Written by: Alicia

Did you know babies can get cavities? I took my son to the dentist for the first time yesterday. He is three and a half years old (I know, I procrastinated on this). The doctor checked him over and said, "His teeth look great. No cavities." I said, "No cavities?! Do kids usually have cavities this young?" He said, "I see kids at age two with cavities."

Wow. It kinda surprised me. I guess I never thought about cavities that young. I did some more researching and it appears babies from nine or ten months can be infected by cavity producing bacteria. Apparently babies that suck on a bottle all day and night have a higher risk of developing cavities. So, never leave a bottle in your baby's crib at night and once you see their first tooth, dentists suggest you start cleaning it (usually with just a finger brush or wet cloth).

I also read a disturbing fact that more and more kids are given soda starting at age two. Apparently a lot of toddlers are chewing on gummy bears and washing it down with a Coke.

My kids have food allergies so I have always been cautious about what goes into their mouths. They never drink soda and they don't eat candy. Some people have made rude comments about me not giving my kids candy; as if I am taking away part of their childhood or something. I think certain people associate kids and candy WAY too often. I feel like I am actually aiding in their development by not offering these products. Less sugar means more concentration. Less sugar also means I can go to a restaurant with 3 year old triplets and have a pleasant time.

My kids do get tons of sweets but they get them in the form of fruit. They will eat any type of fruit I put in front of them. And, they get fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I put candy and fruit in front of them I am 99% positive they will choose the fruit.

Now, back to cavities. I read that diets high in sugars and carbohydrates will increase your child's risk of developing cavities. I was not surprised by sugar but how do carbohydrates harm your teeth?

Certain carbohydrates, such as breads, cereals and chips are considered to be more of a "sticky" or starchy carb and therefore are left on or in-between the teeth more frequently. Bacteria that live in the mouth digest these foods, turning them into acids. The bacteria, acid, food debris, and saliva combine to form plaque, which clings to the teeth. The acids in plaque dissolve the enamel surface of the teeth, creating holes in the teeth.

Americans eat more processed carbohydrates now more than ever before. In fact, 50 percent of their daily intake is carbohydrates. Since my kids are on a gluten-free diet they only eat "non-sticky" carbs such as rice, potatoes and oatmeal (to name a few). I didn't know this diet was also good for their teeth; just another bonus.

I have since learned that fruits, vegetables, and nuts have been shown to reduce cavities. This is partly due to the increased fiber, but is also due to xylitol, a natural substance found in fruits and vegetables. Xylitol is said to help promote healthy teeth by reducing plaque.

So there you have it. If your kids eat a lot of processed carbs, make them brush right afterwards. If you want less cavities choose to feed your kids non-sticky carbs and give them more fruits and veggies.

Happy Brushing,
Alicia

http://friendinreach.blogspot.com/

Written by: Alicia

I am going to let some steam off today. I am so upset that yesterday my daughter's food allergy was ignored at school. All of my GF/CF Moms can most likely relate to this.

I picked my daughter up from pre-school and noticed she had some red stains on her shirt. A teacher's aide told me they gave them Popsicles that day. I felt my chest tighten up immediately with anger. I have explained over and over to the teacher and the aides that my daughter has a gluten allergy. I have specifically mentioned that most Popsicles contain gluten. I have also explained she is not allowed to have any red dye (she gets more agitated with this in her diet).

So, what do they do? They ignore my request and gave her a RED Popsicle. I asked the teacher, "Why did you do that? You know she has an allergy. You should have told me and I would have brought in a treat for her." The teacher said, "We weren't going to give it to her but she looked so sad when she couldn't have one." What kind of answer is this? If she had a peanut allergy, would you have done the same? Why is a GF/CF diet not taken seriously?

I wanted to lose it but I know myself well enough to hold back and relax before I go off. It took me about 7 hours before I could send this "nice" email off to the teacher:

Dear "Teacher:"

I am writing to let you know I am concerned that my daughter's diet was not followed today.

I understand it is hard to not give her the same sweets most kids can eat. I wish she could eat anything she wants...but she can't. She has a severe allergy to gluten. It is not like a peanut allergy and you most likely won't see an instant reaction but damage is occurring internally.

