Sunflower Schoolhouse

Allergies, Autism, and Diet

Honey — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:07:20 +0000

Gluten-free, Casein-free Diet For Autism

Before the twins, Zion and Hosanna, were born (they turn four in six days) our family went on the gluten-free, casein-free diet to help our oldest son, Elisha, who has autism, with his behavior.

The diet was challenging. The learning curve was steep. I had no idea what was really in some of our foods (and we don’t eat that many “weird” foods), until I started seriously reading labels.

We stayed on the gluten-free, casein-free diet for about two years. We saw great improvements in our son’s behavior and everyone else’s too.

Then along came our twins and…

Allergies and Eczema

We discovered, in the first year of her life, that our daughter, Hosanna, was allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts. She had severe eczema and other issues related to her allergies. It was an obvious choice to me that we dropped the gluten-free, casein-free diet in favor of a diet free of her allergens.

Side note: Moses is allergic to mushrooms and shellfish, so those are out too.

Okay, so are you with me so far?

We were gluten-free, casein-free, but then we turned dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, shellfish-free, and mushroom-free. Try and come up with some fun (and frugal) breakfast ideas. I dare you!

Outgrowing Allergies?

We were told that if we avoided her allergens as completely as possible for at least two years, we could attempt to bring them back in. My daughter, Hosanna, is nearing four now and we have recently added back in dairy to the whole family. She does okay if we have it in moderation, but lately she has had some strange new eczema patches. And now our oldest son, Elisha, is having behavioral issues again.

Side note: While we have tried adding in the dairy and the egg (in baked goods only), I will NOT attempt this with the peanut/nut allergy. With the nut allergy, I would rather further testing to see if she still reacts.

Gluten-free, Casein-free, Egg-free, Nut-free, Shellfish-free, and Mushroom-free (What’s For Dinner?)

My husband (Jonah) and I have been discussing our options. I am convinced that the food has something to do with Hosanna’s eczema outbreak as well as Elisha’s recent behavior. I was leaning towards going back on the gluten-free, casein-free diet, as well as staying away from all the other allergens, but the thought scares me.

Since we know that dairy (casein) is the biggest culprit for Elisha, we decided to start by eliminating that first and see how we do. The first 3-6 weeks can often be really bad if he goes through a withdrawal from those foods, so we can only pray for grace.

If we have success, we will stop there and just remain dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, mushroom-free, and shellfish-free. That is a mouthful and it’s no wonder we don’t eat out much.

Planning And Preparation

If we don’t have as much success as we would like, we will continue on and remove the gluten as well. This is a much bigger job and will require more planning and preparation on my part.

All of this means that I must be much more on top of planning meals. I must be going back through my recipes and pulling out the ones that I created based on old war recipes and new vegan ones (thank you Google). I am excited, nervous, and ready for change with our food in the hopes that we see benefits for our family.

I have discussed the changes with my husband and the two middle boys, but not Elisha. I wanted to just go ahead and quietly implement the changes at the end of the month and see if we could sneak them in without him noticing. Here’s hoping he is not a frequent reader of my blog.

If you are dealing with food allergies, feeding a large family on a tight budget, or otherwise challenged in the kitchen, I would love to hear your comments.

Allergies, Autism, and Diet is a post from: Sunflower Schoolhouse

Large Family Good Eats - Cooking Class and Chocolate Cake

Menu Plan Monday

Being Adaptable For Your Special Needs Student

Things I Have Learned As A Mom

Honey — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:27:02 +0000

Dirt doesn’t kill my kids and sometimes they eat it on purpose.
Playing in mud is what ~~boys~~ kids do.
Kids can mess up a room faster that I can clean it.
Kids can have a bath and still be sticky.
A certain child likes to use a whole bottle of baby shampoo in every bath.
Sometimes kids hide food in drawers (for later).
My kids don’t like to write on paper but they LOVE drawing on walls.
The meal I made last night, that the kids loved, they won’t touch today.
The shoes will always fit perfectly at the store, but never when you get them home.
My kids’ definition of clean is not the same as mine.
Food doesn’t belong in pockets because it turns kinda gross.
All the kids will need you as soon as you sit down to drink your coffee.
Someone will need their stinky bum changed just as dinner is being served.
You have to tell your kids what you expect from them EVERY SINGLE TIME you enter a store because they forget.
Marbles are not meant to be swallowed.
Lego doesn’t belong up your nose (and it’s hard to get out).
Kids will eat vegetables, straight out of the garden, with dirt on them, but not on their plate for dinner.
Boys will split the knees of every single pair of pants they own.
Sugar is hard to vacuum out of your favorite chair and so is flour.
Dumping out a whole bottle of pepper makes you sneeze and it hurts when you rub your eyes.
Dumping brown sugar into a bin of Lego makes Mommy throw out the Lego.
If the three year old can reach the fish food, she will dump the whole thing in the tank.
Climbing into your brother’s crib, knocking it over, and breaking it means that you sleep on the mattress on the floor.
Pulling all the stuffing out of your crib mattress means that you move to big beds too early.
Baby locks are hard for adults, but not 2 year olds.
Fridge locks don’t work.
Just as you get to sleep at night someone will wake up needing you.
You must learn to survive on 4-5 hours of sleep a night.
You must learn to power nap.
As soon as you go into the bathroom someone will need you.
If you don’t get up and make breakfast someone will make ham and mustard bagels on your blogging notebook.
God sends food in the mail (2 weeks ahead of time) because He knows you are going to need it.

What things have you learned as a mom?

Things I Have Learned As A Mom is a post from: Sunflower Schoolhouse

Turning 2 – The Party Continues

Happy Mother's Day To My Wife

Hosanna Jumping

Happenings At Our House

Honey — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:36:33 +0000

I have no idea where the time goes. We no sooner start a week and it is over. I blink and wonder where the time has gone.

I recently had a lovely visit with a sweet homeschool mother (and some of her children) and gained some Godly wisdom.
There is a new woman’s ministry starting up in our complex and I was thrilled to be asked to be part of it.
We flipped the living room, yet again, trying to find more space for our schooling. This place is just too small.
My curriculum planning meeting with our support teacher is over now and I have the go ahead to order next year’s materials. I have been making a list - 2012 to 2013 Curriculum - but be warned, I need to purge that list before I do any ordering.
Friday I had a guest post over at Mom’s Mustard Seeds – Letting God Rule Your Curriculum .
I also had a guest post over at Homeschool Blogging – Make People Read Your Blog – Navigation .
Hosanna (3) broke her middle toe by dropping Elisha’s hand weight on it. It was bright purple and very swollen, but it is looking a little better now.
Jonah finally got outside with the kids to tend to the front garden (the neighbor cats were making it their new potty).
We made the decision to no longer have a television in our living room and gave away our giant entertainment center. (I still have a television in my room).
We have a rental inspection tomorrow morning, so the house is getting a spring cleaning from top to bottom.