On Mon, 23 Nov 1998 13:37:58 -0800 TIMOTHY GORIUP
<[log in to unmask]> writes:

>So how do I deal with not taking it away from the older child and =
>preventing the youngest from getting into it?  So far the eldest has =
>been understanding.  We have ice cream pig outs after her sister is
>put to bed.

I have one friend with 2 kids with different sets of food allergies.
Family meals usually consist of an intersection of what everyone can eat.
 She makes a lot of soups and stews with pasta or couscous.  One is
allergic to dairy and corn,  the other to soy, so they make things with
Rice Dream and avoid packaged foods.  One gets milk to drink, the other
soy.  Snacks and packed lunches are customized since they are usually
eaten separately.

Our house is somewhat similar.  My husband loves milk, cheese and all
dairy products.  I've recently developed a severe dairy intolerance.  Our
20 month old is dairy allergic, plus a few other things.  I find
substituting soy milks for real milk in thing a bit funky tasting, so I
just avoid it as much a possible (it is possible to make decent mashed
potatoes without it).  My husband wouldn't eat it anyway if he knew there
was soy in it.  I pretty much cook according to the foods my daughter can
eat, but I do make some things (not the main dish) that she might not be
able to have.  We eat a lot of roasts with veggies and potatoes, pasta
and sauce, stir fry over rice, curries made with coconut milk, soups,
stews.  The key is to start with whole, fresh ingredients and do things
from scratch.  We use far less packaged foods than we used to.  We don't
eat out a lot because corn is so prevelent.  Dad gets his pizza and
cheese enchiladas at lunch.  We snack after she's in bed :-)

One thing I have found is that I can eat something in front of my
daughter that she can't have.  I simply tell her that it contains X
(corn, chocolate, eggs, etc) and it would make her sick.  Then I offer
her something that she can have and likes such as her special cookies.  I
always have things in the diaper bag that she can have in case of a
situation out somewhere.  Since we've been doing this from the start, she
understands she just can't have certain things but accepts a reasonable
replacement.  Hopefully this attitude will continue as she gets older and
realizes what's really going on :-)

Kathy P.

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