Jason came down with pink eye last Friday. As I was doing research on natural remedies for it, I some how happened upon something about the GFCF (gluten free, casein free) diet. It's used as a therapy for autism.
This got me thinking...it probably does not just apply to autistic children. Maybe Addie's drastic mood swings (yes, drastic even for a 2 year old) and Jason's sometimes beyond hyperactivity, could be a reaction to dairy.
Jason had a milk allergy as a baby. If I drank milk, ate cheese, you name it, he had eczema from my breast milk. When he was old enough to eat solids, his lips would break out in hives. When he was old enough to express what was happening, he would tell us his mouth had "boo-boos" on the inside too. Needless to say, I rarely gave him dairy. But over this past year his reactions have become less pronounced, until I thought they were nonexistent. Gradually he began having cheese, yogurt, and very rarely cow milk on his cereal.
Dairy products are an easy way to get protein in their little bodies. I thought I was doing their moods a favor by getting them protein. But the dairy, I now realize, had the opposite effect.
The day, I'm talking within hours, of not giving Addie milk to drink or cheese to eat, she was a stable little two year old. Unbelievable. Her happy and silly little self all day long. I didn't have to listen to her say "No--don't want to/it," for half the day. Usually when she would go on those long jags (they would last for hours) nothing I could say, do, or bribe would bring back her happy mood. And those moods would hit without any warning.
Needless to say, I was blown away--could it really be that simple? Well, amazingly enough...it is for her!!!!!!
I'm not saying she never has tantrums or gets upset, but I am saying she is a totally different little girl. She is her normal self ALL DAY, instead of just half of it.
As for Jason, he has not gone into hyper mode all week. Yippee!
So, I thought they were no longer allergic--but boy was I wrong. Too bad it took me so long to figure it out. But the phrase, "better late, than never" definitely applies here.
It your kiddos exhibit extreme behavior, you should consider what they may be getting too little/or too much of. Maybe they need more protein, no wheat, who knows. I definitely learned that in our family, I can't blame everything on sugar :)
2 comments:
This sounds so magical! I so need to try this!
that's super interesting. Ky (5yrs) has really emotional ups and downs as well and everyone said oh, it's just the age, she'll grow out of it, but she's 5 now, and it's still worse than my 3 year old. maybe it is something to do with her diet? I wonder how I go about figuring it out. I don't think anyone in our family or extended has milk allergies, but maybe something else? Glad you figured that out and shes a happy camper now.
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