Gluten Allergy? HELP!

[apples and bananas]

Ok, here's a Friday morning challenge for you.

It's Friday... the fridge is starting to look bare.

Your client shows up and says their concerned about a Gluten allergy with their 1 year old. She's been showing a rash on and off for weeks un explained. There's a history of celiac in her family. She'd like to see if she can remove wheat from the diet today and see if it makes a difference. Apparently the rash Is better in the morning, but is worse when she gets picked up from care.

I have never dealt with a wheat allergy before.

What would you feed for lunch on short notice. What foods am I staying away from?

[5 Little Monkeys]

Gluten is in so many things that you probably wouldn't even think about. It's not a matter of just not feeding grain/wheat products. To truly know if it's a gluten allergy, a person has to stay away from ALL gluten (even the tiniest bit) and it takes a few days to work the gluten out of your system. At least that is my understanding on it.

I would be telling mom that if she wants to try a gluten free diet that she will have to provide the food for her child. Then after that, if you want you can provide gluten free snacks and lunches.

I would research some articles and print it off or email it to mom so that she understands why she needs to supply the food for now.

[gravy_train]

Oh yuck - what an annoying way to start the day! I'm with 5 Little Monkeys in that going forward I would ask that the parents provide all the food for the child. It can get very expensive to accommodate a gluten-free diet and then what if another child develops a milk allergy for example and the next thing you know you have all of these crazy dietary restrictions to accommodate - lots of work and lots of money.

For today you could go with rice and veggies? Fruit? hummus? Apples & Bananas (see what I did there ;-))? Good luck!

[mickyc]

I agree with 5 Monkey's. If mom wants you to provide a special diet for her child then she needs to provide the food.

In my contract I specify that I cannot accommodate any food allergies. I do not want to be responsible for feeding something to a child by accident. I have interviewed with someone whose child had a gluten allergy and told her she would need to provide her own food. She ended up finding a provider who has multiple gluten allergy kids.

I had a friend who was a celiac. She could eat things I wouldn't even have guessed and stayed away from things I would have thought were ok.

[cfred]

I had a gluten free child and it's not so bad. Wheat is the biggest thing you're looking to avoid, including Kamut. For today, since it's short notice, just give her some rice or whatever you have that isn't wheat. Cheerios are fine too because they're oat. Honestly, gluten free is soooo easy to do now. Gluten free options are available in many stores now. I think even Metro has gluten free options, over by the bakery breads I believe. They're much cheaper in conventional grocery stores than in specialty ones such as Nature's Emporium. I just buy a loaf and stick it in the freezer and pull out single portions as needed. There are also gluten free granola bars, cereal bars, cereals, crackers available in health food stores and many times, in health food sections of grocery stores. Read labels and pay attention to ingredients in things. You'll get used to it quickly and will soon have a list of okay items that you'll know to have on hand. If you want to do home baking, you can purchase prepackaged gluten free flour mixes....for a significant price. Bulk barn makes a cheaper one, but it tastes a little heavy on the quinoa or bean flour....kinda gross. I've tried to make my own blend and they always come out with gummy end results. Personally, I like spelt flour. You'll have to tinker around with recipes as the flour is heavier, but I've always had better results with that. Don't forget that you'll need Xanthan Gum for any baking to bind the end product. 1/4tsp/cup flour for cookies, 1/2 tsp/cup flour for muffins, 3/4 tsp/cup flour for cake. Xanthan Gum is pricey, but you use so little, it lasts a long time. For pasta, I found corn pasta to be the nicest, but don't forget to start cooking it before the other kids' pasta as it takes a while to cook. And yes, there is gluten in lots of things, but if you read labels, you can avoid them easily enough. Most gluten free items will plaster 'Gluten Free!!!" all over their packaging, so they're pretty easy to spot.

Don't sweat it....not terrible at all.

[apples and bananas]

I've done some reading on gluten vs wheat allergies. And they are very different. She is not showing any signs of a gluten allergy in my opinion. but she may be showing signs of a wheat allergy. She's scratching her neck and cheeks over the past few days and I know Wheat could cause an anaphylaxis response.

So... rice and veggies it is! LOL

Thanks for all of your feedback. If it is a gluten issue or even a wheat allergy I will be asking mom to provide the meals and snacks. Today is just a "try to avoid" kind of a day.

[SLD]

Mom should have brought food for today. My answer would have had to have been "sorry, I can't accommodate that especially on short notice." If she intends to carry on with this, I would have her provide food.

[Fun&care]

I don't think it's really fair of her to waltz in and say "no gluten today". That's way too short notice for such a huge change! Sure if she wants to go gluten free fine, but she's going to have to do all the work not you. At least that would be my approach. I went gluten free once ( I experimented a lot with diets to cure my acne) and it can get pretty expensive pretty quick. So if I were to go gluten free I would have to do it for everyone and raise my daily rate...it's a lot of trouble.

[madmom]

As a celiac sufferer I can tell you that it is very expensive to eat gluten free and it is not only the foods but the risk of cross contamination. I have huge issues sharing butter, jams, etc that the family may have used. that habit of scraping off your knife back in the jar is really hard on me. I also have my own strainer, cutting board and some other utensils that I keep for my own use. It isn't just wheat either, it is barley (malt) rye, and triticale (not sure what that is but it's on the list to avoid) Oats are very often contaminated and should be avoided unless they are labeled gluten free. So cheerios are not an option sorry to say. I would offer a slight discount and ask the family to provide any gluten free lunches/snacks while you provide the fruits and veggies. Good luck and I hope I don't sound too preachy, G-free is not easy

[nschildcare]

I agree that mom should have brought food. If she is concerned, she needs to take on that responsibility herself. I have celiacs and would never eat cheerios. I can't eat oats unless they are certified gf. Same with rice. It needs to be gf. The longer I am gf the more sensitive I am.

If there is concern, I think it needs to be put on mom to provide the food. Gluten is in so many things that you wouldn't even suspect and cross contamination is a huge concern as pp said. For that reason, I can't/won't do bulk barn.

So, while it can be done, it's not easy and it's not cheap. Put it right back on the parents. Good luck!