Nephew with celiac - what is fair/appropriate when visiting grandma?

[Anonymous]

I had kids who were picky eaters. They are now teens and are adventurous eaters. Don't lose hope!

[Anonymous]

We went gluten free for awhile (elimination diet) It was also expensive.
Shouldn't this thread be moved to SN? After all, OP is being asked to completely change her family's cooking and diet for a "vacation" and a "possible" contamination issue. I think many of the posters are forgetting what travelling with young children is like. Kids do not always love travelling and tend to cling to the familiar and be fussy. And BTW, my kids just returned from overseas and yes, they brought their own PB&J with them. It saves on high overseas costs and availability. It was not their favorite food, but that what they ate. However, they are not 4 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow
Well if they want the guest cabin, that is where they eat, that is what stays gluten free. They cannot have it all.

+1. Pretty obvious, they have to choose a or b, can't take over it all.

I think the issue here is now Grandma who sterilized the main kitchen in anticipation and probably wants to proceed this way because she is fearful of any harm coming to the grandchild while at her house. I think the burden unfortunately does fall on OP to contain any gluten via individual mac n cheese cups, brea in their room, etc. Will there be a lot of outdoor eating? Can you pick up a small picnic basket to keep your supplies and take your kids outside to eat a few times?

[Anonymous]

OP, this is not what you want to hear but here goes. Why are you allowing your 4 year old to have such a limited diet? Kids learn from their homes. Forget the gluten issue. Fill you home with a variety of good food, and keep presenting it. Your kids will eat more than chicken nuggets soon enough. Unless they have a rare disorder, your children will not starve themselves if you give them different foods on a consistent basis. It would also help if you and your DH ate differently, and served everyone one meal. Don't serve kid meals. Unless, god forbid, you are also eating chicken nuggets. You do realize that the nutritional value of food out of a package is not very high, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not what you want to hear but here goes. Why are you allowing your 4 year old to have such a limited diet? Kids learn from their homes. Forget the gluten issue. Fill you home with a variety of good food, and keep presenting it. Your kids will eat more than chicken nuggets soon enough. Unless they have a rare disorder, your children will not starve themselves if you give them different foods on a consistent basis. It would also help if you and your DH ate differently, and served everyone one meal. Don't serve kid meals. Unless, god forbid, you are also eating chicken nuggets. You do realize that the nutritional value of food out of a package is not very high, right?

No OP, but since you think its that simple, what time will you be over to give it a try. That does not work in our home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not what you want to hear but here goes. Why are you allowing your 4 year old to have such a limited diet? Kids learn from their homes. Forget the gluten issue. Fill you home with a variety of good food, and keep presenting it. Your kids will eat more than chicken nuggets soon enough. Unless they have a rare disorder, your children will not starve themselves if you give them different foods on a consistent basis. It would also help if you and your DH ate differently, and served everyone one meal. Don't serve kid meals. Unless, god forbid, you are also eating chicken nuggets. You do realize that the nutritional value of food out of a package is not very high, right?

No OP, but since you think its that simple, what time will you be over to give it a try. That does not work in our home.

Not PP, but it doesn't work because you give in to your kids and let them eat that crap. If you don't give it to them and give them healthy food, they will give in and eat the healthy food when they are hungry. You are ruining your kid health by letting them eat crap because you are too weak to stand up to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went gluten free for awhile (elimination diet) It was also expensive.
Shouldn't this thread be moved to SN? After all, OP is being asked to completely change her family's cooking and diet for a "vacation" and a "possible" contamination issue. I think many of the posters are forgetting what travelling with young children is like. Kids do not always love travelling and tend to cling to the familiar and be fussy. And BTW, my kids just returned from overseas and yes, they brought their own PB&J with them. It saves on high overseas costs and availability. It was not their favorite food, but that what they ate. However, they are not 4 years old.

OT, but I cannot fathom taking my own food overseas so that I would not have to eat the local cuisine. I pack some snacks to have on the plane and in my bag, but we eat from the local grocery stores and restaurants and street vendors. It's not like there's never anything familiar or familiar-ish: pretty much every culture has some form a bland starch--noodles, rice, bread, potatoes--that you can rely on in a pinch, but half the fun of travel is trying new foods.