Celiac is a disease that runs in my family. If you have an allergy to gluten and you eat gluten it will travel to your small intestines and cause damage. Let me briefly explain so you will have a clearer understanding of this disease. We all have villi in our intestines. When food passes over them, they absorb the nutrients from that food. However, if you have a gluten allergy and then eat gluten it will travel to your intestines and flatten the villi. This means none of the nutrients from the food you eat will get absorb. This is why she is shorter than her triplet siblings. She was not getting the right nutrition for over one year.

Madelyn also has another reaction to gluten. If gluten and casein (a protein in milk) gets into her blood stream, it can have an opiate-like effect on her. Basically, we lose her to a drugged out stare. Celiac disease has been linked to some psychological disorders (OCD being one of them; which she has on a gluten diet). Gluten can cause malfunctions of the brain and neural networks for people with this allergy. Taking this out of her diet is the sole reason why she is no longer considered autistic. It is very important for her to not eat gluten.

In the beginning stages of this diet change we slipped up a few times. These slip ups took one to two days for her body to correct itself. During that time she had more tantrums (including pulling her hair out), got rashes on her bottom, OCD behaviors returned, woke frequently during the night and was just more agitated.

It is hard with her on the diet because a lot of people don't understand it. Some people think it is a diet strictly for autistic kids (and some do not take it very seriously). But, for many members of my family this is a serious issue. This allergy is a true disease. My dad has been suffering for years. His body took major hits from not absorbing nutrients for years and years. Some of his organs were badly affected.

Although a few slip ups here and there will not cause any long term damage it does cause brief damage. I really need her diet restrictions to be followed. Lets please go back to our original plan of her not eating any food unless I give it to you.

I have to admit I am a little concerned now to have her attend school. Can you assure me her diet will be followed 100% of the time? She cannot have any gluten or red dye #40.

Sincerely,
Alicia

I have not heard anything back yet. You know what hurts the most? It is that I have repetitively told the staff of her food allergy. I bring in food and drinks that Madelyn can consume. What more can I do; besides pull her out of school which I don't want to do. I feel like they disrespected my little girl. They did not take her allergy as a true issue. This was NOT their decision to make. I had to deal with OCD behaviors yesterday. She had one blow up at the pool yesterday because she didn't like how I put the toys into the pool (I haven't seen this type of behavior since the last slip up).

What more can we, GF/CF Moms, do to be taken seriously? My husband was so upset that he wants to pull our daughter out of school. I said we can't do this because she needs the social interaction to help her Selective Mustim. I feel that the teacher cares for my daughter and am still in shock over her poor judgement.

I'm going to go cool off again. Have a good weekend everyone! - Alicia

http://friendinreach.blogspot.com/

This past May, I sat in an empty waiting room with one of my daughters. She periodically looked up at me and I could tell she was wondering what we were doing there. I looked at her and gave the best smile I could. It was a sad smile though. I couldn't help it. I am not good at faking my emotions.

Soon, the side door opened and a nurse called us in. We followed her to a room full of toys and a toddler table. My daughter was in her stroller and trying to bury her face into the side of it. She could not stand for strangers to get to close to her or to even look at her.

The nurse asked me to sit down and gave me the same sad smile I just gave my daughter; as she shut the door and walked out. I pulled my daughter out of her stroller and let her walk around the room. She was intrigued by the toys but hesitated to walk too far away from me.

The door opens a few moments later and two women walk through. My daughter ran over to me and buried her face into my stomach. The two women were doctors and tried to make eye contact with her to no avail. Every now and then my daughter would peek over at them and then bury her face again.

The women proceeded to ask me a long list of detailed questions about my daughter. They wanted to know if she spoke any words, does she eat with a spoon, does she eat vegetables and on and on. It took about 1/2 hour of questions before they started interacting with my daughter. By this time, my daughter was finally able to stop hiding her face and actually looked at the doctors and around the room.

One doctor pulled out a picture book page and asked my daughter to point to certain objects. My daughter pointed to all of them correctly. I was so excited and thought nothing is wrong with her. She is such a smart girl. Then the doctors asked her to go and get a certain toy. My daughter froze up and didn't want to do as they asked. She just sat and looked at me as if she was scared. All of a sudden I felt sad again. Why won't my daughter go and get a toy? Seems like such a simple task for a 2 1/2 year old to do. Why is she scared?

The doctors brought out more toys and dissected my daughter's every move on how she played with them. They watched my daughter grab my arm and try to make me reach for a toy she wanted. They quickly grabbed their pens and took notes. They watched her turn one toy upside down and inspect it. They quickly jotted down more notes.

