Food, Food

We're in the middle of a "food revolution" here in our house.

I told you I'd write at some point about our little family going gluten free, and now's probably the best opportunity. But first off, I do want to say, that wasn't a light decision we made. Secondly, no, we didn't go and get LBB tested for gluten allergies. Frankly, when we stepped out of our doctor's office being told "He's a tough case to crack" in regards to his extreme behavior, we realized it was up to us to figure it out. We were parents that were unsure why our child was acting the way he was, and completely worried, frazzled, scared, and did I say worried?

We didn't know...was it autism? Aspergers? ADHD? His behavior was so far off the spectrum of normal toddler behavior, and we were extremely concerned. He had daily temper tantrums totaling 15 or more...and we're not talking just a brief flailing and whatnot. I'm talking EXTREME temper tantrums. Imagine some WWE wrestler let loose in your house, and you've got somewhat of an idea of the tantrums we were dealing with. He wasn't focusing. He wasn't listening. If you talked to him, he wouldn't look up. He was barely talking, and what he had been saying was the same things he had been saying for months previous. He was EXTREMELY picky. He was aggressive to the point of being uncontrollable. He ran around in hyper-mode from 3:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night, and then waking up in the middle of sleep screaming in terror. When he was happy he was happy, but when he was mad...boy, was he mad. Not to mention, he's a quirky kid anyways, and those quirks were becoming...uncontrollably obsessive. Pretty much anything that would be a normal toddler behavior, he did to the EXTREME.

"He's a tough case to crack."

Not the words frazzled parents want to hear. So, after a few blood work test making sure he wasn't anemic or whatever, we got a phone call from the doctor saying that the tests that were run came back normal. That was it. Have a good day. Good luck.

So. We researched. We prayed. We read articles. We talked to my mom. (Moms are the greatest.)

And we came across an answer that seemed to be dropped right on our laps. Gluten free/casein free. In Autistic and ADHD children, a diet that is GF/CF free can help alleviate their symptoms. Now we didn't know if LBB was either of those, but we did know it may be worth a shot to see.  We talked to my Mom, who is gluten intolerant, and she suggested we go for it. We wanted to see if it would help.

Now, like I said, we didn't take this lightly. There is a whole slew of critics out there that think that if you don't have some dude with a stethoscope around his neck tell you that your kid is sensitive to gluten or has symptoms of autism or ADHD, that your kid is normal and therefore should be on a normal diet and have a normal life. But at this point, we knew SOMETHING was wrong...we just didn't know what. And we weren't going to wait until he was 6 to figure it out (as his doctor said when discussing ADHD.) 

So, we went on a trial experiment to see if it would help. We switched LBB to soy milk. We saw an improvement within 24 hours. Then we made the jump to gluten free.

And goodness, that is when we saw the changes. LBB was 10 times better with 24 hours. Within a week, he was immensely better. Happier, less tantrums, talking more, etc. And now, a month and a half later, we have seen the effects that food can have on a person.

LBB is still his normal quirky self...that's what we love. But now those quirks are enjoyable. They aren't overshadowed by the tantrums and the extreme behavior. He's on a "normal" tantrum range now.

And if we slip up and give him something with gluten, we know it. (It is definitely hard to see your child want something so much and not be able to have it. Sometimes we cave even though we shouldn't.) His mood for the next day and a half will be nightmarish. And his sleep schedule even gets affected. At this point, he sleeps ALL the way through the night, something that wasn't happening when he wasn't G-Free. If he gets a little gluten, you can bet he'll be up the next 2 nights at 3 am.

Ironically, these little reminders of why we went G-Free come up right when I'm doubting myself and wondering if all those critics are right. As if some random person on the internet knows my kid better than I do. So I cave. I let him have a trigger food. And we all pay for it during the next 36 hours.

Food has such a profound effect on us as humans. Naturally, Dear Sweet Hubby and I have been eating G-Free, too. And we feel better. And ironically, the main concern about a G-Free diet, especially with kids, is lack of nutrients, but our LBB eats much better now than he has since he was taken of pureed fruits and veggies.

He's even gained weight since his 2 year checkup. That's saying alot since he was  nearly the same weight at his 1 year checkup as he was at his 2 year checkup.

Interestingly, our switch to gluten-free has sparked a whole slew of food changes...we've become more aware of what goes into our mouths now. Sure, we slip up and have total junk food days weeks. But, on a fairly general basis we've done a good job of staying focused. We pay more attention to where our food comes from. How it was processed. And what ingredients are hiding out on the label.

With all that being said, would you be interested in me posting some of our findings here and there? Sharing GF recipes or whatnot? Let me know...I always love hearing from the people who took the time to read what I write. :)