OP doesn't even have to totally change her cooking and diet. Really, she has to avoid bread, but not tortillas or crackers, since there are gf versions of these that are much better than the bread and pasta replacements. Make PB&J tortilla roll-ups or PB crackers. It sounds like her kids eat "kid food," and if they can't survive a week on rice, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, etc., then she has bigger problems. I mean, she was complaining that they couldn't have ice cream in cones. Really? The in-laws might be over-reacting, but they just had a young child diagnosed with a serious medical condition and they are adjusting. Have some compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What coating do you use for your own nuggets?

NP - We usually coat with crushed up Rice Chex (sometimes Corn Chex) that's been seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder and salt. The kids actually seem to prefer that over regular breadcrumbs these days.


I like grilled cheese on Udi's bread - it's one of the few uses for GF bread that works pretty well to me.

[Anonymous]

I am really sad for your family OP. And the family of some of these PPs. You would really cancel your vacation, or significantly ruin your vacation, over food? Are you serious?

Your nephew has a severe AUTOIMMUNE disease. This is not an allergy. This is something that will affect his life forever. It will affect his growth and development and can lead to several other very serious diseases. Sure, he might not be all that sensitive. Sure, it might not need to be that serious. But please appreciate how his parents, your FAMILY MEMBERS, feel. They are stressed out. This is new. Their pediatric GI doctor likely put the child under anesthesia, performed an endoscopy and said that his body is literally attacking itself over the food that you are very nonchalantly saying you cannot possibly eliminate from your children's world for 5 days.

I can't believe some of the posters. You would really not visit your family if they had to deal with this? Are you kidding? That is INSANE!

My daughter is 4. She has celiac. Her friends have been over to our house. We have had family at our house visiting for weeks at a time. They had young, picky children. We made it work. We have a gluten free house. Sure - they went out a bit. But they also ate a lot of our food. And they were fine. Sure - one day they only ate fruit and hotdogs for lunch without any buns because gluten free buns are terrible. But they were okay. We made a lot of rice and potatoes. The kids were fine!

I make this gluten free mac and cheese all the time when family and friends come over: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/242268/easy-gluten-free-macaroni-and-cheese/. I don't do the topping/baking thing and just serve it creamy. My nephew said it tasted like Panera. He is super picky and loved it. I use the Wegmans elbow pasta, but Barilla works and I love the Tinkyada brand. Make sure you wash it with cold water so you can get the residue from the water off.

Bread is impossible to replace. We just kinda eliminated it from our daughters diet. We make a lot of wraps with deli meat in it and use corn tortillas. Both our kids love it. We then give them some skinny pop, veggie straws, or pirate booty, or regular chips (all gluten free) and fruit they that's lunch. We also occasionally use glutino English muffins, which are crunchier than normal English muffins, but the kids like them slathered with loads of peanut butter. Glutino also makes great snack foods. Their oreos are amazing and the pretzels are perfectly serviceable.

Vans makes a good fish stick that you won't be able to tell is gluten free.

These are ideas, but really think about how you go about this week with your family. Celiac is a really hard diagnosis. I still get very sad over all of the things my daughter will miss out on. The number of eye rolls I get at restaurants are really frustrating. It doesn't help at all when your family isn't supportive. It is NOT an allergy. It is a lifelong struggle that is only manageable with a gluten free diet. But gluten is in EVERYTHING, and that is hard. It is also hard when your child is young, and cross contamination is a much more difficult issue. It is also hard when your child is extremely sick, so even trace amounts can wreak havoc on him.

The fact that SO many PPs are talking about how this will potentially ruin your vacation makes me sad. If not having bread on vacation will legitimately ruin your time, I am sad for you...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not what you want to hear but here goes. Why are you allowing your 4 year old to have such a limited diet? Kids learn from their homes. Forget the gluten issue. Fill you home with a variety of good food, and keep presenting it. Your kids will eat more than chicken nuggets soon enough. Unless they have a rare disorder, your children will not starve themselves if you give them different foods on a consistent basis. It would also help if you and your DH ate differently, and served everyone one meal. Don't serve kid meals. Unless, god forbid, you are also eating chicken nuggets. You do realize that the nutritional value of food out of a package is not very high, right?

OP here - people parent differently and I totally disagree with you. My older one used to be like his little brother but little by little he has gotten more open minded and we are encouraging him without forcing him. I believe my LO will too over time, so this is just a battle I choose not to fight at this age, esp. While on 'vacation' when other stressors are present.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What coating do you use for your own nuggets?

