her like a nut to see if she has a reaction.

Susan

[Guhlia]

How old is your daughter? Does she understand the importance of staying strictly gluten free? Absolutely, NO, the school most likely will have NO idea what gluten is. Hopefully you'll get lucky, but more often than not it takes meeting after meeting for the staff to understand Celiac well enough to help keep your daughter safe. And, of course, depending on your daughter's age she will likely be expected to take the appropriate precautions and be responsible about her decisions. Good luck!

[sugarsue]

How old is your daughter? Does she understand the importance of staying strictly gluten free? Absolutely, NO, the school most likely will have NO idea what gluten is. Hopefully you'll get lucky, but more often than not it takes meeting after meeting for the staff to understand Celiac well enough to help keep your daughter safe. And, of course, depending on your daughter's age she will likely be expected to take the appropriate precautions and be responsible about her decisions. Good luck!

She is almost 6. I know she does not understand the importance yet but I thought she would follow my new "rule". I was going to wait until I found out the results of her celiac test and/or wait until I found out how she reacted to gluten-free before making any statements to her about why she can't eat it. For now, she knows it may help her feel better, may let her take less supplements, etc. She knew I'd be upset that she ate the cereal. But she doesn't understand why she can't have ANY. I talked to her today about "what if someone offers you food" and asked her to be sure she tells me of any situation where she should be prepared with snacks. There is so much of her day I am not in control of. I'm calling the school nurse tomorrow!

Thanks.....

Susan

[dandelionmom]

At her age, I'd be concerned that she might not be able to tell what is gluten-free and what isn't. I'd send her with food instead of allowing her to buy stuff.

[sugarsue]

Well, it turns out she has been eating wheat every morning at school for breakfast so it's apparent she can't have access to buy anything at school. I'm pretty upset tonight about this.

I'm very confused now. I thought she had improved so much so quickly. She seemed like a changed person. But how could that be if she was still exposed to wheat? Maybe I'm crazy and we are on the wrong path entirely. I had such hope this morning. Now I'm just feeling lost. I know this is just the beginning and we are going to have adjustments to make, that we can't be perfect right out of the gate. I know I have to give it time and see what happens, get our test results back, give it a good trial.

Anyway, I'm just rambling because I'm trying to sort this out in my head and help myself feel better. Thanks for listening.

Susan

[Guhlia]

I would have to agree with dandelionmom. 6 is probably too young to grasp "gluten free". My 4 year old understands she can't have the basics (baked goods, breaded foods, etc), but she would more than likely accept something like licorice or a candy bar without thinking twice. Gluten free is hard enough for adults to grasp, let alone children. Perhaps there's a teacher that could supervise her for meal times until you and she/he feel comfortable that she's doing well with it??? Until then I would definitely send her with gluten free stuff and be sure to reward her when she makes it through a tough situation without too much of a fuss. Sometimes I just praise her verbally. Other times I let my daughter pick from a prize bag if she faces a really tough situation and does well with it (stickers, trinket toys, etc). Sometimes I reward her with a popcorn and a Disney movie night too. She says that's worth being gluten free for "the rest of her whole long long long life". I'm sure with time you'll find what's right for you and your family. Going gluten free is TOUGH at that age.

[dreamindarlin]

Wow can I relate to you!!! My 6 year old son was diagnosed and started his diet 3 days ago. I gave up on the school thing today. I will pack his lunch from now on. We went to the school talked to his principle teacher and the lunch lady. I even wrote down all the things he could and couldn't have. My son tried to get some ham today and the lunch lady told him "No all you can eat at school is salad!!!

I was furious at first but I know there are a ton of children at the school and the lunch lady well she just doesnt get it. Not worth the frustration. I will feed him breakfast at home and pack a lunch from now on.

[sugarsue]

Wow can I relate to you!!! My 6 year old son was diagnosed and started his diet 3 days ago. I gave up on the school thing today. I will pack his lunch from now on. We went to the school talked to his principle teacher and the lunch lady. I even wrote down all the things he could and couldn't have. My son tried to get some ham today and the lunch lady told him "No all you can eat at school is salad!!!

I was furious at first but I know there are a ton of children at the school and the lunch lady well she just doesnt get it. Not worth the frustration. I will feed him breakfast at home and pack a lunch from now on.

Part of what is so frustrating is that I was sending her with all her food for breakfast and lunch and snacks. But she was able to buy anyway. I didn't address it well enough with the school. Tonight she was crying again about her wheat pasta and and saying she hated the diet.

Good luck to you. I hope things go well with the eating and gluten-free! I can only imagine how he felt when the lunch lady told him that!

