I find myself in a predicament. My son just turned one on June 5th. Up until last Friday, he had a completely gluten and dairy free diet. That was until my lovely (and sometimes rebellious) husband thought it would be cool to buy a mac and cheese food pouch for our son. He had convinced himself that it was okay because it said organic. I had completely vetoed the food option and wanted to take it back to the store or give it away. But, I didn’t. And, Matt got to watch Eli Friday night, as I went out to a baby shower. I was tired of looking at the nasty food pouch in our pantry next to all of my healthy veggie choices, so I finally conceded and thought what could 3 oz. hurt? And, I put it out with the rest of his dinner before I left. Well, well, well…….how we both regret that decision now. Eli has always been a happy baby. People are shocked when they meet him or see pictures and always ask if he is happy ALL the time. I just giggle and say, “well pretty much”. I then do an imaginary pat on the back and think… “well golly I must be doing something right.” But, I now must admit, the last 3 days have been torturous! So Moms, I now have a glimpse of understanding. Eli has seemed like a different child and I know it’s because of the effect that the gluten and dairy had on him. When I got him up the morning after he ate the mac and cheese, he just began screaming, inconsolably and continuously! I had never seen anything like it! He hardly ate any breakfast (which is not like him!) And, nothing I could do seemed to calm him down for more than a couple seconds. I could just tell he was in pain. Well he continued to be irritable and then that night he woke up screaming. Eli has not woken up in the middle of the night since before he was six months old. So, for him to wake up, I knew something was not right. I proceeded to pick him up and try to cuddle with him on his (our) favorite chair, but nothing would work. He just doubled over and screamed as if he was in pain. I’m not sure how long that went on for, as I was quite delirious. But, it is now day 3 and he is still not completely himself. The last two nights in the middle of eating dinner, he just all of a sudden started screaming with tears coming down his face. And, again, Eli has always loved to eat and eats a lot! So, for this to be happening has been very uncharacteristic of him. All of that being said, I believe the worst is behind us and his belly is being healed as I write. But, as I stated in the beginning, I now find myself in a predicament. My husband and I strive to eat “clean”, and try to stray away from gluten and dairy. But, we tend to break the rules more times than I’d like to admit. And, although I was planning on keeping Eli on a clean gluten and dairy free diet as long as possible, I figured in the near future we would be able to cheat here and there. But, now I must tell you… if anyone comes near my son with any food that is not on my “approved list”, Mama Bear just may show her claws.
The moral of this story is to encourage you Moms to consider the food your child is eating. And, ask yourself… do they seem especially fussy or irritable? Are they screaming or crying and you don’t understand why? If so, you may seriously want to consider altering their diet and seeing if things get any better. Because I am here to tell you.. Having a happy child is normal. So, if you are experiencing anything different, there is probably a reason.
~Any gluten and dairy free Moms, please feel free to share any awesome recipes and/or finger foods for the little ones.. I would love to get some new ideas!! ; )
