I had posted yesterday on the kids/babies board about seeing a nutritionist, what a joke! I'm glad that some had responded about things to ask her...

She gave me NO meal/dietary plan... told me to get dd to eat whatever she wanted that was gluten-free just to get her weight up (cheetos, pb, any snack that had fat) & then to worry about healthy things later WHAT??!!

She said as long as we read labels, things will be ok. Gave us a bunch of printed stuff off the internet, no book recommendations or internet sites. AND told me that there are no lotions or body products that have gluten in it. I even asked her about Play-doh & she said "It's fine, Play-doh is gluten free"
Great, thanks for all the misinformation. Now I can go & get her sick. UGH.

Dd is 3.5 & is 27lbs & 36", so she is on the small side. I really need someone that has a clue & can help us. I'm just so angry about this. I have a call into the pediatrician to find someone that has a clue about how to feed my child a HEALTHY diet. sigh.

She also told us that dd's intestines will be back to normal w/in 3-6mths? True??

Not if you follow her instructions. Sigh! You might want to contact your nearest Celiac group for a referral to nutritionist that has at least a clue about gluten-free.

List of Local Celiac Disease Support Groups/Chapters
http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-22107227363.04

Below is some information I found on the web about Basic Food Groups that should give you some overall guidence. Of course, all the grains need to be gluten free.



http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/pyramid.html

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with the nutritionist. Unfortunately, it is too often of an occurrence.

If I can offer some advice, you should buy the book "Gluten Free for Dummies" by Donna Korn. It is the best literature out there for newbies and new parents to Celiac. You can buy it on www.amazon .com


Also, you might want to go to Clan Thompson's site and download her gluten free list she has compiled.

If you have any questions, direct them to us!

We have all been there and we can help!



BB

Thank you all for the extra info. Sounds like I have a lot of learning to do in a very short amount of time. I appreciate all the help

I also recommend the book in my signature.

And when you have time (once things have settled down), write her a letter, stating points that she said, and refute them with solid examples. Let her know that you don't think that giving misinformation is her intention.

Best of luck

I have not gotten a good response for any nutritionist or dietician, even one at a top Celiac Clinic that specialize in children -- that one refused to tell me how much calcium a child of 3.5 needs for optimal health! Or the Celiac herself who tole me not to buy anything w more than 5 ingredients!

You have a clue, obviously, get yourself to the library and start reading (even those gluten-free cookbooks have tons of good information in them), plenty of solid information on the internet too. Use your good judgement, it has gotten you this far.

Tear the food pyramid down, don't even give it another thought. Grains are not health food for all body types, protein, veggies, fruits those are health foods. Healthy is shopping along the outside of the grocery store (really, I rarely go down the isles anymore - a few things).

I had to develop our own plan. I knew my child was high protein needs. I knew that fats were good for him, I gave him eggs, he loves boiled eggs. He does not drink or tolerate dairy, so he likes broccoli. He likes fish, we eat it very occassionally. He likes carrots and lettuce and spinach with dip, he loves strawberries and raspberries - we grow strawberries to help w the cost!

I think if you are smart enough to be here for your child, you are certainly smart enough to read and figure out a diet that works for your child -- you go mama! And poo poo to those clueless people who are supposed to help.

BTW - your dd is about the same size as my ds at that age, he's 5 now. He grew taller before he put weight on, it was about 3 months when we saw the height increase. It was only days for him not to have diarrhea, but he had stomach pains and leg pains and slept a lot those first few weeks gluten-free. He never slept much before, I'm sure it was his body healing. It was almost a year before he was "hungry" we did get a script to help him feel hungry to eat, we used it as needed on and off.

I struggled with the same thing after my daughter was diagnosed. We have always eaten very healthy and the idea of limiting "WHole Grains" from her diet frankly scared the crap out of me!

THough I never really got much help from the nutritionist her pediatrician put it in perspective for me. Here is the advice she gave me:
1. Get the hang of Gluten free first then go for nutrition (she was right, it didn't take more than a month to get the hang/get into the routien of being gluten free )
2. The same nutrition rules that applied before apply now... you just need to choose gluten free items

Okay so here is how this plan works in my house:

Before diagnosis my daughter ate:

Breakfest: Oatmeal, fruit, milk, eggs, whole wheat toast

Lunch: Leftover dinner, fruit, veggies, pasta

Snacks: pretzles, graham crackers, fruit, veggies, gold fish, cheese

Dinner: We probably eat what every typical family eats: Tacos, pasta, chicken, pork, fish, caserroles etc


AFter diagnoses:

Breakfast: Bobs Red mill Mighy Tasty Gluten free hot ceareal, fruit, milk, eggs (no bread)

Lunch: Left over dinner, fruit, veggies, pasta (I use quinoa and love it)

Snacks: Breadzles (gluten free pretzles) fruits, veggies, fruit-a-bu, corn tortilla chips, almonds, cheese

Dinner: We eat exactly the same things but I just prepare them gluten free. (Cooking gluten free is actually not that hard... if you cooked before)


We still go out to eat and are able to find thigns for my daughter:

Out to eat for Breakfast: Egg, slices of avacado, and a side of fruit
Out to eat for lunch: Grilled Chicken, hamburger with no bun and a side of fruit or cottage cheese
OUt to eat for dinner: Depends on where we go but typically the same as lunch but occasionally we will get her fish, part of a steak or even ribs if the place offers gluten free sauce!

I actually had the nutritionist tell me that breastfeeding my daughter beyond one year really wasn't healthy for her or me - and that I really needed to wean so we could see if she really is going to to show signs of celiac or not!

I saw your post the other day and was going to respond but thought you had already had the appointment, anyway i was going to tell you how outrageously frustrating the nutritionist was that i took my son to. I mean she was clueless, obviously had NEVER been around or cooked for kids and boy was it a waste of my time and money (insurance didn't cover it). The GI doc was more helpful, and i turn to my naturopath for any really important questions.