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Hello There.

We are in southern California and have a 19 month old daughter with Celiac.
I agree that it is a bit different with children.  However, the one good
thing about a diagnosis so young is that introducing GF foods (I believe) is
somewhat easier.  I also have purchased "Incredible Edible Gluten-Free Foods
for Kids: 150 Family Tested Recipes" by Sheri Sanderson (I think I purchased
this one at www.woodbinehouse.com and I also have "Kids With Celiac Disease:
A Family Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy, Gluten-Free Children" by Danna
Korn (also from www.woodbinehouse.com or you can order it through
www.glutenfreemall.com and I think www.celiac.com also may have it
somewhere).  Sometimes these books can also be found at stores such as
Trader Joe's or Whole Foods if those are in your area.  Danna Korn, the
author of the second book, founded R.O.C.K. (Raising Our Celiac Kids) and
there are many R.O.C.K. chapters throughout the US.  You can reach her at
[log in to unmask] and she may be able to put you in touch with a leader
(or others) in your area who have Celiac Kids.  I have seen her speak at a
gluten-free fair and she has been very helpful.  I highly recommend her book
mentioned about.  She also has a new one out called "Wheat Free, Worry
Free."  All of the books I mentioned are around $15-$17 each.  I have also
been in touch with some other folks I have met since our daughter was
diagnosed and I am starting to collect many GF recipes, especially those
that are kid-friendly.  I would be happy to email them along to any of you
who may be interested.  (Contact me at [log in to unmask] and I will forward
them to you).

I found a great article somewhere on the web (called "Pre-School and Celiac
Disease" by Tracy Keegan, President of the Celiac Support Group, Boston
Children's Hospital) that addresses pre-school/kindergarten issues for
celiac kids and teachers.  If you email me and request that article, I can
send that as well.  The article is several years old, but it brings up some
GREAT points about Celiac Kids in the pre-school & kindergarten years.  You
may want to double-check and verify any food-specific items contained in
this article.

There are also some publications out through the Celiac Sprue Association
for free (up to 4 copies are free) that you can request, including:
"When Your Student Has Celiac Disease" (What the teacher and school
personnel should know about celiac disease)
"Parents of Children with Celiac Sprue" (An information sheet on Celiac
Sprue in children)
"Celiac Sprue brochure" (An informatin sheet on Celiac Sprue)
"CSA Restaurant Card" (Dietary Needs for Celiacs)
"CSA Business Card" (Restricted Diet Information)
"Dermatitis Herpetiformis" (An information sheet on DH); if you need this
one.
These can be ordered by contacting CSA/USA, INc. PO Box 31700, Omaha, NE,
68131-0700, phone: 402-558-0600; fax: 401-558-1347 or email:
[log in to unmask]
They apparantly also publish a guide annually of commerical products that
are GF (at the time of the publication, anyway).  I believe that one is
$12.00.

I have contacted MANY of the fast food and family friendly chain restaurants
to request their GF menu items (if available) and a complete listing of
their ingredients.  Overall, most have been helpful.  I am putting them all
together in a folder to keep at home and will be taking them to Kinko's to
make two sets to keep in each car.  I would be happy to copy them for
someone if you cover the cost of photocopying (probably about $7-$8).
Several of the restaurants have been quite up front and honest if they are
not "celiac friendly" and will usually tell you if they do not use dedicated
fryers for things like french fries (i.e., if they fry their chicken nuggets
in the same oil, cross-contamination is a big consideration).  The Outback
Steakhouse does have their menu online and CLEARLY labels the GF menue items
with a big "GF."  Apparantly, they have been working with the GiG, Gluten
Intolerance Group, to make this happen.  It is nice to see a chain such as
that, willing to work with the Celiac population.  I think their website is
www.outbacksteakhouse.com.  That is good b/c most major malls have an
Outback somewhere close and they are generally pretty family-friendly.

One last thing that I have found to be very helpful is how I label foods in
the house.  Once we return from grocery shopping, I put labels (ones that
are return address size that I have made on the computer) that say "Cayla's
Special Gluten-Free Food" on them and they have a cartoon picture of her
favorite animal.  The "Cayla-friendly foods" (GF items) are on a lower shelf
in the pantry where she can see them and clearly see her labels.  Believe it
or not, she knows which foods are hers just from the labels.  Our 4 year old
also knows as well.  I have done this for everything, even the ketchup,
mayo, etc and it has worked out so well.  It prevents all of us (and
visitors) from having to read and re-read labels each time, and prevents me
from having to answer tons of questions about whether or not she can eat
this or eat that.  It is important that the kids begin to learn about their
diet needs, and about gluten.

I saw a 20/20 or Dateline special not too long ago about kids with certain
dietary needs and there was a mom on there with a 2 or 3 year old who had a
different condition, I believe a food allergy to peanuts.  This mother
printed stickers on the computer that read "Severe Food Allergy, Please Do
Not Feed Me" and would put one on the front and back of the child's shirt
and the mother would wear one too.  This apparantly helped her at the park,
playdates, etc. so that no one would give the child "the forbidden foods."
Sharing of snacks is nice, but it can be a nightmare for a celiac child and
their parent(s).  The mom wore the sticker so the other moms would be able
to link her to her child, and hopefully they would spot her and ask if the
child could have a certain food or not.  I'm not sure of my personal beliefs
on "labeling" the child, but to each his own.  It could be helpful depending
on your own circumstances.

Do you know what types of foods your friend's daughter normally enjoys?

Hope this helps & again, contact me if I can help.  I would like to help
others too.  Believe it or not, our daughter has only been officially
diagnosed for 6 weeks, but I did my own research 3 months ago on all this
and got a jump start b/c I highly suspected that Celiac was the culprit in
her case.

Melonie Katz

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