Sunday, April 5, 2009

The start of something new

We have started the dairy free diet slowly. I've started eliminating most of the milk products he eats like milk, goldfish crackers (which he lives on) and cheeses. My trip to Trader Joes was helpful, but I felt more confused then before. What I needed was to figure out what exactly Wesley eats daily and then try to find alternatives (whether it be pre-made or homemade) and start with those. I did find some items that will be replacing what he eats now. I also found an alternative to the goldfish crackers for school. They aren't crackers, but they are cookies made without milk. Those should do and he likes them. All I need now is to find or make a bread that has no milk.

Now on to the behavior. I'm not sure what is going on with him. We really are only 2-3 days into decreasing his intake of milk (not 100%) and his behavior has taken a turn for the worse. It's been almost 2 year since he's had a tantrum like he's had the last two days. Screaming, carrying on, going limp, refusing to do what we ask. Our usual ways around this aren't working either. Could he really be going through with drawls on the milk products we've taken away so far? These tantrums have taking us by surprise because we haven't had to deal with them in so long. He's usually pretty easy going when we lay out what we're going to do ahead of time.

He's also starting to use scripted phrases (echolalia) much more then he used to. He repeats the same phrase over and over again. More today then yesterday. Maybe it's his way of coping from the tantrum he just had or maybe something more.

Yesterday, he had a huge bowel movement that exploded out of his diaper. This hasn't happened in a long time either. It had a very foul smell and was very loose. It took many wipes to clean up, but I'm sure he felt better. He hadn't gone again since Wednesday afternoon and that was very large and well formed. Again, not sure what to make of it, but something I'll be watching.

I'll be documenting his progress daily on here. Some might not be pleasant to read (like his bowel movements) but I need to keep track and what better place then here so I can get some feedback from other parents!

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

I have a bread machine that I use to make Tessa's bread. The recipes that called for milk was usually just 1 Tbs non-fat dry milk and I just don't put it in. It's only there to give the bread a softer, creamier tecture. The bread taste fine. The only problem is when cutting it into slices it crumbled a bit. I now make a loaf, freeze it almost completely and then slice it. Doesn't crumble and the slices end up pretty close to normal width, too.

We got our bread machine on Craigslist, but I've also been making it in a regular mixer sometimes, its just a little more work because of the kneading.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jess,
You can always substitute any milk in a recipe with Rice Milk. Jameson has been on Rice Milk since July and that is what we use when baking and what he drinks for milk now.

I will say that Jameson did go through withdrawals when we went casein free and it lasted about 3 or so weeks. He went through more withdrawals when we went gluetin free in late Sept. but they were not as bad as the casein free withdrawls. I know it can be very hard. His body and his brain are probably really fighting for what it feels it needs but what might really be "hurting" him.

Please feel free to ask me anything if you would like. I can try to help you find substitutes for Wes if you are having a tough time.

Karah

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