Dietary Needs

[Maza]

Do you have many little ones with food intolerances/allergies?

One who started with me just over a year ago has a dairy allergy, but that's fairly easy to manage - especially because he only has breakfast and lunch here, not tea.

Another mum has just told me that her little one is going to be coming off gluten. I don't know anything about a gluten free diet. Obviously I'll read up on it and chat to mum, but do you have any experience? Is it expensive?

Mum is going to provide his food next week as it is short notice.

[Mouse]

Is it for a medical reason or just mum's choice?

My niece has a gluten free diet and all her food has to be prepared separately to everyone else's food to avoid cross contamination.

It is easier to find gluten free food now, but it can be expensive and isn't always very nice!

My contracts say that my fee includes meals, as long as they are the same as everyone is eating. If a special diet is required, I will discuss arrangements with parents. In your case I would provide naturally gluten free foods (potatoes, meat , vegetables, chees etc), but if mum wants him to have 'gluten free' foods (pasta, bread etc) she'll have to provide it.

[Mouse]

Gluten Free Checklist - Coeliac UK

This list is quite useful

[Maza]

Is it for a medical reason or just mum's choice?

My niece has a gluten free diet and all her food has to be prepared separately to everyone else's food to avoid cross contamination.

It is easier to find gluten free food now, but it can be expensive and isn't always very nice!

My contracts say that my fee includes meals, as long as they are the same as everyone is eating. If a special diet is required, I will discuss arrangements with parents. In your case I would provide naturally gluten free foods (potatoes, meat , vegetables, chees etc), but if mum wants him to have 'gluten free' foods (pasta, bread etc) she'll have to provide it.

Well, that's the annoying thing. He has been unwell, so mum is trying different things. Without giving too much away, mum works in that field but she isn't her son's gp, obviously. So there is no official diagnosis of anything at the moment.

Whilst I can easily serve dairy free lunches for everyone at no extra cost, I couldn't do that with gluten free carbs (apart from potatoes, like you say) as it would be too expensive. So then, it becomes tricky to prepare different meals. Poor little thing loves breadsticks for snacks too.

[loocyloo]

and the tricky thing with gluten is that it is randomly added to all sorts of things!

baking with gluten free flour ( only about 45p a bag for Asda own brand ... cheapest i've ever found it! ) is REALLY hard. Little buns are ok as a straight swap, but pastry is soooo short as to be almost unworkable. I do like it in some biscuits, but again, they are very crumbly. I do have an amazing recipe for gluten free brownies if you are interested.

good luck.

I would do as Mouse, and provide non gluten foods, and ask mum to provide bread ( it freezes ok ), pasta and anything else he might need/want. I would also suggest that if she were giving you gluten free breadsticks for example, that maybe she could give you enough so that all the children could share/have the same, so as not to single the child out as being 'different'.

[Mouse]

How many days a week does he attend, Maza? And does he have all his meals with you?

In your case I would definitely tell mum she needs to provide all food until it’s decided whether or not gluten is an issue. If it does turn out to be, and if he does end up with a medical diagnosis from his GP, then I would look at a longer term plan that you can work on together. In the meantime, I would ask her to provide all food so she can monitor exactly what he’s eating.

[Maza]

Mouse, he is 4 days a week and has breakfast and lunch with me, plus snacks (not dinner). So, we could have potatoes for two of the lunches, but not the other two days.

Loocyloo, this little one also isn't allowed any sugar, so I don't do baking on the days he is with me, so flour won't be an issue, as I also don't really cook pastry type of meals for the mindees.

That list is really useful Mouse.