I felt like we were animals on a dissecting table. It was uncomfortable for me. I know it had to be just as, if not much more, uncomfortable for my daughter.

The doctors stood up and said they need to leave the room and privately discuss their findings. I thought they would be gone for 1/2 hour or more. It only took them 5 minutes to come back into the room and say, "She is autistic." Just like that. The whole "dissection" took 50 minutes and they came to a decision in what felt like seconds.

I sat there in shock and was quiet as they continued to talk. I do not know what else they said to me because I was not absorbing anything else at that point. I felt the first tear fall down my face and then the next. I tried to hide my sadness from my daughter and pull myself back together so I could ask intelligent questions.

They gave me a small box of tissues and gave me that sad smile I gave my daughter just 50 minutes ago. They quickly gave me a list of books I should read on autism and told me about state programs I need to look into.

I started asking, "Why?" "Why does my daughter have autism?" They could not answer me. I asked them, "How do you cure autism?" They could not answer me. I remember saying, "So, my daughter has an illness but no one can tell me how it suddenly appeared and how I can make it disappear?" They just gave me that sad smile with a shoulder shrug this time.

I also asked without expecting an answer at this point, "Is there anything I can do to get my daughter back? Are there any medications that help? Are there any doctors out there that can help my daughter? Are you telling me to read a few books and get help from the state and that is all you can prescribe?"

I went on to say, "I heard about autism a few times and heard a gluten-free diet helps. What do you think about that?" They looked at each other, as if this is the standard question, and one said to me, "The diet is not medically proven to help autism."

At this point, I had heard enough. Actually, I hadn't heard anything that was helpful. I just wanted to leave. My daughter had grown attached to a specific toy in the room while I was asking "unanswerable" questions. I picked her up and put her in the stroller. She was clinging to this toy. I knew this was going to end in a huge melt down when I took the toy away.

I wanted to take the toy away in a slow manner. I was going to try talking to her and explaining that the toy has to go, "bye, bye." Before I even bent down to talk to my daughter, one doctor grabbed the toy, opened the door and "helped" push my stroller out of the room. Of course my daughter started screaming and pulling on her hair. The doctor walked ahead of me and tried to rush me out of the office. She was motioning with her hand to "hurry up." She opened the side door and said, "Bye."

I wanted to kick the doctor in the butt on my way out but I was falling apart; emotionally. I felt like dropping to the ground and crying my eyes dry. Of course I had to be strong and try to make it to the car without crying. I can't believe just one hour earlier, I was sitting in that waiting room without answers to some "strange" behaviors my daughter had. I did not think of my daughter has having "special needs." I thought maybe a few behavioral issues but nothing we can't deal with and fix.

Basically within an hour, my life changed. The way I looked at my daughter changed. I was told my daughter now has a life-altering illness and there is not one thing the medical industry can do for her. It felt kinda like this; your daughter is sick...too bad we can't help...now get out!

When I say, "I look at my daughter differently," I don't mean this in a negative way. I look at her with a new understanding. Things suddenly make sense to me now.

Those two doctors that diagnosed my daughter in 50 minutes basically said there was nothing I could do to help her but read books and ask the state for therapy. They discounted every other idea I had on how to help her. For example: A special diet and the help of DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors.

Good thing for my daughter is that I am not the sit and listen type of person. I investigate. I will never accept that there is nothing I can do to help one or all of my kids. Matter of fact, if a doctor tells me there is nothing more we can do that just gives me more fuel to research.

I would like for those two doctors to know that the special diet is helping my daughter. I know a gluten-free diet does not work for every autistic child (I wish it did) but it does help mine. It has not been a 100% cure for her but it has given me my daughter back in many, many ways. I also found a DAN doctor who prescribed supplements that make a world of difference for her as well.

I wish those doctors would have said, “Try the diet, it can’t hurt. Try contacting a DAN doctor, that can’t hurt either.” Why would they give me such devastating news and then rush me out of the office with no clear path ahead? I am sure there are doctors out there that deliver this kind of news with more compassion but for those mothers, who may experience such a day, know there is help out there for you.

The truth is there is a lot I can do for my daughter. There are doctors out there that want to help and CAN help an autistic child. I still read books and I am getting her therapy through the state but now I feel something I didn't have that one day in the doctor's office: Hope. No more sad smiles to my daughter. She gets full-on happy smiles now. We have a long road ahead but I am hopeful and so very proud of her.

Smile on,
Alicia