I am new to blogging. The series of pieces I wrote on here are my first and only experience dipping my toe in the blogging pool. I know we share our experiences and offer support, but I am looking for some advice out there.
As a Mom of kids with sensory and other issues, I am always looking for ways to understand my children’s behavior and help them to be happier and healthier. Like most of you, I have read books and blogs until my brain can take no more. There is one thing that pops up a lot that I still do not understand very well. Diet. Not sensory diet, but actual diet. Gluten-free, dairy-free, dye-free, etc. I have read so many testimonies from parents who swear it made a huge difference in their child. I heard some say this is only necessary if your child is severe in terms of their behavior. I would not classify my kids as severe, but if this is something that could help them, what does a label matter?
How do you know if this is something you should try with your kids? I’ll be honest here; it feels daunting, overwhelming even. I just got to a place where I am not overwhelmed 24-7, and I am afraid to be in that place again. Is there a place to start, a simple way to ease in, or must it be an all or nothing type thing? My daughter is so terribly selective with her eating that I fear she may eat nothing if I limit her choices! Can you just try eliminating dyes but not gluten (or vice versa), or is that counterproductive? I am not sure if there are any hard and fast rules, or if this is an individualized, trial and error type thing. If we do go for it, what do you look for to know if it has helped? Is there a transition period where thins get worse before they get better? Am I just getting caught up in a craze because I am desperate to help my kids, or is there proven merit to this? As you can see, I am bogged down with questions.
It makes sense to me that keeping certain things, especially dyes since for all I know they are a toxin, out of my kids bodies. I am not sure why I never thought of this before…probably because I had never heard about it until SPD became my reading material. Heck, I am terrified to even give my son more vaccinations since his diagnosis because I fear he is at risk for an adverse affect that will make his symptoms worse, yet here I am letting him have Fruit Loops because they have fiber added and he will actually eat them (he too has lately gotten very selective with his eating). I feel guilty for not doing something that could help because it overwhelms me and seems like it will be so much more work. I can tackle more work if it is for my children.
I feel compelled to explore this, but just do not know where to begin…so I began here. So, in the post, I suppose I am looking for stories from those of you have tried this, advice on how to go about it or food that is safe, or opinions from those who have read about it, too. I am just a mom trying to find my way through all this, hoping I make good choices along the way, praying that I learn from the wise choices of and knowledge of others. Thanks for any information.
Comments
Susan S.
When it comes to being overwhelmed from all the information available today, I totally hear you. I am curious to know if my son would do better if he were gluten free, but his diet is so limited, that if I take out gluten, feeding him will overwhelm me (and him). So, I decided that, in his case, maybe lessening his gluten might make a difference, so I try to fix fewer dinners with pasta and more with rice (he won’t eat potatoes).
As for the dyes and colors, my local grocery store has a section of “natural” foods. So, I have started to buy items there, like my son’s “junk food.” I’ll get him the all natural Cheetos with no bright orange color (and they actually taste better). And I refuse to buy cereals with a rainbow of artificial colors. He got these cereals with his breakfast at preschool, and would beg me to buy them. I would get the natural equivalent with no fake colors.
Naturopaths will do a food sensitivity test, to let you know right up front if certain foods are an issue. (I found out that my body is sensitive to dairy this way; after a lifetime of eating dairy. I feel much better since I no longer eat it).
As for the vaccinations, consider that one very carefully. Maybe wait until he’s a little bit older, and his sytem matures even further, and then pick and choose vaccinations carefully.
Where I live, there are enough kids not being vaccinated, that this past year, we had a huge outbreak of whooping cough (which is contagious for 21 days)- which can be deadly to infants.
Best of luck with it all.
CicleTimeMommy
Hi, Jenny,
I appreciate your post so much because you are willing to ask the questions and hear answers that may inconvenience you. That’s half the battle right there.
With all my heart, I would encourage you to remove every bit of food coloring from your child’s diet ASAP. That is a good way to start any diet change. Those dyes do NOTHING good in the brain and lots of bad, and as diet changes go, that one is not so intimidating.
We are gfcf and soy-free. We are almost grain-free and eat almost all-organic, definitely non-GMO food. It has made a HUGE difference in our house. It made my son’s eczema disappear, it caused him to start growing agian, it made speech apraxia disappear almost overnight. It made tummy pain go away and improved engagement/attention dramatically. It did not take SPD away, but it made it possible for my child to focus and feel well enough to learn to cope with SPD SO much better. And it has simplified cooking, frankly, after a pretty intense learning curve, of course. Whole foods, fresh ingredients that are naturally gluten-, dairy-, preservative-, and dye-free are not hard to find or cook. It’s when we look for packaged foods that we have a hard time.
The easiest way to go gluten or casein-free is to pick one food to REPLACE at a time. Start with your child’s favorite wheat waffle, for example, and find a gf alternative he will accept. Then move on to the next food, then the next. While it may take time to find or make a gf/cf alternative he likes, don’t give up; there are SO many great cookbooks, blogs and other resources for really yummy food. Keep in mind that replacing a processed gluten-laden food for a processed gluten-free food is not necessarily going to mean healthier choices. Read labels carefully and avoid stuff with lots of sugar to make up for the lack of gluten!
