Help -Expansion of diet

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I need advice from you folks. We have successfully been on the GFCF diet

for 9 months! Wow, I can't believe it. My son had a huge improvement

right away on the diet and we have stuck to it as best as we can. Cross

contaminating utensils, appliances and stuff like that have been a bit of

a challenge, but thankfully only a couple of nasty slipups have been

detected.

My question has to do with expansion. My son accepted a handful of

substitutes when I first put him on the diet. Then through repeat

exposures, I got him to accept a couple more things. And that has been

it. He has a hypersensitive tongue and gags really easily. He also has

lost 4 of his front teeth which isn't helping. He still gags easily at

the site of some foods. We have recently begun to work closely with the

Speach therapist and OT to desensitize his tongue and mouth. In the

meantime, it has been 9 months since we started the diet and he still

only sticks to that handful of original substitute foods. He won't touch

any meat or vegetables whatsoever. He only eats pork bacon and turkey

baloney, and sometimes I can get him to eat a couple bites of corn by

verbal force. He ate plain turkey hot dogs for a little while then he

started gagging on them. Now he is starting to gag on the baloney. He

gets his fruit through juices and applesauce, and bananas.

I believe it is the texture and appearance of the foods that he is so

adverse to. It has been so long now on this diet, and he has gone to

bed without dinner plenty of times cause he wouldn't touch what I made.

But this tongue sensitiviy and the gagging is making me hold back from

really forcing the issue and holding out for more than one meal. But I

am afraid he will never expand! What should I do? He actually clams up,

and if I try to force him to eat he gags horribly before it even reaches

his mouth. Has anyone else had this kind of sensitivity interfere with

their expansion of the diet?

I just don't know what to do. He can't eat just bacon for much longer!

I am afraid I will destroy his little arteries with all this fat and

grease! He is really still extremely limited to what he will eat.

This is truly like an eating disorder. Maybe there are people out there

who specialize in this type of thing?

Help.

Charlene

[Guest guest]

'<<<

Charlene

Can he eat anything in the bread family?>>>>

Yes, he eats GFCF waffles, pancakes, cereals, pretzels. He won't eat

any homemade bread cause I can't make it crispy enough in the toaster (we

have a toaster and a toaster oven). So, I mail order Primo white bread

and cin-raisin bread from Gluten-free pantry. It is sliced real thin and

I could get it to toast. We make PBJ on toast or PBJ on a waffle. He

also eats Tofutti cheese and turkey baloney on GFCF crackers (Bi-Aglut

round). He only eats it if I cut the cheese and baloney into lunchable

shapes and he can make little 'sandwiches'. But, I am limiting this now

cause he has started to refuse them. I try to alternate what I give him.

But there's just not enough choices he will accept. It's the same 3-4

protein foods that I am juggling around for nine months.

Charlene