How Do You Deal with Gluten Free Kid?

[Brookenbrandt]

I may be taking on a 2 year old boy who needs to eat gluten free foods. I am wondering how I should go about it. Should I have the parents bring his gluten free items in or should I provide them? I am on a food program as well and won't be getting reimbursed any more for providing gluten free alternatives. How do I account for the difference when filing food program claims?

How do you deal with this situation in your daycare program? I am open to suggestions.

[Thriftylady]

I have parents provide all "special" foods. I would have them provide every component of every meal. Anything else is just to complicated IMHO.

[TwinKristi]

I have a GF DCB and basically I've switched all of our regular foods that shouldn't have gluten anyway to GF brands (like spaghetti sauce, tortilla chips, etc) and foods that have gluten I replace with a GF alternative. Like for quesadillas I do corn tortillas. Everything else is the same, cheese, fruit & veggie are all GF anyway. Pasta I will buy 1 pack of GF since it's so pricey and make a smaller batch for DCB. Same with bread. You can buy a loaf in the freezer section snd take two pieces out at a time. Waffles, I make everyone else regular and one GF for DCB. I buy Chex for him, Cheerios for everyone else. I buy a box of GF graham crackers or bunny grahams, and the regular variety for everyone else. He's only here PT now so it's gotten better but when he was here FT it was hard sometimes. Some kids are picky and don't like brown rice and black beans, etc.

[nannyde]

Get the test results to prove their is a gluten issue first from a pediatrician. The actual tests.

[melilley]

I have a dcb who is gluten intolerant and my fp will reimburse me for substitute foods since I have a doctor's not, and the note just says intolerant, not an allergy. He is also dairy intolerant too. Maybe it's different where I live?. I would ask your sponsor, you should still get reimbursed as long as you have a Dr. note.

I do what TwinKristi does. If it's something that I don't have a close alternative for, I will make him a bean burrito or something. It gets easier as time goes by!

If you don't get reimbursed, I would maybe have the parents provide the food if you don't want to spend your money on gf products.

[melilley]

I have a dcb who is gluten intolerant and my fp will reimburse me for substitute foods since I have a doctor's note, and the note just says intolerant, not an allergy. He is also dairy intolerant too. Maybe it's different where I live?. I would ask your sponsor, you should still get reimbursed as long as you have a Dr. note.

I do what TwinKristi does. If it's something that I don't have a close alternative for, I will make him a bean burrito or something. It gets easier as time goes by!

If you don't get reimbursed, I would maybe have the parents provide the food if you don't want to spend your money on gf products.

I think I read your statement wrong. You said you won't be getting reimbursed any more, as in extra for spending extra. I read it as they won't allow you to get reimbursed at all for giving an alternate...oops

[Thriftylady]

I think I read your statement wrong. You said you won't be getting reimbursed any more, as in extra for spending extra. I read it as they won't allow you to get reimbursed at all for giving an alternate...oops

Oh that is how I read it also. I still say for me I would just have parents provide. That way I don't mess it up!

[midaycare]

I haven't had this issue yet, but I would charge parents extra and I would provide the food. No need to have parents bringing gf snack cakes every day when no one else is having them. I might charge $15 extra a week, as the extra foods I would need to buy would only be pasta, bread, and an occasional thing here and there.

[melilley]

I haven't had this issue yet, but I would charge parents extra and I would provide the food. No need to have parents bringing gf snack cakes every day when no one else is having them. I might charge $15 extra a week, as the extra foods I would need to buy would only be pasta, bread, and an occasional thing here and there.

Just don't say you're charging extra for food, I think if you are on the fp, you can't do that. Make it a rise in tuition or something.

[Michael]

Get the test results to prove their is a gluten issue first from a pediatrician. The actual tests.

If true, isn't this child considered Special Needs? Doesn't the state help provide assistance?

[melilley]

If dcb truly can't have gluten at all, then that's a different story. There is gluten is a ton of things that you wouldn't think it would be in, especially pre-packaged foods. For instance, certain taco seasonings, juices, etc... have gluten in them. Also, you have to be careful to not cross contaminate food surfaces. If my dcb had celiac disease, I would probably have thought twice about accepting him just because it would be hard to do those things with 5 other children in my care.

I agree with nan, if they say he can't have it at all, I would request the results.

[Laurel]

My daughter is gluten intolerant so you have to watch a lot more than bread or pasta. Soy sauce has gluten in it, nothing can be breaded, etc. Check any seasonings. I've called the 800 number to McCormick spices more than once, , just to be sure.

Personally I would ask them to bring all the child's food. I wouldn't want the hassle.

My daughter discovered her intolerance as an adult. Looking back there were many unexplained stomach problems, migraines, etc. that went away after excluding gluten. She wasn't diagnosed by a doctor but just cut them out to see if that would help her symptoms. I wouldn't require a doctor's note because I would have parent provide food anyway.

Laurel

[Sunchimes]

One of my dck just started the gluten/casein free diet. It is almost a certainty that when he heads to PPCD this winter, he will be diagnosed on the spectrum. After much talk and thought, we have decided to try this diet and see if he's one of the lucky ones it helps. I am competely onboard with this-and in fact, I think I may have been the first one to suggest it months ago.

Mom and I split it. We live in a small rural town, and GF/CF foods are almost non-existent here. We have breakfast covered, and some lunches, but snacks are hard. I rarely leave town to go to the bigger cities, but mom goes every weekend. She has started searching stores there for good things. If she finds them, she buys one for me and one for her. Sometimes I pay her back, sometimes I don't.

The problem with this is that for the most part, I have fed my dcks the same thing we eat for dinner. The therapists are always talking about what great meals we have here. All that has come to a screeching halt now. I'm basically cooking 2 different meals for 2 kids. It's a pain.

The other "problem" is cross contamination. I have to be sure that I make the gf/cf food first so that I don't accidently use a knife or cutting board that I used on regular food. I am having to think more than usual in the kitchen.

After 2 weeks, I must say that I believe I've seen some changes in him. I don't think I'm imagining them, I'm being pretty critical of the whole thing, just to keep from getting my hopes up and being disappointed.

It's a pain, but it's do-able. Oh, and I'm not on the food program, so no help there.

[cheerfuldom]

I dont do special diets for kids. Parents provide anything out of the ordinary. If I was on the food program, I would still have parents provide anything that I couldn't get reimbursed for.

I do this because a lot of parents insist that Jr needs this or is allergic to that but once the responsibility is on them to provide for that, so many admit "well he actually is okay with it, we would just prefer XYZ" and then the truth comes out.

[Laurel]

I dont do special diets for kids. Parents provide anything out of the ordinary. If I was on the food program, I would still have parents provide anything that I couldn't get reimbursed for.

I do this because a lot of parents insist that Jr needs this or is allergic to that but once the responsibility is on them to provide for that, so many admit "well he actually is okay with it, we would just prefer XYZ" and then the truth comes out.