Yes, it might get worse before it gets better. My son had withdrawal syptmoms for a couple of weeks once we were totally gluten free, but the results were more than worth that short period of dysregulation, moodiness and resistance. What we eat literally becomes part of our tissues and cells. Eating clean, real food that my son’s body can tolerate has improved his health and well-being in very important ways. I would encourage anyone to give it a good, thorough try. A good length of time to trial is 6-8 weeks AFTER all gluten or dairy has been removed. If you see no changes after that time, try adding a few bites back in and see what happens. In my son’s case, he screams for hours, goes chalk white, and loses speech. So, yeah, we are committed.
Some kids just have tantrums or complain of tummy aches or headaches. Sometimes it seems to make no difference, accordng to parents.
Two books that may be helpful are Kelly Dorfman’s “What’s Eating Your Child?” and Judy Converse’s “Special Needs Kids Eat Right.” Both are great. Kelly’s book is VERY easy to read and easy to access just what you need quickly. Judy’s book goes into more detail about how to implement a speical diet and what to look for as you go. I hope that helps! I wish more parents realized just how much food affects kids’ well-being and were willing to learn more about it.
Alysia
This is a great post filled with lots of very good questions and I know you will get a lot of responses. Just remember that every child is different and what works for one family may or may not work for another. I worry that you’ll be overwhelmed with info here and get discouraged if one thing doesn’t make a difference. If you are making diet changes, I encourage you to share that with your child’s doctor to make sure that whatever you remove is replaced appropriately.
You are a very good mom. You’ll figure out what works best for your whole family.
Jenny from the Block
Thanks so much to all! I had forgotten about this post, it was a while back. Since that time, we decided to do the GFCFSF diet and I am trying for no yeast too, or at least less. It has only been a few days, but it is getting easier. It was so overwhelming at first! I did buy gluten free stuff, like pancakes and noodles, that he liked before and some snacks like cookies, but I am also focusing on stuff that is naturally gluten free, you know meats, potatoes, veggies, and fruit. He loved this guacamole I made yesterday served with blue corn chips. Who knew! I am going to bake some sweet potato and regular potato fries today and see if he likes those b/c he loved fries before. I feel bad b/c I can tell he is craving gluten as he practically attacked his sister for her goldfish, lol. I have since told dad and sister that they need to eat stuff that was his fav before when he is not around.
Milk is the hardest thing. He drank Lactaid. He only drank it before bed and then often when he woke up at night. Now, he is refusing milk (tried almond, rice, and a combo of them both). He will go to sleep ok without it, btu he wakes up and wants ti bad and has been up a lot. I offer him the new milk and he is so wanting it he is practically shaking to get it, then has one sip and throws it. I feel so bad. But if this will help him I know we have to try and stay strong. But I just feel so bad. Did I mention I feel bad?
I am not eating much gluten or dairy either, we all cut back, but esp me since I feel like it is not fair to my poor baby.
It is work, but it is is not as bad as it seemed before I started it. I think I had built it up worse in my head. Now I am have to figure out abotu supplements. I hate giving him anything, even if it is “natural” and it seem slike so many supplements to be on…I am just going to do a vitamin/calcium for now and think about all the rest.
We did not go 100%, I wanetd to ease into it, but then I found myself getting into and we ended up practically going cold turkey. He has had very litte that was not GFCF in the last 3 days. Is it a total coincidence that he said 4 new words? It is too soon for the affect to be there already, isn’t it?
EHCMom
We began the Feingold Diet three weeks ago. It eliminates dyes and preservatives, as well as foods that have naturally high levels of salicylates, in the first step, recommends strict adherence for 6-8 weeks, then tweeking it if behavior hasn’t improved by removing one additional thing at a time (gluten, diary, soy, etc.) I think it cost us $60 to become members, and you get an approved food list with hundreds of items, that have been thoroughly investigated for the offending ingredients. The first week I thought I’d pull my hair out, the second week was much easier, and now on the third week, I’m more at ease with what I can and can’t purchase. It was worth the two weeks of struggle because we’ve already seen a dramatic decrease in meltdowns, and we discovered as a result of keeping a food diary, that our DD is extremely sensitive to citric acid, which was causing bladder spasms and irritability. Hope this helps.
Molly
After a horrible vacation two summers ago, I took all food dyes out of my then 8 year old’s diet, and within 4 days, she was noticeably calmer (best example: she had to try on clothes, a situation that had sent her into 45 minutes of crying just a few weeks previous, but she turned to me and said, “I don’t want to cry about this”). She noticed a difference too, and she NEVER cheats as a result. When school started a few weeks later, every single teacher who had her the previous year commented on how much better her behavior was. Now, if I took food coloring away from my older child, I don’t think you would see a difference in her behavior, so I do think it depends on the child. Many SPD kids seem to be more sensitive to the chemicals in modern foods. I toy with the idea of trying gluten-free, but I just can’t go there yet because of her pickiness (and if I am totally honest, my laziness). I think trying one thing at a time is a great way to start and see what works for you. Good luck!
jenny from the block
Our doc gave us a referral for a nutritionist, so I am holding off going cold turkey. I gave him his milk back. We kept the gluten off though since that was not hurting him. We found great cookies and noodles and such of his faves that are gluten free, so it has owrked out. I really like the sound of the Feingold diet…I wonder if we eat organic if it will naturally be dye and chemical free and such? I will have to research this more I guess!