Why we started the Gaps Diet?
When Lyla was 2 years old, we started noticing some delays. She started crawling at 10 months and walking at 1 1/4 years. Everything seemed normal, she was a happy baby and things seem to be on track. Between 18 months to 2 years our child started losing focus in her eyes. She had trouble looking directly at me when I spoke to her and instead stared at space when she responded, trying to take a picture with her looking at the camera was next to impossible. She often fussed when she changed surfaces from carpet to tile or anything other drastic surface change. My solution to console my child was to carry her and she barely touched the floor until her baby sister was born. She started running late and would often flap her hands as she ran. She tired easily, barely lasting 10 minutes at the park. Lyla developed ear infections at 1 and they came multiple times a year followed by various types of antibiotics. I eventually asked her doctor to check her for autism when she was almost 3 but with Lyla vocabulary so advance she assured me that she was fine. Turns out my child has an amazing memory and memorized conversations and words she heard. Then she started preschool 3 year program for a couple hours, a couple times a week, that was when I noticed her shaky hands. I never realized before because she was never interested in coloring at home. Her hands shake tremendously while coloring and especially while tracing. Getting her dress for preschool became a task. She was very picky about clothing and will only wear dresses or long tights, tags on clothes bother her, seams in socks, elastic on the waist. After several mornings of fights, I just passed it off as my girl just likes what she likes. Eventually came the silver boots that she wore until there were holes in it. She absolutely refuse to wear anything else. After a year I eventually hid them because they were so gross looking and to get her to wear something else. I ended buying her a new pair of boots because I couldn’t stand to see her so unhappy and uncomfortable in other footwear. She also had been doing ballet for about a year at this point. I notice that she could not jump with 2 feet lifted off the floor or walk the bar without her foot continuously slipping off. I know as a mother you are not suppose to compare children but the difference in development was noticeably. I ended up taking her to get tested at school board… The results showed a delay in fine and gross motor skills and sensory issues. The therapist told me that she didn’t fail enough to do further evaluation. Feeling like I was back to square one, I decided this is who my daughter is.. She has some delays and sensory issues and I just got to help her with her “quirks”
In comes VPK.. At this point her little sister was striving easily and quite differently and it just brought more light on the issue that I knew something was off…But it wasn’t until her vpk teacher approached me saying that something was off with Lyla. She wasn’t focusing at school because she was in a daze or fog most days. Sometimes she acted like she was deaf when the teacher spoke to her. She was also concerned that Lyla was walking on her tip toes. She also mention that sometimes Lyla looked at her as if she didn’t understand what was being said and when she responded it was sometimes a random answer. She was often looking out for Lyla on the playground, she got tired and over heated easily and once ended up throwing up because of it. When the teacher told me these are things I had confirmation that it wasn’t all in my head because a teacher that has taught many kids her age told me that something was off. I was relieve but also sadden because I didn’t know what it all meant and how was I going to help my child. In ballet class she become more delayed, her reaction time was noticeably slower than the other kids. She would often stare into space or make faces in the mirror during her ballet class. Her vpk teacher suggested I go back to school board and demanding further testing for my child. She was tested again. This therapist however knew something was up. Although Lyla didn’t fail enough she went ahead and ordered further evaluation. In the mean time Lyla sensitivity to light and sound got worst. At this point she covered her ears as if she was in pain when we flush the toilet or her sister cried and covering her eyes if she walked into bright light.
Evaluation day came and went. What a waste of my time it was. They told me that Lyla had behavioral issues, that is why she had problems focusing. I had never gotten a compliant on my daughter behavior until then and then never again. Lyla has always been respectful and compliant to her teacher, she is also a sensitive loving and caring child to those around her. They mentioned she had 3 second processing delay and as a parent, I would have to advocate for my child that she needed to get extra time while testing. They also saw fine and gross motor skills delay but told me she would catch up. Basically they looked at me like a crazy person and sent me on my way.
