Help!!! gluten/dairy free diet abroad

[torgrosset]

Hi, I was hoping to get some suggestions about when we go abroad. I've not been abroad for many years & this will be the first time we've taken our children, let alone one who has allergies. dd will be 15 months old when we go & is on a strict dairy & gluten free diet. We are going to Menorca. I don't know Spanish & some useful phrases might help - if anybody knows any! Also, sounds a bit daft (sorry!) but what sort of foods are available in Menorca. I'm fretting about it already & really don't want it to wreck our holiday. (me worrying all the time that is). Also, are you able to take food with you if packed in a suitcase? I was thinking about GF bread & GF pasta etc... At least I could do my own pasta dish for her! Any other sugestions would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks...

Never been to menorca- but yes when we did go abroad (to France) we did take bread etc, although we drove of course which made it easier.

We always take some buckwheat and rice flour as well so we can make pancakes, wherever we go

Are you self catering? I think at 15 months lots of fresh fruit and veggies bought locally along with some suitable cracker type things and some GF pasta in your suitcase would be fine. I wouldn't worry about repetition. I once fed ds exclusively on chips, biscuits and breakfast cereal on a camping holiday and he didn't mind a bit.

oh just noticed the 15 moth thing. Something I did recently with ds3 (and prepare for half of mumsnet to start sucking lemons as I say this) was took some baby jars- pudding jars in particular- a very easy way to fill up and of course we knew it was 100% gluten free.

I'm with you all the way jimjams, plenty of time to make mouthwatering gluten free goodies at home. If you take jars that fill em up then you can actually have a holiday yourself.

Our next holiday - I'm taking those pouches of food that you boil in the bag and don't need refrigerating and several bags of gluten free pasta and some rice.

There are plenty of spanish rice types she would be able to have. I'm sure you can get glutten free products in specilised stores but they may be difficult to find if you don't know the area well.

I normally take with me a couple of glutten free pasta packs and a little container to carry a bit around. If we go to a restaurant I ask any suitable recipe for pasta and ask to be cooked with the pasta I provide.

We also a carry a card that says something like: Our child is allergic to x, y, z would you please recommedn a suitable dish? Many thanks, etc.

The translation to Spanish for your case would be:

Hola,

Nuestra hija es alergica a los lacteos (queso, mantequilla, yogurts, crema, leche, etc) y al glutten, podria recomendar algun platillo que NO contenga estos ingredientes?

Gracias de antemano.

HTH.

We went to Menorca when our son was newly diagnosed gluten / dairy free at 22 months and got on fine.

We took with us gluten-free bread, pasta and biscuits plus a dairy-free margarine / spread and soya milk. We had breakfast and lunch in the apartment and did him things like toast, eggs, rice krispies, ham, tomato, baked beans, pasta,tuna and sweetcorn plus topped jacket potatoes (had microwave in apartment).

We ate out every night opting for the roast chicken (they spit roast them) and plain meats like chops, lamb etc with chips or jacket potatos. The waiters were great, really helpful and ds1 didn't mind the repetition at all.

He's now aged 7 and no longer dairy free but still gluten-free. We still find eating out abroad easier than at home as everything here is covered in sauces or contains breadcrumbs, rusk etc - especially on children's menus. In spain their children's menus have more variety and less processed food we've found.

Off to Corfu this year for a change and am a little apprehensive about how we'll get on there so have ordered a dietary alert card in Greek to take with us! Advice from anyone whose been there and done that would be greatly appreciated!

Hiya,

Thanks for all of the replies!!! Not only is this allergy lark a bit new to me, but DD1 was eating by herself at this age wheras DD2 (who has the allergies) is still being spoon fed lumpy stuff & is proving a very fussy eater! So it's all a bit new!

Anyway, I think I'll try & get her eating GF pasta & my own sauces before we go. At the moment she refuses to eat rice based foods. Like some of you advised, I might even take some GF & dairy free jars too, at least I know she'll have eaten something!!!

One last point, do you pack food in your suitcase or hand luggage?

Thanks again for all of your advice & if anybody can think of anything else I'd be very grateful.

Victoria
x

Oh if she's funny about textures and lumps just take a whole load of jars and have a holiday yourself! Nothing worse than worrying about what something contains, and trying to puree the bloody thing. . How is she with chips? I've found them great if you get completely stuck when out and about - ok its not meat and 2 veg, but it will fill her up until she can eat properly later. I also take some fruit with me so I know that ds3 can have chips and fruit (ds1 also gluten free is a whole different ball game, but I usually have something he can fill up on).

I'm with jimJams, anything beyond the essential dairy / salycylate free goes out the window on holiday. Pureed bananas are of course a life saver, and we used to just pop apples in the micrwave too and scoop oput the centres. Anything easy, really.

Hi - sorry, just seen this - we were in Menorca a month ago with ds2 (milk allergic) and ds1 (egg and nut allergic) and actually managed really well.
We took a seperate a small trolley dolly case thing and just packed it with jars (gasp yes another advocate here), Bledida ready meals (from Boots - some are milk free but not all - not sure about gluten though), rice cakes, biccies and any other fillers that I thought would be difficult to buy. I had intended taking the case on as hand luggage as I thought we'd be close to our limit for the hold but we were well under so it just went with the large case - which was a relief as then I didn't have the worry of them spotting the tins of Nutramigen on the scanner and asking me to unpack my meticulously packed case!
The waiters were fab, actually so much more helpful than in this country - they would actually take the Bledida meals and heat them up which they won't now do in this country (against H&S don't you know - jobs-worth rubbish). The childrens menus were fine - lots of roast chicken with chips or veg, sausages (although prob not gluten free), kebabs of chicken/pork. We often chose allergy friendly fish main courses and gave them that instead, as the childrens menus can get a bit samey.
Have to agree wholeheartedly with leaving the 'home prepared, nutritionally balanced guilt trip' firmly at the airport - and it has taken me 3 years to do this. I found that just accepting that ds's will not be eating as they would at home, but that it's just for a week, meant that I relaxed so much more about it and actually had a relatively stress free holiday.
Good luck and have a lovely time

Another vote for letd relax about food during holidays, in our last trip to Italy he practically lived on pasta with tomato sauce and raisins on the side

We do take enough food for the first 2-3 day , as well as any medicine he may need, in my hand luggage and the rest is checked in (we have a strange gift for our luggage to be lost).

Take one of those tupperwares that is in sections and load it up with food she can eat each day. If she is fussy stick to things you know she will eat and go to some nice places yourself and enjoy not being limited because she can't eat stuff - she won't know and won't care.