NP - We usually coat with crushed up Rice Chex (sometimes Corn Chex) that's been seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder and salt. The kids actually seem to prefer that over regular breadcrumbs these days.


I like grilled cheese on Udi's bread - it's one of the few uses for GF bread that works pretty well to me.

Oh! This reminded me! The one thing store bought GF bread actually does really well is French Toast. We like both plain or cinnamon raisin for that.

And to the PP who said that about bread - I disagree, you CAN have good GF bread, it just generally means making your own or getting it from a GF bakery. Mass produced GF bread with a long shelf life is much harder. Haven't tried baking our own in the oven but do it in the bread maker frequently.

GF cornbread can also be delicious. Standard boxes like Jiffy contain wheat but they have GF packages in most groceries or you can find recipes online using corn meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am really sad for your family OP. And the family of some of these PPs. You would really cancel your vacation, or significantly ruin your vacation, over food? Are you serious?

Your nephew has a severe AUTOIMMUNE disease. This is not an allergy. This is something that will affect his life forever. It will affect his growth and development and can lead to several other very serious diseases. Sure, he might not be all that sensitive. Sure, it might not need to be that serious. But please appreciate how his parents, your FAMILY MEMBERS, feel. They are stressed out. This is new. Their pediatric GI doctor likely put the child under anesthesia, performed an endoscopy and said that his body is literally attacking itself over the food that you are very nonchalantly saying you cannot possibly eliminate from your children's world for 5 days.

I can't believe some of the posters. You would really not visit your family if they had to deal with this? Are you kidding? That is INSANE!

My daughter is 4. She has celiac. Her friends have been over to our house. We have had family at our house visiting for weeks at a time. They had young, picky children. We made it work. We have a gluten free house. Sure - they went out a bit. But they also ate a lot of our food. And they were fine. Sure - one day they only ate fruit and hotdogs for lunch without any buns because gluten free buns are terrible. But they were okay. We made a lot of rice and potatoes. The kids were fine!

I make this gluten free mac and cheese all the time when family and friends come over: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/242268/easy-gluten-free-macaroni-and-cheese/. I don't do the topping/baking thing and just serve it creamy. My nephew said it tasted like Panera. He is super picky and loved it. I use the Wegmans elbow pasta, but Barilla works and I love the Tinkyada brand. Make sure you wash it with cold water so you can get the residue from the water off.

Bread is impossible to replace. We just kinda eliminated it from our daughters diet. We make a lot of wraps with deli meat in it and use corn tortillas. Both our kids love it. We then give them some skinny pop, veggie straws, or pirate booty, or regular chips (all gluten free) and fruit they that's lunch. We also occasionally use glutino English muffins, which are crunchier than normal English muffins, but the kids like them slathered with loads of peanut butter. Glutino also makes great snack foods. Their oreos are amazing and the pretzels are perfectly serviceable.

Vans makes a good fish stick that you won't be able to tell is gluten free.

These are ideas, but really think about how you go about this week with your family. Celiac is a really hard diagnosis. I still get very sad over all of the things my daughter will miss out on. The number of eye rolls I get at restaurants are really frustrating. It doesn't help at all when your family isn't supportive. It is NOT an allergy. It is a lifelong struggle that is only manageable with a gluten free diet. But gluten is in EVERYTHING, and that is hard. It is also hard when your child is young, and cross contamination is a much more difficult issue. It is also hard when your child is extremely sick, so even trace amounts can wreak havoc on him.

The fact that SO many PPs are talking about how this will potentially ruin your vacation makes me sad. If not having bread on vacation will legitimately ruin your time, I am sad for you...

Look at all the options here. Look at all the opportunities to try something new.

OP, enabling you and your picky kids sound way worse than poor gluten kid/vigilant family members, in terms of "people making vacations difficult."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am really sad for your family OP. And the family of some of these PPs. You would really cancel your vacation, or significantly ruin your vacation, over food? Are you serious?

Your nephew has a severe AUTOIMMUNE disease. This is not an allergy. This is something that will affect his life forever. It will affect his growth and development and can lead to several other very serious diseases. Sure, he might not be all that sensitive. Sure, it might not need to be that serious. But please appreciate how his parents, your FAMILY MEMBERS, feel. They are stressed out. This is new. Their pediatric GI doctor likely put the child under anesthesia, performed an endoscopy and said that his body is literally attacking itself over the food that you are very nonchalantly saying you cannot possibly eliminate from your children's world for 5 days.