I started searching Lyla symptoms online and came across the gluten free/ casein free diet and I decided to give it a go. Within a month, I basically had another kid on my hands, she was more alert, more focus, she started looking at my face when I spoke to her. I was nice to see who my child was under all that fog. Her teacher was also amazed. She couldn’t believe the impact the diet had made on my little girl. I had her tested privately during the process of changing her diet.. Her results had shown sensory processing disorder along with auditory processing disorder( reason why she acted deaf at times and her response was delayed). Eventually Lyla started interacting more with kids her age( before she socialized with babies and older kids). We started occupational therapy twice a week and eventually dropped down to one. We started allowing the occasional cupcake and occasionally bread at restaurants and although we kept her GF/CF 90% of the time.. Her sensory started getting worst. And now she had a new diagnoses ADD. My heart sunk..She started throwing tantrums which was a new territory for us because she used to be so calm. These tantrums lasted up to a hour at times. She would say things like I want another family or I want to leave this place. Eventually the tantrums escalated to suicidal tantrums and she started saying stuff like she wanted to die or kill herself. We talked about sending her to therapy but we also felt like that would ruin her. When she tantrums were over she often cried saying she doesn’t understand why she says those things or why she gets so sad. There were also a lot changes going on, I had just started working full time and my kids had a new caregiver. Spd kids don’t do well with changes. Kinder started and the symptoms started crawling back. She started having a couple off days. Maybe it was the fact that we were eating out more or taking part in eating at restaurants for the school’s fundraiser. But we were definitely slacking on her diet. I was determined to get back on track… That was when I came across the Gaps diet that can heal and seal her gut. I also felt like her symptoms were gut related because of the terrible constipation she had, once it was so bad she was throwing up while in pain.. We took her to emergency and they thought it was appendicitis.. Also she had a habit before going GFCF to lay on her stomach squeezing down on a pillow and sweating profusely. I wanted my daughter to be able to enjoy an occasional cupcake or pizza without negative side effects. This diet sounded awesome, the only trick was.. And this is a big trick… Is that it is a very restrictive diet taking out all bothersome grains, starches, and replacing foods with broth, meats, gaps approve veggies and fruit, fermented foods and probiotics. Gaps is a process, a long process. First intro Gaps last 4-6 weeks then full gaps last 6-18 months sometimes more. Everything and I mean everything must be prepared at home. Luckily a friend told me about a farm nearby where I can get my fermented goods. So we started the diet for Lyla and fast paced through intro stages in just 3 weeks… But she are keeping her on intro gaps for another 2 weeks before introducing anything else and she only had a reaction to peanut butter. The second day she was dizzy and vomitted… I almost gave up. By the third day Lyla was responding quicker. She was more focus and responded when as soon as we called her, which my husband and I continue doing through the day because we were so amazed. She started being able to do her homework while her sister or one of us was talking, she usually ask us to be quiet when she was trying to concentrate. She was more engaged in playing with her little sister. She hasn’t been so picky about clothes in fact yesterday she chose short shorts out of her draw( she only tolerates short right above her knees to wear under her uniform) and her tantrums are fewer and shorter, in fact it’s been days but I don’t want to jinx it. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better.. Gaps took her to another level. GFCF was like putting a bandaid on the problem where Gaps is actually healing my child. She hasn’t suffered from cramps lately, she used to get 1-3 cramps a week. The last one lasted 3 days and we thought she had broken something.. The doc ordered an X-ray and ultrasound because she couldn’t walk on the leg without being in pain… Turns out Gaps kids don’t absorb magnesium and cramps are quite common amongst them.
So Gaps has done a lot for my daughter and we are only a couple weeks in.. We possibly still have a year to go. I recently put my youngest one Gaps because her eczema recently return after allowing her to have gluten snacks at school. Out of support for my children, I’ve also started Gaps, after all how do I expect my children to follow some restricted diet when I can’t myself. Lyla was the only one that did the intro, Mia and I Dove right into Full Gaps.
Yes it is a lot of work, I make broth a couple times a week, been baking wheat free bread and treats for my kids and cooking large amounts of soups per day…. Spending all Sunday and atleast 3 hours a day after and before work… All while trying to find small space in my day to spend quality time with my children. Thankfully my husband has picked up on areas where I have been lacking.
I used to think of all the things I could have done different having a natural birth, breastfeed more than 2 months, co sleep(not sleep train), introduce probiotics when she was infant, had a good gut flora myself while being pregnant with her, avoid multiple vaccinations at the same time and requested single dose instead without the harmful toxins, but now I see there is a solution and a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes I wonder if I should share this story.. Obviously it labels my child to the public but God brought me to this place for a reason… If we don’t share then we aren’t helping other parents that are probably going through similar situations with their kids. God lead me to a diet that can help heal my child. He also gave me another chance to be the mother I always wanted to be. With His help, Lyla is on her way to a healthy state of recovery from Spd, Apd, Add. As tired as I can be, He continues to strengthen me. With this diet, occupational therapy and God’s undying love… I have no doubt my child is on her way to recovery… God bless, He is good always ❤️❤️❤️
mamalovetimes2 