THE TEST RESULTS ARE IN - Am I doing the righ thing?

[deb]

BTW:  Zach is MUCH better.  He did poop this morning before he woke, but it was actually normal.

And he had a rash that spread all over his "privates" and HATED taking his bath.  Well now the rash is gone and he did not want to get out of the bath tonight

He has been in such a wonderful mood too....  He seems SO HAPPY!!!!

Oh, I'm so glad to hear it!!!! I've been watching to see. The rash may well also have been an external yeast infection, so with that gone he'd be lots more comfortable.

For protein, you can try rice and beans together; Natalie actually LIKES Cuban black beans and rice. LOL It's an easy thing to do to just get a can of beans from the store, rinse REALLY REALLY well till all the foamy stuff is gone (helps them make less gas), and cook with rice (brown rice is best, even though it takes longer to cook, has more nutrition and fiber brown). We also made a salad with 3 cans total of black beans and black-eyed peas (1 can of one kind, 2 of the other, didn't matter which), some garlic, onions, diced sweet pepper, and about 8 ounces of Italian dressing (again, either check the ingredients or make your own from scratch). Josie found it was a WONDERFUL finger food (although Natalie's not fond of her veggies LOL) and the rest of us eat it with a spoon, scooped with corn chips, or on lettuce as a salad. YUMMY! (It's called Mississippi Caviar and there are a number of variations out there.)

Eventually there's also eggs and nuts, but there are also seeds in the meantime. You could try mixing some flax seeds in with cereal if he'll take them, or mixing them with meatloaf or meatballs before baking them - YUMMY! Sunflower seeds can also be tasty in meatloaf/meatballs, and they get nice and soft from cooking PLUS they have extra oils/fats for good calories.

OK, time for me to think about going to bed - trying to shake a cold before a really LONG weekend here and at our church. Thanks for the update! Hope it keeps up!

[Mydreamcametrue]

I did print that info. Stacy posted.  Sorry I forgot about that. 

Deb:  This is VERY helpful info.  thanks so much.  My little one has some issues with chewing, so everytime he eats beans in the past, they of course come out whole.  But then again that is when everything was coming out whole, so he proably would be fine with them now.

I am going to try that 3 bean salad.  I bet he would like that as finger foods.  He does not rice (i guess the texture), but I could puree it in the blender.

Michelle:  Lets see what do I offer Zach on a daily basis.  Normally this is what he will eat:

- He was eating eggs every morning (but has been refusing them now)
- Any fruit (he loves fruit)  We stay away from apples though (always gave him diaherra).
- Vegetables:  Green Beans
- He loves snacky foods:  Fig Newtons, Graham Crackers, Saltine crackers
- Popcycles (yeah I know bad..., but he loves them as a treat)
- I made some pudding with cocunut milk and he will eat it
- Fish sticks
- Hot dogs
- He loves bread, but of course now I am very careful about what is in it.
- I made some Zuchinni bread and he loved it

I would not say he is a "picky" eater.  He will try anything, but he just does not eat much at all.

This is what he ate today:

Wake: 5 oz. of the rice milk mixture
Breakfast: 1/4 piece (not even half) of organic chicken/apple sausauge.  2 bites of eggs
Snack: 1/4 cup of the pudding with cocunut milk, graham cracker
Before Nap: Ate 1/2 pear
-Drank more milk through out the day
- Nap
Lunch at 3:00: 1/4 of a turkey sandwich (It was half a sandwich and he ate half of that).
Snack: Graham cracker
Dinner:  Really did not want anything, but did eat about 2 bites of watermelon and 2 bites of hotdog.

I don't think this is much at all.  Maybe it is??? 

[binxyboo]

The portion sizes that they eat at that age are small. I constantly have to remind myself of that. Even when I read what typical adult portions should be it is always far less than is what's in my mind.
It looks like he eats very regularly, more grazing than anything, but somelo's do better like that.

This is what Riley ate today:

Breakfast: Wholegrain cereal mixed with 5 ounces of milk and half a peach. milk (4 ounce offered~ not sure how much he drank)

We don't do a morning snack as lunch is so early since we moved to one nap

Lunch: 8 ounce yoghurt, green beans leftover from yesterday

Snack: little box of raisins and 3 wheat thins

Dinner: About 1/3 cup brown rice, peas and carrots as finger foods
          1/2 peach

Milk before bed and water in a cup throughout day. This was a good day for Riley

[Mydreamcametrue]

I hates pasta.. Never has liked them.  Of course we are staying AWAY from cheese, etc.  for now.  May re-try it in a month or so.

I am going to try the avacode and puree it.  Good Idea.

He will not do any meats (hamburger, roast, chicken).  I think it is the texture. 

