Feeling a bit over whelmed

[~*~Louisa~*~]

We start weaning next month and started looking into foods for alyssa, first months okay as baby rice and pear are free of everything we have to avoid

but it was more thinking of the end of the year come october she will be one (right at the end) and we are going on holiday but at 12 months she will notice more and she cant have the normal stuff the other two will get

Ive been told I can get stuff on perscription, but where as our food i will be buying there we would have to take hers as commercial gluten free bread contains eggs or soya

it was one thing doing almost this diet myself as i missed out on things but i understood but she wont

I just feel so sad for her, i know loads of you have done this diet with there kids for ages but i just need to get my head round

[EloysH]

It does suck having all these special foods for the LO's.  You will get  be really organised with it. One step at a time, luckily it all starts out slowly, you'll have plent yof time to come up with recipes and tweak things.

  For holidays, we went when K was 8 months.  I took a huge esky of prepared food frozen from my freezer - GF breads,  all his allowed veges finely chopped raw ready for cooking,  pre made meat and lentil patties, a stock of his fruits, all his dry foods.      Then on holidays I didn't have to worry about buying much for him and I could thaw and cook each day or thaw and reheat everything he needed.  It worked out really well actually.

Now we are thinking of going overseas when he is 15 months, but we have decided to stay somewhere that has a kitchen, and I will take as many dry goods as I can in my luggage to save hassle.  It will be only for two weeks, surely we can get by.

[~*~Louisa~*~]

I'm feeling even worse now, i bought some GF bread flour to get used to cooking with it since ive been told they are awkward to cook with and she couldnt even have it

I tried telling myself its only for 6 months but then we have SOOOOOOOOO many food trials to do at 12mths (though wont be doing sals till later on, since dd#2 is still bad with them) that it could really take alot longer, and dd#2 didnt grow out of her milk intollerence till a few months ago and she is 2 1/2

I joke with dh its a good job we aignt haing any more as god knows what else that one wont be able have lol

[deb]

We got very good at making foods from scratch so we know just what's in them. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the stuff we weren't supposed to have on our plan, but I also figured that if mankind survived for eons on meat and veg and fruit before settling down on farms and adding in grains and eggs and dairy, it can be done. It's harder now given what's commercially available, which is why we did the scratch cooking: the fewer ingredients in each part of a meal, the less I had to read labels. There was a VERY VERY steep learning curve at first, but it did get better. Now I add some cooking shows in the mix and get ideas - I could make X if I substitute sunflower seeds for nuts, for example - and the menu has expanded a lot.

FWIW, I have a friend whose DD (now 9YO) was born with major food allergies: dairy, eggs, sesame seeds, shellfish, and all nuts (ground and tree). She's outgrown most of the rest - can have dairy and eggs in limited quantities cooked for X amount of time - but the others she will probably have for life, and epi-pens are a fact of life in this family. She knows what she can and can't have and why, and has adjusted beautifully, and her younger brother (5YO) also knows what is and isn't allowed in the house or even in contact with him as he might bring it home - and that's just the way life is. We do a week-long joint vacation with them in a rented house with a full kitchen and we've scoped out the grocery store there and already know what they'll be able to buy there and what they'll have to bring along. It's tricky for that mom for sure, but it can be done, and I reassure myself that she's got it way rougher than I do and that helps me. (usually - there are still times I would love to be able to serve a "normal" meal for my family )

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

but at 12 months she will notice more and she cant have the normal stuff the other two will get

Spencer is just noticing now that what we eat is a bit different than hers, but not enough that she makes a fuss over it (she is egg, dairy, & gluten free).  It's tricky coming up with things, esp. when travelling, but it does get easier.