Mother Knows Best

If you read my post entitled Beliefs, then you know that I think some of the best information about raising a special needs kid comes from parents who have been there before you. Today I wanted to open up my comments so everyone can share their experience on a particular topic.

I want to know everything you guys know about diets for special needs kids and/or food allergies.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that a very large percentage of special needs kids have food allergies/intolerances. I also feel that medical professionals are either quick to write off concerns or even scarier, quick to recommend a feeding tube/nissen combination surgery. I'm not saying that these are unnecessary surgeries, but personally I'd like to start with the least invasive option.

For us, sometime around six months, Charlie started to reflux terribly. Before that, it had been normal baby stuff and suddenly it got really bad. ABR helped, but it was still happening and--I'm going to get graphic here--when he did spit up, it looked like the milk had curdled in his stomach and it had a horrible sour smell to it. Then, one weekend, I had a conversation with my friend's sister whose married to a doctor and has two typical children. It had taken them almost a year to diagnose her child's food allergies--the doctors kept calling it reflux. After hearing that, I decided to just cut milk out of Charlie's diet for a week. Presto! Reflux was gone. He still gets it from time to time when he's feeling sick, but things are a LOT better.

I've also spoken with parents who've gotten seizure control with diet and many, many parents mention that their children behave better or have increased attention on certain food regimens.

So please, leave me a comment. Tell me about your child and their food. I'd love to here from special mommies who have kids on certain diets, but also from parents of typical kids who've had any notable food experiences. Feel free to write a ton and include links if you know of any. Let's share all the information we've got and I plan to put up a link to this post so it can be a resource for others.

**Quick edit here: G-tubes are often the only solution for children who cannot consume enough calories. Charlie himself went home from the hospital on a g-tube and used it for a few months before being able to take food by mouth. It was a neccessity.***