We start feeding therapy next week, so we are going to work on all this. 

I am going to go tom. and get some flax seeds also to mix in stuff and some natural hotdogs, bologna etc. at the natural food market.

Better get my butt to bed.....  This computer has taken over my life ;-0  There is just SO much usefull info. now...  I have no idea  how my parents did it with out a computer or other people to talk to through out the world.

[binxyboo]

Yep, up to 20 times before thinking he might never eat it

[Mom to M&M]

Glad to hear he's starting to feel better! As you know, Marisa doesn't eat much (quantity or variety), yet continues to gain weight - so hard to add much there...

[shimzy]

Be careful with cold cut type meats, they most always have milk products in them and/or some type of soy protein.

[Mydreamcametrue]

Well he ate the eggs today.  I was determined to still offer them to him and he ate a whole scrammbled egg  

I did find a lunch meat that is soy/milk free.  Oscar Myer Oven Roasted Turkey.  I does have soy oil in it (i think), but he is fine with that.

Stacy:  Thanks for letting me know about the hotdogs.  I will have to check that out when I go.

Still doing good here.  He actually woke up this morning and was not covered in poop  

[shimzy]

  Thats great!

This is a great website for source information on a gluten/milk/soy free diet.

http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/index.php?showforum=10

[katriona]

wendy,

i'm so, so glad that zach is better. his nappies are proof that you're doing the right thing! imagine how much better he feels  not to sound like broken record, but i'd echo the others, and say just keep things simple at the moment, and as close to nature as you can get. even though he's doing so well, you never know when a sneaky ingredient can sneak in sneakily.

i'm going to let you ladies in on my guilty secret, especially as zach is only a month older than my LO (and i don't think i can get away with it much longer). sometimes i'll cook a meal for DS (say, sweet potatoes mashed with fish and broccoli). the little tink won't eat it even though it was a favourite last week. i still have several jars of stage 2 babyfood left over, and have found that if i open a jar of say, peas and brown rice, mix it all up with my rejected gourmet dish, and reoffer it, he'll chow it down. maybe it's the remembered taste; maybe it's the altered texture. who knows. and like is said, i certainly won't be doing it when he's 3 years old, but for now it works.

i also take some of the baby oatmeal desserts and mix them with yoghurt, rice krispies and chopped fruit for a "sundae." the good thing with the baby food is you know it's as plain as plain can be, with a minimum of added fillers.

oh, and i know organic is a little spendy, but i do try and find it for DS, simply because the cost of verifying each ingredient as organic means that the manufacturers omit a lot of the crap. a box of annies mac and cheese has four ingredients in it, readily pronounceable, compared to all the stuff in the regular store brand... in this vein, i was about to offer DS a rice cake the other day, and saw on the packet that they had MSG in! 

good luck. i'll be thinking of you and zach, and looking for updates.

were you able to speak to the dietician this past monday? is anyone willing to see you in the short term?

katy

[Mydreamcametrue]

shimzy:  thanks for the website.  I have also bought a book called Celiac Disease, the hidden epidemic.  I have been doing ALOT of reading about Celiac Disease or at least a gluten intolerance.  Mainly for myself at this point. 

Katy:  I love your ideas with the baby food.  I am making spegetti tonight and I know Zach will not eat it because of the noodles.  I am going to puree it in the blender and see if he will eat it that way.
I agree with the organic foods.  That is all the baby food I gave him as a baby.  I know buy organic fruits because he eats so much fruit.  I don't care about the price of the stuff.  I am so used to spending so much on his food anyhow.  He was on the Alimetnum as a baby and that was $25.99 for a small can.

Keep all the ideas coming. 

Talk to you all soon. 
The dietician still has not called me back.  I am going to try  her again today. 

[katriona]

except of course we don't call it baby food. we call it "pea sauce" 

[Mydreamcametrue]

Uhhh yuck, pea sauce. 

I just gave Zach lunch and mixed a Stage 2 Jar of baby food with cinnamon applesauce and added some thick-it to it.  He ate the whole thing.

Thick it is wonderful.  The pharamacy has to order it for you.  It like I guess corn starch.  They use it a lot with older people that can't chew anymore and kids to thicken the foods.

[Colesmom]

Hi-I've been reading this post with interest as I'm doing research and am going to start my DS on a dairy elimination diet this weekend.

saw the mention of flax seeds and thought I'd suggest grinding them in a coffee grinder ( or other processor ) if you have one.  I read that they absorb better if ground.  Just a suggestion!

Glad to hear your lo is feeling better.

Traci

[Mom to M&M]

Be careful with Thick It - it's a modified corn starch and causes diarrhea in some...