[Guhlia]

Part of what is so frustrating is that I was sending her with all her food for breakfast and lunch and snacks. But she was able to buy anyway. I didn't address it well enough with the school. Tonight she was crying again about her wheat pasta and and saying she hated the diet.

Good luck to you. I hope things go well with the eating and gluten-free! I can only imagine how he felt when the lunch lady told him that!

have you tried tinkyada pasta?

[sugarsue]

have you tried tinkyada pasta?

Yes, she will eat that. I think over time she will actually be happy with it. Right now, it makes her a little sad....

[dreamindarlin]

Part of what is so frustrating is that I was sending her with all her food for breakfast and lunch and snacks. But she was able to buy anyway. I didn't address it well enough with the school. Tonight she was crying again about her wheat pasta and and saying she hated the diet.

Good luck to you. I hope things go well with the eating and gluten-free! I can only imagine how he felt when the lunch lady told him that!

I haven't tried any of the pasta. We did try the corn tortillas this morning with eggs, sausage and cheese rolled inside. The inside was good but we all hated the corn tortilla. Tonight for dinner we had fried cubed steak, mashed potato, and broccoli. I cooked his in a seperate pan and used rice flour for the breading and he really liked it!!!!

It makes me feel like crap when he asks for something he can't have. No matter how many times I try to explain it ...that mommy doesnt want him to get him sick or hurt.....he still thinks mommy is just being mean

[Darn210]

Well, it turns out she has been eating wheat every morning at school for breakfast so it's apparent she can't have access to buy anything at school. I'm pretty upset tonight about this.

I'm very confused now. I thought she had improved so much so quickly. She seemed like a changed person. But how could that be if she was still exposed to wheat? Maybe I'm crazy and we are on the wrong path entirely. I had such hope this morning. Now I'm just feeling lost. I know this is just the beginning and we are going to have adjustments to make, that we can't be perfect right out of the gate. I know I have to give it time and see what happens, get our test results back, give it a good trial.

I think it's quite possible that you were seeing results. It sounds like you had cut out the majority of her gluten and her system improved with that. You would have only gotten so far and then seen no more improvement or actually a relapse of symptoms as the body starts having stronger reactions to smaller amounts . . . just my opinion.

[Darn210]

I haven't tried any of the pasta. We did try the corn tortillas this morning with eggs, sausage and cheese rolled inside. The inside was good but we all hated the corn tortilla. Tonight for dinner we had fried cubed steak, mashed potato, and broccoli. I cooked his in a seperate pan and used rice flour for the breading and he really liked it!!!!

It makes me feel like crap when he asks for something he can't have. No matter how many times I try to explain it ...that mommy doesnt want him to get him sick or hurt.....he still thinks mommy is just being mean

What's he asking for?? . . . I'm sure we can help with an alternative.

I'm not a fan or corn tortillas either . . . . . . try a pancake next time. I make a huge batch (from Pamela's pancake mix) and freeze the leftovers between sheets of wax paper. Remove from freezer and microwave to reheat as needed. I roll mine around sausage links and it gives me that sausage bisquit fix.

[Juliebove]

My daughter was 6 when she was diagnosed. Allergy, not celiac. She sort of knew what she couldn't eat but wasn't quite capable of reading labels. They do make Trix cereal (gluten free) in little boxes and bowls. I get it through minimus.biz. No shipping charge if you order over $20 and I always do. They also have little jams, hummus, meats, etc. All gluten free. Now they do have gluten containing items, so you do have to check.

If I were you, I would not allow her to buy anything from the school except perhaps juice, milk and fruit.

[dreamindarlin]

What's he asking for?? . . . I'm sure we can help with an alternative.

I'm not a fan or corn tortillas either . . . . . . try a pancake next time. I make a huge batch (from Pamela's pancake mix) and freeze the leftovers between sheets of wax paper. Remove from freezer and microwave to reheat as needed. I roll mine around sausage links and it gives me that sausage bisquit fix.

He wants Ci Ci's Pizza and hot wings lol.

I saw a frozen gluten free cheese pizza at the grocers.......8 bucks and that thing was small. I've only been at this for a few days and I need to learn how to make a pizza crust. Point is..........I know it won't taste like Ci Ci's and he knows that too.

Which brings me to another question.......I've read from several people saying when they eat gluten they get sick. My son doesn't. Every once in awhile he would complain of a tummy ache just like all kids. He never had diareaha all the time actually hardly at all. We found this out by taking him to the ER they first diagnosed him with intusseseption and a stomach virus at first........he had fever, vomiting, diareahea that lasted about a week. During this time they admitted him to the hospital and did the endoscopy. Doctor told us it looked fine just a little inflammation.......then on our follow up visit he said he was so shocked it showed up celiac all 3 markers in the blood test were negative too.

