Going gluten-free at three 

Today I’m telling you the story of why we put our daughter on a gluten-free diet at just 3 years old.

This is Piper

Piper my 3-year-old daughter has had an unusual amount of back pain and stomach issues for someone so small. We’ve taken her to doctor after doctor. She has gone through ultrasounds and X-rays, trying to figure out the cause of her discomfort.

Photo courtesy of Jaime Hearts Photography

What the doctors found

They found she has fluid in her kidneys due to severe constipation. You aren’t supposed to have fluid in your kidneys at all she has a decent amount. We tried the natural approach with, high fiber diet with limitless fruit, it didn’t work. Next, she was prescribed a powder fiber to add to her water daily and laxatives that never seemed to work consistently. Plus I’m not very comfortable putting all the pills and powders into her tiny little body.

Photo courtesy of Jaime Hearts Photography

She was having accidents left and right because she was afraid it would hurt to use the bathroom. It broke my heart every time she cried because she couldn’t go but felt like she had to. We turned to major bribery, a treat every time she went number 2. Once in a while, if it was really bad, a trip to Target to buy a new toy. It wasn’t working for anyone.

Why Gluten-Free?

I’m highly allergic to gluten, I get several reactions if I accidentally get ‘glutened’ as my sister and I call it. So my husband and I decided to try Piper out on a Gluten-Free Diet.

I wish I could say it isn’t working but just 4 days in and her tummy troubles had vanished. She’s regular and has not had one accident. While I’m really happy she isn’t in pain or having trouble anymore I’m also sorry she can’t eat like all the other kids at school or at parties.

Making mealtime feel special with food allergies

While we are doing this experimental diet change we’ve been trying to make her feel special instead of different. Not getting to eat what all the other kids at school are eating at snack time has to be hard for a 3-year-old to grasp. We found this awesome company that makes a booster for a regular 4 legged kitchen chair to raise the whole chair up so the child can easily reach the table without having to use a booster seat, it’s called Kaboost. It was really easy to install and isn’t permanent, the chair just sits right on top of it. Piper calls it her “Queen Chair” because it is the highest one at the table and I love that she doesn’t sit on her knees anymore.

Her friends love the Kaboost chair too! It’s perfect for mealtime and doing crafts at the table. Every time we have friends over to play they want to sit in the Kaboost chair, it is one of the coolest products I’ve seen for toddlers.

Is gluten-free the answer?

Gluten-free might not be the final answer, we plan on trying it out for a total of 3 months before reintroducing gluten into her diet. If she reverts back to the same issues then we’ll know gluten is the culprit.

There are worse things. The fact that we have a lot of experience with gluten-free diets from my family history of gluten allergies is a positive thing. Having to bring our own treats to birthday parties and snacks to every play date is going to be an extra thing on my list of parenting responsibilities but seeing my daughter running around happily without pain is worth all the work in the world. Her new Kaboost chair has helped her feel like the princess that she is, gluten-free or not, she loves it.

So far

So far Piper has been amazing with her new gluten-free meal plan, always asking if food items contain gluten and surprisingly ok with not getting to eat cake at a few events. I still catch a glimpse of sorrow when we tell her she can’t have that cupcake because it contains gluten and can’t help but feel for her. We are doing our best to find gluten-free alternatives to keep her happy and feeling special. I’ll say we are lucky her favorite dessert is fruit with whipped cream on top. 🙂

We’ll see what happens next in the life of Piper, my 3-year-old gluten-free princess.

If you have any amazing gluten-free kid-friendly recipes please feel free to send them my way! I have one of the pickiest children when it comes to mealtime and now adding a gluten-free diet, I’m sure I’m going to run out of ideas!

Thank you Kaboost for sponsoring this post! Kaboost sent these products but all opinions are my own.