Wheat Allergy

[Lillith's_Mommy]

Hello,
As some of you may be aware from one of my recent posts my daughter(9 Months) has been diagnosed as having a wheat allergy. I was wonderinf if there are other parents on here who have children with the same diagnosis. If there are I was wondering how do you make your child feel like they are normal? Do you have the entire family on a wheat free diet or just the child? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[charliesmommy]

My best friend and her daughter are both celiacs. I'm pretty sure she gets a lot of great information from this forum/website http://forums.glutenfree.com/.

I sure hope this helps. I will say that it got easier for her once she started making her own bread, pancakes and dough.

Good Luck!

[lismom2]

We do not have Gluten allergies, however, we eat a Primal diet (which is gluten/carb free). Check out Mark's Daily Apple by Mark Sisson- lot's of good recipes, support, and ways to make your kids feel 'normal'. While we have the luxury of occasionally having McDonalds (I'm not that much of a food nazi!;) ), we still get the crazy looks when we go play in the playland and only order the apples and water.
Here are a list of links/blogs that I love that deal with lowcarb/primal/.gluten free lifestyle.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://cleochatra.blogspot.com/
http://gluten-free-blog.blogspot.com/
http://glutenfreemommy.com/
http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/

I hope these help :)

[Newmom!]

I taught in a classroom with a child who had several allergies. When the class earned a pizza party, his mom made him his own pizza - so he could join the class but not get sick. School is a ways off for you, but something to keep in your box of mommy knowledge.

I would assume since things like bread can be expensive to buy wheat free, you would just have your child eat the special bread. But, treats that your child cannot eat should not be eaten in front of your child, unless you are able to find or make a substitute. Then you might have everyone eat the substitute, since it for sure will not be the same as the "real thing".

You might have to learn to do a lot of your own baking when a wheat free flour mix. I know a preschooler who has a peanut allergy and she helps her mom make a lot of baked goods (to ensure the peanut freeness). She is awesome at pretending to bake when playing with play dough, and she is so proud of the homemade treats she brings to school.

Best of luck to you, I have a friend with a wheat allergy and I make sure I serve what he can eat when he visits, but wheat is hidden everywhere, usually as a thickener. Keeping my fingers crossed she will be able to outgrow it.

Oh, and as she gets older, make sure people understand she has a wheat allergy and not a gluten allergy - that will open a few more foods to her than if she had Celiac's disease.

[darwinsgirl16]

for a few years I was diagnosed and treated as though I had celiacs. Come to find out it was a misdiagnosis. I would suggest having your daughter re-tested for her allergies after she is a year old by an allergy specialist.
If it holds up and you confidently feel this is the case there are a lot of health food stores now with extremely reasonable prices these days! I was amazed how each year items became less expensive and were more easily accessible at my local grocery store.
Also it is usually easier to put the whole family on the "special" diet so that you don't have to worry about cross contamination. Sadly after a while it seems that even minimal exposure can cause some serious flares for those suffering from the allergy. The websites listed are all ones that I've used in the past and found greatly helpful! Good luck!