Anyways...........is it terrible to take him to Ci Cis like once every 2 months as a treat?

[ohsotired]

Anyways...........is it terrible to take him to Ci Cis like once every 2 months as a treat?

Don't do this!!! You won't be doing him any favors by being inconsistent with his diet, and eating gluten will actually do him damage.

Pizza is not that hard. No it won't taste like Ci Ci's, but is Ci Ci's really all that great anyway? (The answer here in my town is a resounding NO.) I made pizza last week for the first time (from scratch) and it was really pretty good.

Let me know if you'd like the crust for the recipe I used.

But please, please........be consistent with the diet. I know there will be slip-ups. We all have them from time to time, and it's rough first starting out. But you can do it!

[Guhlia]

He wants Ci Ci's Pizza and hot wings lol.

I saw a frozen gluten free cheese pizza at the grocers.......8 bucks and that thing was small. I've only been at this for a few days and I need to learn how to make a pizza crust. Point is..........I know it won't taste like Ci Ci's and he knows that too.

Which brings me to another question.......I've read from several people saying when they eat gluten they get sick. My son doesn't. Every once in awhile he would complain of a tummy ache just like all kids. He never had diareaha all the time actually hardly at all. We found this out by taking him to the ER they first diagnosed him with intusseseption and a stomach virus at first........he had fever, vomiting, diareahea that lasted about a week. During this time they admitted him to the hospital and did the endoscopy. Doctor told us it looked fine just a little inflammation.......then on our follow up visit he said he was so shocked it showed up celiac all 3 markers in the blood test were negative too.

Anyways...........is it terrible to take him to Ci Cis like once every 2 months as a treat?

I use this recipe which was posted a long time ago somewhere... I wish I could remember who to give credit for it. It's amazing pizza!!!

NY Style Pizza

Makes one 16" crust or two smaller crusts - foldable floppy and not crispy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast

1 1/3 cup warm milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/3 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. In a separate larger bowl, blend together dry ingredients. Stir in yeast mixture to dry ingredient mixture. Add oil and apple cider vinegar. Mix well.

Grease and flour the pizza pan (just like you grease and flour a cake pan). Pat down dough on pan - sprinkle top of dough with flour so dough doesn't stick to your hands as you're shaping pizza. Bake plain un-topped crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings.

Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

[happygirl]

Which brings me to another question.......I've read from several people saying when they eat gluten they get sick. My son doesn't. Every once in awhile he would complain of a tummy ache just like all kids. He never had diareaha all the time actually hardly at all.

Anyways...........is it terrible to take him to Ci Cis like once every 2 months as a treat?

Yes. Open Original Shared Link

Q: Is it ok if I ingest some gluten if I do not experience any symptoms?

No. The majority of patients with celiac disease experience no symptoms when they ingest gluten, either intentionally or unintentionally. This led to the concept that patients, especially children may grow out of the disease. In addition, patients also consider that it is doing no harm to them. However the ingestion of even small amounts of gluten results in damage to the small intestine--regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms--and puts the patient at risk for resulting complications including malignancies and osteoporosis.

[taweavmo3]

Ditto...please don't take him to CiCi's!!!! Most kids don't get very sick with gluten until it is all out of their system, which can take weeks or more. My dd never had diarrhea or vomiting either......but she gets violently ill with gluten now. If the biopsy showed blunted villi, his system is not absorbing nutrients, which is setting his little body up for a slew of other auto immune diseases that are much more scary than Celiac. I know as parents, especially mothers, we feel guilty for everything that goes wrong in our kids lives. But this is really a healthy lifestyle, that can still be filled with common childhood treats, while also teaching a valuable life lesson about the importance of taking care of your body.

Another thing I have found that helps my kids stay on the diet is attitude. If I have a good attitude, and focus on what they can eat rather than what they can't, they follow my lead. And get the kids involved in every aspect of food planning and preparing. We sit down and look at cookbooks together, they pick out things they want to try, we shop together and cook together. They love this, and I think the real bonus to this is that they feel more in control of the diet, rather than having the diet control them.

I hope that helps some! The Dana Korn books are great for those just starting out, I only read one, but she has several out now. I would definately start there, and keep coming here b/c this board is a lifesaver! Good luck.

