It’s been almost 2 years since I first suspected that my son has food allergies. After a very bad case of rotavirus, he seemed to get better. I slowly reintroduced foods back into his diet, but observed that he wasn’t able to tolerate certain foods. Initially, I thought he was suffering from the effects of the virus. But a trend began to emerge, so I started a food diary. His rashes and intestinal upset seemed to correlate with dairy products, specifically the whole milk he was drinking. After much debate within myself, I cut out all dairy from his diet. For a toddler, cutting out his favorite foods like milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream was nothing short of traumatic…for both of us. How was he going to get the calcium, Vitamin D, and fat he needed from other milk alternatives? What was I going to feed him? Was this permanent? What about school lunches and birthday parties? The list of questions flooded my mind including, how I was going to get him to cooperate with such a diet. I attempted to explain the fact that these foods were hurting his tummy, but he didn’t understand.
One would think that after cutting out an entire list of foods, things would get better. Unfortunately, his symptoms persisted. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what other food (s) he was reacting to. But trying to figure this out was nearly impossible without testing. While we try to eat healthy, wholesome foods without preservatives and other chemicals, it’s the ultimate guessing game when a child is reacting to a food (or foods) without starting from the beginning. So, we resorted to allergy testing. The result was quite shocking. Not only is my son allergic to dairy, he’s allergic to eggs. He also has an entire list of sensitivities which include oats, gluten, soy, and coconut. The question begged…do we cut out all of the foods he’s sensitive to? We decided after consulting with our Pediatrician to cut out the two foods he was allergic to, and decide on the others based on his symptoms. At present, my son consumes a diet that is dairy, egg, soy, and oat free, as these are the foods that seem to give him the most difficultly. I’m certain you’re wondering, how do we do it? The good news is, while it’s been difficult, there are many things we’ve learned along the way. I can’t wait to share more with you about how we as a family live with a child who has food allergies.
Tomorrow, I’m co-hosting an upcoming class called Navigating Food Allergies, in the Web’s first-ever virtual cooking school, Cooking Connections, and I would love for you to join me! Here are the details:
When: Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. ET
Where: TheMotherhood – here is the link to the page where the class will be held: http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/62140
And here is the registration page for all seven Cooking Connections classes: http://www.themotherhood.com/cookingconnections
What: “Navigating Food Allergies” is hosted by Lori Sandler, founder of Divvies Bakery and author of The Divvies Bakery Cookbook. During the class, a group of bloggers will share our experiences and expertise on cooking for kids, family members and friends with food allergies. Lori will also lead us through the basics of clean preparation and understanding ingredients, and then we’ll present a food allergy-friendly recipe that looks good and tastes great – whether you have allergies or not!
My other fabulous co-hosts are:
Kelly Rudnicki, Food Allergy Mama
Emily Paster, West of the Loop
Christy Matte, Quirky Fusion
Nirasha Jaganath, Mommy Niri
Mary Jo Strobel, FoodAllergy.org
Piera Jolly, Jolly Mom
Nicole Shields Smith, Allergic Child
Stefany Thode, To Be Thode
Clarissa Nassar, The Posh Parent
Christina McMenemy, Mommy’s Must Haves
Do you or someone you know suffer from food allergies? I’d love to hear your stories or tips…
This is part of a compensated campaign. The class is sponsored by ConAgra and hosted by TheMotherhood.
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Wow Caryn, I had no idea your son suffered allergies like that. I can’t imagine how parents deal with that but I’m sure it’s a learning process. I hope he outgrows those allergies. Miss ya!
Hi Lisa..yes…diagnosed when he was about 2….it’s been a journey…..great to hear from you! Miss you too!
Wow. Glad you were able to figure out what it was. Look forward to tomorrow!
Caryn, I’m sorry to hear what you’re going through. And, I’m also sad to have missed the cooking class and lecture today – great idea!
I’ve just started a blog to help simplify life for families living with food allergies (shmallergy.wordpress.com). All of us FA parents can really benefit from one another’s tips of the trade! Thanks for sharing your story!
First of all, I love your site…it is looking fabulous! I remember you mentioning at the Disney Live show that you were going to getting a new look. I am loving the color combination.
I emailed you earlier tonight, but just got my answer…it was today! I missed it. Wow, Caryn, you have a lot to eliminate. We have our daughters on a dairy free diet. We discovered this after several months of ear infections. They simply cannot break down the proteins, leading to congestion and then the ear infections. A few months ago, my 4 year old had dairy over the weekend while she was at my mother in laws house and we noticed she started to develop eczema. We were just at our doctors last week and she suggested trying to limit their eggs as well because Aiyana still has a slight, constant congestion. It is nothing compare to when she was consuming dairy, but noticeable to us and I am sure uncomfortable for her.
There is a fabulous store called StellaLucy in Claremont and they just opened one in San Clemente that has a huge selection of Dairy Free and Gluten Free foods. For the most part, we make most of our foods from scratch, but sometimes it is nice to have a box of Mac and Cheese on hand. And now, we buy things to send to grandma’s house to prevent the dairy overload.