What should I feed my flaring 12 year old daughter? Desperate Mom!

My daughter was diagnosed in October 2007. We have recently changed gastroenterologist for we had no guidance from the previous one.
I have been reading a lot on the forum about diet for remission, (Makers' diet, SCD, etc.) but I am at a loss in regards to diet during a flare up for a child. She does not have her period yet, and I was told it is important that she grows as much as possible before she does. So I am very concerned about what I feed her. She has been flaring since June.
Any help will be so appreciated. I am very very worried.
Thanks.

I'm so sorry that your daughter is going through this. I'm actually eating the Ramen now. I'm not feeling so hot either. I think it has something to do with the bland noodles and salty sauce mix. Also, things like rice, crackers, scrambled eggs and cream of wheat help me. Maybe they might be something that your daughter can eat....Also, popsicles and pediasure are very helpful...one from a flavor stand point...the other on a health stand point.

Thank you Stef17 and Solanges,

I am so grateful for having found a place where I can look for information from real human beings. The new GI said to feed her a low fiber diet, so I am mainly giving her rice, pasta, potatoes, chicken and fish, hard boild eggs and some cooked fruit and freez dried fruit (crispy green), white bread with honey. She drinks lactaid milk, about 2 cups a day, prepared with chai tea. She also has Pediasure sometimes, she does not like the flavors at all. What do you think?

Solanges: is the ramen the canned type? the dried one? Where/how do you get/eat it?

Stef 17: In regards to SCD, should I try it once she is over the flare up, or can we start during the flare up? Today is the first day I ever heard about this diet.

I will be seeing the GI on the 29th. I'll mention the SCD too, along with the dozens of other questions I have.

Thanks again...

I try to stick to a loose version of the SCD, but when I am flaring really badly it's simply not possible. In that case I consume a lot of ensure and boost (neither the best, but it's better than nothing) and try to get water down. I would have literally wasted away without ensure.

Hi Catasmom

I have a daughter who is currently only 9 and her Crohn's is flaring too. I came to this board very recently for the same reason you did...to find help, friends, ideas, etc. and to vent.  Having a sick child is the worst...believe me, I have two children and both have issues that I stress over every minute of every day.  This is a good place to come. Lots of nice people here all going thru similar experiences.

As for food, I am in the same boat as you... Trying to figure out what is the best thing to feed my daughter and prevent flares.  We are still at a point of guessing which foods bother her.  So far we KNOW tomato sauce in any form is a no-no, as is soda, fried foods and possibly beef.  I, too, am seriously considering the SCD for my child, altho I can't begin to imagine how I'm gonna get her to eat enough on that diet since she is a child and is SO particular about what she will and won't eat.

I recently bought a Yogourmet yogurt maker to begin making my own homemade yogurt for her, which is loaded with healthy bacteria (called Probiotics...if you're not familiar) which will hopefully help to colonize her gut with good bacteria, which may in turn push out some of the bad.  This is recommended on the SCD...so it's my first step into this territory. One teeny tiny step in the right direction toward healing her insides.

Good luck, and if you ever want to contact me personally, please feel free to email me.

Take probiotics all the time!!! Those have helped me so much. I take Align which works great. You may need to experiment for a little while though.

First, it depends which probiotics you use. Some are much better for CD than others. The ones that have a track record are Culturelle, Align, and VSL#3. There are a couple of others that are good for special purposes, but those are good to start with. I think that it would be a good idea to use probiotics during a flare - just make sure that the probiotic you choose does NOT have "prebiotics" which are bacteria food and includes things like FOS, inulin or anything that is identified as a prebiotic.