[dreamindarlin]

Okay no Ci Ci's Pizza

I contacted the Disease Center for Celiacs in NYC. They want to see him! My insurance is in their network so I will have a 50 copay. But....I looked up hotels and they are well over 300 a night!!! Those were the cheapest I could find.

So his appt is Nov. 6th. Now I am going to get another job to get the hotel money for the trip.

I will stick to gluten free until we see this doctor in NY

[happygirl]

Make sure that you get copies of all of your sons medical records, espeically ones related to his celiac diagnosis, and either have them sent to Columbia, or bring them with you.

A closer alternative may be the Celiac Center at University of Maryland - Baltimore. www.celiaccenter.org

[dreamindarlin]

Make sure that you get copies of all of your sons medical records, espeically ones related to his celiac diagnosis, and either have them sent to Columbia, or bring them with you.

A closer alternative may be the Celiac Center at University of Maryland - Baltimore. www.celiaccenter.org

Thank you so much Happy! They are only about 8-9 hours from me. I checked out their website and talked to them. I scheduled him an appt. it is Nov 11th at 12. She is sending me a packet and it includes nearby hotels and prices. Crossing my fingers they are cheaper than NYC!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

My son AND all his gluten-eating friends love the pizzas I make on corn tortillas.

The trick is to heat them for 1-2 minutes per side in a preheated pan sprayed with PAM before topping and broiling. This makes them nice and crispy (they'll look a little "blistered").

After you heat them, stick them on a coolie sheet (sprayed with PAM), top with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings, and stick under a broiler for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and just starting to brown.

It's faster and cheaper than Domino's, and I can't make'em fast enough for the boys!

If you want a thicker crust, sandwich a piece of provolone (comes in a round shape like the tortillas) between 2 tortillas, then heat the "sandwich" on both sides, and top and broil like above.

[CeliacMom2008]

I use this recipe which was posted a long time ago somewhere... I wish I could remember who to give credit for it. It's amazing pizza!!!

NY Style Pizza

Makes one 16" crust or two smaller crusts - foldable floppy and not crispy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast

1 1/3 cup warm milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/3 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. In a separate larger bowl, blend together dry ingredients. Stir in yeast mixture to dry ingredient mixture. Add oil and apple cider vinegar. Mix well.

Grease and flour the pizza pan (just like you grease and flour a cake pan). Pat down dough on pan - sprinkle top of dough with flour so dough doesn't stick to your hands as you're shaping pizza. Bake plain un-topped crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings.

Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

This is my all time favorite pizza - gluten or no gluten! I make two each week for our pizza and a movie night. I use a pizza stone and bake a little longer on the first bake to get them a little crispier, but I prefer crispy crust pizzas. I even make my own sauce (sometimes I amazes me that I am the same person I was a year ago - when ordering a pizza would've been the most work I'd do!!). My son usually makes the sauce while I shape the dough. One batch of sauce usually makes 6 pizza, so I freeze the leftover sauce in two containers and then only make it once every 3 times.

[Takala]

He wants Ci Ci's Pizza and hot wings lol.

I saw a frozen gluten free cheese pizza at the grocers.......8 bucks and that thing was small. I've only been at this for a few days and I need to learn how to make a pizza crust. Point is..........I know it won't taste like Ci Ci's and he knows that too.

Which brings me to another question.......I've read from several people saying when they eat gluten they get sick. My son doesn't. Every once in awhile he would complain of a tummy ache just like all kids. He never had diareaha all the time actually hardly at all. We found this out by taking him to the ER they first diagnosed him with intusseseption and a stomach virus at first........he had fever, vomiting, diareahea that lasted about a week. During this time they admitted him to the hospital and did the endoscopy. Doctor told us it looked fine just a little inflammation.......then on our follow up visit he said he was so shocked it showed up celiac all 3 markers in the blood test were negative too.

Anyways...........is it terrible to take him to Ci Cis like once every 2 months as a treat?

___________________

Sensitivity to gluten increases once off of it for awhile as the body fully adapts.

You can't deliberately cross contaminate your kid, he'll get sick, feel bad, and start getting neurotic.

He isn't going to miss what the "other" stuff tastes like after awhile, since the homemade stuff is going to taste better anyway.

Easiest way to make crust is to make it in a clean uncontaminated skillet as a big gluten free quick flatbread, cook it on the stovetop, run it under the broiler, and then top with toppings and broil again

Use a lot of olive oil and it crisps up the bottom nicely and you don't have to worry about soggy crust or how to get it in and out of the oven.

There's a place in Berkeley, CA that serves gluten-free pizza, Mariposa's, and a few others around the country, but really, pizza is one of the easiest things to make. You can use Chebe mixes, too.