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Hello all,

  I am wondering how other families deal with the isolation of young celiac
  children. My daughter is 3 1/2 and very social, but because of her habit of
  frequently touching her face or putting her fingers in her mouth, we have to
  be very careful about taking her places where there might be crumbs.

  Unfortunately, this seems to be almost everywhere.  Preschool is not
  possible, since every program near us had gluten in the room and
  preschoolers are not very tidy eaters.  Even our church now serves cookies!
  Our daughter is very good about not eating unapproved food, and we
  complusively wipe/wash hands, but she still gets quite ill for 3-7 days
  after being in a contaminated area.  She has only been gluten free for 7
  months and right now the health costs are too great to take her out much.

  Have any of you dealt with this type of situation?  Do the risks for an
  extremely sensitive celiac diminish with age?  I have thought about trying
  to start a Celiac/Gluten-free playgroup but haven't been able to find any
  other kids in our area.

  I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you might have.

  Rosie
  [log in to unmask]
  Salt Lake City