I can't believe some of the posters. You would really not visit your family if they had to deal with this? Are you kidding? That is INSANE!

My daughter is 4. She has celiac. Her friends have been over to our house. We have had family at our house visiting for weeks at a time. They had young, picky children. We made it work. We have a gluten free house. Sure - they went out a bit. But they also ate a lot of our food. And they were fine. Sure - one day they only ate fruit and hotdogs for lunch without any buns because gluten free buns are terrible. But they were okay. We made a lot of rice and potatoes. The kids were fine!

I make this gluten free mac and cheese all the time when family and friends come over: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/242268/easy-gluten-free-macaroni-and-cheese/. I don't do the topping/baking thing and just serve it creamy. My nephew said it tasted like Panera. He is super picky and loved it. I use the Wegmans elbow pasta, but Barilla works and I love the Tinkyada brand. Make sure you wash it with cold water so you can get the residue from the water off.

Bread is impossible to replace. We just kinda eliminated it from our daughters diet. We make a lot of wraps with deli meat in it and use corn tortillas. Both our kids love it. We then give them some skinny pop, veggie straws, or pirate booty, or regular chips (all gluten free) and fruit they that's lunch. We also occasionally use glutino English muffins, which are crunchier than normal English muffins, but the kids like them slathered with loads of peanut butter. Glutino also makes great snack foods. Their oreos are amazing and the pretzels are perfectly serviceable.

Vans makes a good fish stick that you won't be able to tell is gluten free.

These are ideas, but really think about how you go about this week with your family. Celiac is a really hard diagnosis. I still get very sad over all of the things my daughter will miss out on. The number of eye rolls I get at restaurants are really frustrating. It doesn't help at all when your family isn't supportive. It is NOT an allergy. It is a lifelong struggle that is only manageable with a gluten free diet. But gluten is in EVERYTHING, and that is hard. It is also hard when your child is young, and cross contamination is a much more difficult issue. It is also hard when your child is extremely sick, so even trace amounts can wreak havoc on him.

The fact that SO many PPs are talking about how this will potentially ruin your vacation makes me sad. If not having bread on vacation will legitimately ruin your time, I am sad for you...

Was your daughter diagnosed recently? If so it really does get easier on the emotional stand point. I know that sadness feeling but I very rarely experience it anymore. What helped us was time. Time to keep adjusting and time for my older daughter to grow up and be able to be in charge of her own meals more. And taking her lead - she gets frustrated occasionally about something she can't eat, but it's rare these days.

Doesn't go away all together. I still get those pangs, generally in response to a particular event, like savoring a nice French bread with cream butter and realizing my kid will never get that. But they are very infrequent these days and mostly the celiac is a non-issue on an emotional level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mass hysteria over food allergies is just insane. I say this as a mom whose child has a peanut/tree nut allergy. I was hysterical for the first year thinking my kid could die at any moment. Then I really looked at the number of deaths due to food allergies and it is minuscule. The numbers of deaths you find on food allergy websites aren't accurate. More people are dying from insect stings and lightening strikes.
I refuse to believe the 2 year old is so sensitive to gluten that you can't prepare food in the same kitchen if you use paper plates and some Clorox wipes to clean up crumbs. There is no way he could ever go to preschool, the park, a zoo, etc.

Celiac isn't an allergy.

If a person has celiac, they can't process gluten, which is a type of protein found in wheat products. It damages the lining of their intestines causing malabsorption, malnutrition, muscle aches and joint pain, exhaustion, failure to thrive in kids, painful gut cramping, gas, bloating and diarrhea/constipation. Some people with celiac can take a little bit of cross-contamination without too much trouble. Many people with celiac get terrible symptoms from even a minute gluten exposure.

Why would you advocate doing that to a two year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is your husband's family? I would stay home and let him deal with feeding the kids for a week. You can print out all the suggestions for GF foods people have provided in this thread.

LOL - I just gave him the list and told him the next round of 'tests' was on him, and if we still fail he can talk to his brother about accommodations. He was hiding his head in the sand until tonight when the 4YO literally took one bite of the chicken nugget and spit it out

Your child spit out food at the table and you think it's funny? And he will only eat one kind of nugget?

My god, I can't even imagine the level of picky. What do you do when you go out to eat?