My oldest daughter who is almost 8, has had stomach issues her entire life. I say that with all seriousness. We even spent 5 days in the hospital after her birth having tests run to see what was wrong with her "gut". As it was diagnosed, she had immature gut and we were sent home. From that day on, she has constantly had battles with her stomach hurting. She was very "spitty" as a baby until about 18 months, then she suffered with constipation until about a year ago. In 2009, the whole family went dairy free because the tiny Trotter was allergic. I thought that this for sure would help the older Trotter's bowel issues. It did seems to improve for a few months, but then it was back to the same issues. In 2011 she got to the point where she could not eat any starchy carbs without laying in the floor and crying. Even at restaurants she would do this. I remember a time when were eating out and she had ordered a bowl of mac & cheese. I warned her not to do it because of the history, but she did anyways, and we were soon in the bathroom because she thought she was going to vomit.
It was then and there that I decided that we must take action. We see a pediatric allergist for the tiny Trotter's food allergy issues, so I asked him about the possibility of her being allergic to wheat. He advised me to simply go cold turkey and avoid all grains and sugar for 30 days. Then slowly re-introduce one food at a time and see what the trigger(s) were. So, I decided to do it with her so that she would not be alone. To my amazement, the first 7 days were so awful! We were lethargic and she actually did vomit within the first 24 hours almost like an addict coming off drugs. Unsweetened applesauce with probiotics mixed in was the saving grace for us on that issue.
So after the 7 days passed we had all kinds of energy! We drank a lot of homemade bone broth to help sooth the gut and calm things down. This actually helped her get on a regular schedule with bowel movements. After 30 days, we eased back into other fruits, no problem, and then after about 60-90 days, we introduced Non-GMO corn products back in. So far, so good. Next after about another 60 days we introduced whole grain rice (the brown stuff that takes longer to cook than a min) and again we were fine. All of this took place over the course from March 2012-present. As of today we still have not introduced wheat. The very few times that she or I have either had it for a treat or slipped because we didn't know there was wheat or gluten in the product, we have felt terrible. I usually just feel bloated and very crampy, she on the other hand actually gets sick. Almost like it weakens her immune system and she either runs a fever, vomits, is constipated majorly, or just lays around with no energy.
So as a mom, I have to be the one to do the hard thing for her. Self control on these food issues at her age is so hard! This past Friday she caved in to some friends offer and ate "gushers" and "combos". Well, within 12 hours she was dry heaving and having diarrhea. Then she felt awful and had no energy along with constipation for 3 days following. Then I gave her a cookie that had been made by someone else not realizing it had wheat in it, and she threw up. Poor baby! As of today though, she is not longer constipated and is feeling much better!
So for any of you out there who has a child who always complains of her tummy hurting...I am speaking from experience that in this Genetically Modified Food world we live in, the probability that she has food intolerances are very great and real! Yes it is hard to not buy prepackaged snacks, and to spend the time making all of the stuff from scratch homemade, but in the end her health and well being makes it all worth while!
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