My mom, brother and I are all lactose and gluten intolerant. The difference it has made in our lives has been remarkable.

On the suggestion of our homeopath I decided to keep my children off both gluten and lactose for the first year of their lives. It was not always easy as we had to find lactose free formulas which are generally more expensive than the normal ones. We also avoided ready-made baby food as much as we could for home-made meals.

We introduced lactose before gluten in things like yoghurt and cheese. Cameron had no reaction to either gluten or lactose but Kiaras reacted to both, so we still keep her off both to a large extent.

So what is gluten and lactose? And what does it mean to be gluten and lactose intolerant?

Gluten is

1. The mixture of proteins, including gliadins and glutelins, found in wheat grains, which are not soluble in water and which give wheat dough its elastic texture.
2. Any of the prolamins found in cereal grains, especially the prolamins in wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats, that cause digestive disorders such as celiac disease.

Lactose is

1. A disaccharide, C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, found in milk, that may be hydrolyzed to yield glucose and galactose.
2. A white crystalline substance obtained from whey and used in infant foods, bakery products, confections, and pharmaceuticals as a diluent and excipient. Also called milk sugar.

Celiac disease is a disease of the digestive system that damages the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food.

Lactose intolerance refers to the inability of the body to digest lactose.

Dealing with a baby with an intolerance to these products is easier than dealing with a toddler or older child. Once they start attending school and/or parties it does become more challenging. Parties pose the greatest challenge as birthday cakes, cup cakes, ice cream and even cheese curls are a no-no. Schools are a little easier to manage as most schools that serve meals are willing to leave out ingredients or will allow you to provide meals/snacks your child can have.

It has become a way of life for Kiara so for the most part she won’t accept things she can’t eat or will tell the person she can’t eat it. When she does have something she is intolerant to the reaction can sometimes be instant. If she has ice cream, her chest closes almost immediately, her nose will start running and she has often started scratching her skin asking me to take it out. I have often had the same reaction when I have eaten something I shouldn’t have. If it is lactose she has had it is guaranteed that she will have tonsillitis or an ear infection within 2 days of eating it.

Some of the symptoms she experiences

• Coughing
• Running nose
• Wheezing chest
• Itchy skin
• Irritability
• Sore throat
• Low blood pressure
• Ear infection and tonsillitis

It is also a challenge to find products that we can eat that taste nice. A lot of shops do now stock a range of gluten free products but you need to still check the ingredients and your reaction. Buckwheat and millet are gluten free but I react badly to both of them – worse than my reaction to normal bread. These products are also expensive and often tasteless or not very nice.

A few of the products we have found that have worked for us

• Woolworths rice cakes (not the organic ones)
• Woolworths rice milk (it is a sweet milk so not suitable for sauces)
• Rice noodles (from the various the Chinese supermarkets)
• Sweet William Dairy Free Rice Crackle Chocolate Bar from Dischem is gluten, nut and dairy free
• Natures Choice Rice Flour (best for baking)
• Rinas Muffins – found at the Pretoria Farmers Market. Her muffins are wheat free as she uses rye flour and cremora which do contain traces of gluten. You can contact her on amvw@webmail.co.za
• Maizena can be used to thicken sauces as well as for baking.

A few items that contain lactose and gluten that you may not have known

• Tab (lactose)
• Smarties (gluten)
• Bacon (gluten)
• Oats (gluten)
• Liqourice All Sorts (gluten)
• Tomato Sauce (gluten) – All Gold does not but most of the others do.

For recipes that contain ingredients found in South Africa I use ‘South African cookbook for allergies and food intolerance by Hilda Lategan’

Definitions from Answers.com