# EASY toddler elimination diet?



## wombatclay (Sep 4, 2005)

Heyla wise mamas! I need help!

My 2.5yo dd1 has food sensitivities. I'm just not sure what they are.







She has the allergy eyes, the constant runny nose, the eczema that plagued us her first year is back, etc.

When she was tiny she and I did the Sears elimination diet and found that her skin and eyes cleared up when we removed wheat, dairy, and egg from our diet. However, when I got pregnant DH started doing all the cooking and we ate out more. Foods made their way back into our diet and when dd1 didn't have horrible reactions they just sort of stayed in rotation. However, it's clear that dd1 still has those sensitivities and it's possible that dd2 does as well. I know we need to do the full elimination diet to detox but we are living pay check to pay check and there is no way we can afford some of the wheat alternatives we used last time.

So is there an easy, toddler friendly, elimination/detox diet out there? My dd1 more or less demands yogurt for breakfast and noodles for lunch (she's thrilled to eat veggies and just about anything I offer, but there has to be yogurt and noodles with it) and I'm dreading cutting out wheat, dairy, eggs since that more or less removes all of our staple foods... we bake our own bread but can't afford non-gluten flours and we make our own yogurt so it goes into everything. We do eat a lot of rice and beans already...but remove eggs and dairy and we're looking at beans as our only affordable source of protien.

I've actually been putting off the elimination diet even though I know it's going to help our family's health just because I'm dreading the reaction and really don't know where to start. Any ideas? Websites? Existing threads here on mdc? Books with "safe" recipes that require no fancy/expensive ingredients but would still tempt a toddler?

Thanks all... I'm lost!


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## Meg_s (Apr 13, 2006)

My son has to eat dairy free, gluten free, and salicylate free (which is like everything in the world that isn't gluten or dairy) and it's been constant work figuring it out because I was resisting admitting certain things LIKE DAIRY were the problem..... I tell you, it's a lot more painful to do it over a long time than to just get it over with. You're definitely not in denial or anything, and don't worry you get used to having to work differently int he kitchen.

Eggs are not likely to be a culprit once she is old enough... even my ds had violent prolonged vomiting reactions to yolk before he was a year, but he's been eating eggs daily for a long time now and is totally fine with them (they're affordable).

It sounds like dairy and gluten are the most likely culprits. If she has behaviour issues (like tantrums that seem to be worse than any other kid you've heard of) then salicylates might be a problem and you're looking at a whole other complicated can of worms. I'm just throwing in some stuff here while the tiniest one is sleeping but if you want to talk recipes and stuff (frugal, since we're not swimming in it either) I'd be happy to email back and forth, or msn chat or whatever! Just pm me.

These aren't a staple.. but you can really make delicious baked goods (ie: banana muffins) that are even tastier than REAL muffins without spending much, or working much.. I spend so much time in the kitchen every quick idea is awesome fro me.


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

We've only had to eliminate milk so I haven't tried these multiple-allergy cookbooks, but here are some suggestions anyway:

The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook by Leslie Hammond & Marie Rominger
Easy Milk, Wheat, and Egg Free Cooking, New Edition by Rita Greer (2001)

Can your kids have soy? Because you can make your own yogurt with soy milk (Just don't use regular cow milk yogurt as a starter).


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## kjbrown92 (Dec 13, 2007)

I used the elimination diet outlined in "Is This Your Child?" by Doris Rapp (can get used off Amazon; could be in your library). I used it on a 14 month old, and only put her on it (not the whole family). Do you have an asian grocery nearby? They have tons of shapes/kinds of rice noodles for really cheap (at least the one in our nearby major city does). You can get alot of alternative flours there as well for about 1/5 of the cost of a Whole Foods type store. If you give up the top 8 allergens, then you hit most people's problem foods, though from what I've been reading nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) cause a lot of allergies (my youngest can't have nightshade, and until recently my 7 year old couldn't have white potatoes). But rice is super cheap (get brown rice though so there's some nutrition in it), make your own chicken stock (Walmart around here always has whole chickens for 69 cents/pound). If it's not in your house, will your child have a tantrum about it? Or can you just not buy the stuff, and say "We don't have it, so I can't give it to you?" Most elimination diets only run for a couple of weeks and then you can add back in some of the things as your figuring it out, so they're not going without it for THAT long. I have some recipes on my website www.kathysrecipebox.com and you can sort by allergy. I don't have a lot of wheat free things on there yet though, but some main dishes. Good luck.
Kathy


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## wombatclay (Sep 4, 2005)

Thanks!

We don't do a lot of meat, but I could get some chicken... I remember when I did the Sears elimination diet it was basically chicken, rice, and a few different veggies for 4 weeks but that was just me (not dh) and was a few years ago (while nursing newborn dd1).

DD1 has a lot of "rituals" and unfortunately she has worked some foods into her rituals that will have to go. For example, breakfast HAS to have a bowl of yogurt. Even if she doesn't eat it she insists on it being there or she completely melts down. And on my own with dd1 and dd2 I don't have a lot of ability to handle the meltdowns, you know? The rice noodles are a good idea...we do have a small asian market outside town that might have something dd1 would consider "noodle" enough.







I know that we'll need to cut waaaaaaay back or totally eliminate wheat and dairy even after the initial detox and I'm dreading trying to find replacement "favorite foods".

We're moving to a new house and while I sort of think the move (and associated changes) will be a good time to change our diets I also worry that dd1 will see it as just way too much change all at once, and be unhappy with the new house mostly because she's unhappy about the new food-ways. But I'm probably over thinking this!









Thanks again for the ideas...I'll check them out.


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