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I am finally able to post (in 2 parts) the summary of responses to my August
19 questions as follows:
"…I am wondering what to pack in [my daughter's] lunches. She is still
lactose intolerant, does not like sandwiches and is tired of peanut butter on
rice cakes. Any suggestions? …
Also, how do I handle the possibility of her classmates accidentally
contaminating her lunch with their breadcrumbs, etc. at lunchtime? And how
do I handle trading things in their lunches? Do I just tell her don't ever
trade or do I give her something she can trade and tell her what she may
trade for so she doesn't feel left out? …"
I received an overwhelming response. At last count it was well over 75
responses. If there is anyone I forgot to thank, I thank you now. Sorry it
has taken me so long to consolidate and summarize them.
The suggestions:
- Many, many ideas for lunches, so I will list them in Part Two of the
summary.
- Read the book, "Kids with Celiac Disease: A Family Guide to Raising Happy,
Healthy, Gluten-Free Children." (I had already read it-it is a very helpful
book.)
- Order food from www.kinnikinnick.com, Mrs. Roben's catalog 1-800-891-0083,
Gluten Free Pantry 1-800-291-8386
- Use a Thermos to keep foods warm for her (Aladdin was recommended because
it can be microwaved), or microwave the lunch at school if possible.
- Get a note from the doctor saying your child can't eat any food from school
and is to be allowed to warm his lunch up.
- Arrange for the child to have a gluten free microwave in the school
cafeteria
- Trading foods received a lot of advice. The majority said to not allow her
to trade anything because of the possibility of eating gluten. The following
are other reasons given why not:
1.the possibility that she doesn't realize how important it is to check the
brand and flavors of things, that she may not understand her diet well enough
yet,
2.that trading may result in a complete "unbalancing" of an otherwise
balanced diet that you can provide by sending food from home,
3.something that is gluten-free today may not be tomorrow,
4.GF treats are too expensive and hard to get to just give them away to
another kid,
5.want him to understand early on that eating the wrong thing would make him
sick, 6.developmentally would wait til second or third grade to consider
allowing trades--by then they can read and understand complicated labels--
and then only with brand name items that you are very familiar with.
7.Many schools across the country are instituting no trading policies because
of the increase in food allergies.
8.Do you really want your kid eating all those trans fats (hydrogenated
products) that most packaged food items contain?
On the other hand, some said that kids may probably trade anyway, so educate
her well about what she can and cannot eat, and give her lots of food for
lunch so that she can share and trade. Someone else recommended a
compromise: She doesn't mind sharing her snacks with friends but knows not to
accept anything back unless it's sealed and she can eat it.
- Provide a special placemat or napkin for her lunch, which should be a
gluten-free zone. Or get a tray from the hot lunch line (clean) and put her
food on it … to be like the other kids and have a tray, but also helps with
crumbs.
- Talk to her teachers, principle, school nurse, and lunchroom staff. (I did
this and am very pleased with the cooperation, and found out that our
headmaster knows someone with Celiac and is well aware of the seriousness of
the disease.)
- In a formal letter, ask that when teachers/lunchroom help are handling her
food that they please wash their hands so not to cross-contaminate her food.
- Give a presentation to her class. (I did this, also, and the children were
very receptive. I brought homemade gf chocolate chip cookies for them, also.
They loved them, asked for more, and some were concerned that Tracey should
not have one because they thought they had gluten in them. This gave me the
chance to point out how confusing it is to tell the difference between gluten
and gf foods, so they shouldn't trade with her. My daughter tells me that
they have been very careful not to share their crumbs with her now. If anyone
wants a copy of my presentation, I would be glad to share it.)
- Send plenty of extra food in case something gets dropped or contaminated.
- Home school the child to avoid a lot of problems by having the child at
home with you
- Send along something that she could share with the entire class once in a
while.
- Make sure the teacher has a supply of gf goodies just for your daughter.
Have treats on hand, like cupcakes and cookies for unexpected birthday and
other celebrations in the school's freezer.
- Remind her to wash her hands a lot through the day
- Give teachers a guide specifically for educators, ([log in to unmask] sent
me one she wrote, and a guide titled, When a Child has Celiac Disease: A
Guide for Educators and Childcare Professionals by Christine Krahling is
currently being reviewed by a publisher.), and give the pamphlet "Your
student has celiac disease" so they could get an overview and read ahead of
time
- Send a list of acceptable treats into school and write that cookies,
crackers, bread, brownies, pretzels are to come from *home* only.
- Send a note home with each student in the class asking if the parents are
bringing special treats for birthdays etc., if they could let us know so we
can try to bring the gluten free version.
- If going to a friend's to play in the afternoon, send along a pack of chips
or gf crackers for them all to share so the child doesn't miss out on
invitations because adults are too worried about what to provide.
- For pizza parties or ice cream parties, bring his pizza or ice cream in so
he can participate.
- For birthday parties, send along some gf lollies and pancakes /whatever so
the child can eat and share some food with the others. "I have also provided
gf flour and gf icing sugar for the birthday cake when a parent was kind
enough to offer to make one …Often people are happy to make something that
our kids can have but don't know what they can use or how to purchase the
ingredients.
- When staying overnight at people's places … send a pack of gf sausages and
gf cereal for the morning, also send along a small booklet of gf food.
- Contact CSA/USA, Celiac.com Article/Item: (R.O.C.K. (Raising Our Celiac
Kids) - National Celiac Disease Support Group), and local support groups for
more information.
- You have to teach her that she is in control of her diet and its never to
young to learn that lesson.
- "… the important thing is to teach your daughter to watch out for herself.
I think we all worry about our CD kids when they are out of our sight and
rightfully so. All we can do is educate our kids to be responsible for
themselves since we can't always be with them."
I want to thank all of the respondents so much. I have used many of the
suggestions and can say that, after one week of school, things are going a
lot smoother than I thought they would. I hope others will benefit from this
summary as much as I have.
* Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CEL-KIDS List *
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