A lot of the problems that result in flares are due to bacterial growth in the gut, with some also caused by food intolerances. Actual food intolerances are usually only a problem for short periods if you can avoid them for a few weeks. However, many foods are poorly digested in a flare and end up feeding the bacteria and making the problem worse. The problem foods for feeding bacteria are usually starches or contain starches that are not very digestible. Then too, once a flare has begun, the added gut permeability can cause intolerances for common foods. Usually it is the foods that you eat all the time that can become an intolerance. This makes for real problems when trying to figure out a diet. One way around this is to eat predigested foods or foods that have their proteins broken down - like soup or similar very well cooked foods. You can also use a hydrolysed protein supplement.

Common problem foods are milk (usually due to lactose which supports bacterial growth, but also a common food allergen), wheat (often just avoiding gluten is helpful), corn, soy, and nightshades (potato, tomato, sweet peppers, egg plant). Others are commonly troublesome in Crohn's, but they can be very specific to the person.

Sugar and starches are good to avoid, but you can substitute honey and fruit (cooked to start with) for sweets. I know that will be a problem for a lot of kids - there are some substitutes on the SCD recipe sites, but I don't use them, so I am not a good source for that.

Often, you can control a lot of the symptoms by eating soup for a day or two and then adding in more easily tolerated foods over time.

I'm coming late to this party, but I self diagnosed at 13 and had to avoid a lot of foods that most teen kids wanted to eat. It wasn't always easy, so I can understand that getting your daughter to keep to a strict diet would be really hard. The SCD is a diet you must be religious about. At her young age you might have better luck just making sure that she is getting really high quality food of whatever she can tolerate. If I am going to eat applesauce, I eat homemade. The same with the chicken soup. I try not to use packaged foods at all. It really was the way I was brought up, so I already was cooking that way.

When she is flaring, like everyone else said, you want to have her eat soft low fiber foods. If you think she needs some more nutrients you might add some Ensure, Boost, or even Carnation Instant Breakfast(made with Lactaid milk). When she is feeling better keep a food diary so you know what upsets her. Try the offending food again in a few months. If it still bothers her, its off the list.

I do recommend an excellent book "Cooking Well for the Unwell", by Eileen Behan. She is a dietitian. The book explains exactly why, as patients, we need different diets, in easy to understand terms. She has chapters on Low Fiber, Clear Liquid, Full Liquid, Extra Protein, .... Basically any diet restriction that a doctor may order. At the end of each chapter, she has easy recipes. The recipes help me get out of my ruts when I have been "eating" the same clear liquids day after day. I have 2 copies because I was always loaning it out and never had it when I needed it. I got them from Amazon as used books for about $4. Well worth the money. She has lots of tips in it about adding in extra calories, or extra protein. Just a really good resource for a Crohnie.

Catasmom - Yes, my child does take probiotics during a flare, and always.  I give one VSL#3, one Culturelle, and a probiotic from customprobiotics.com called a 6-Strain that many claim to have had good results with for IBD.  I try to give them about 30 mins. before a meal, or at bedtime.  (Also, remember if your child is ever taking ANTI biotics, do not give the probiotics at the same time or the "anti's" will kill them off immediately.)

All of this probiotic purchasing can get expensive to say the least, so I am excited to be pulling my very first batch of homemade yogurt out of the fridge for her tonight. I hope she eats it!  A homemade (not store bought) yogurt has trillions of beneficial probiotics compared to the amount (billions or millions) found in probiotic capsules.  So, the yogurt is SO much cheaper and better for her.  Wish me luck!  If you do decide to venture back into the yogurt making arena, you may want to reference the "correct" SCD way to make the yogurt for maximum beneficial bacteria by reading thru the website pecanbread.com. 

I also just purchased some Ensure for my daughter today. It's not bad if it's very very cold, says she.  I'm thinking that perhaps giving her gut a rest for a bit by giving more liquid and yogurt type nutrition rather than "food" may get her out of this flare... Gonna try it starting this weekend and see if she will comply.  I buy the Ensure Plus, which has added calories for adding or maintaining weight.

Here's hoping that both of our daughter's are in remission soon!  Please keep posting. I'm interested to hear what you decide to pursue and have success with.

When I was your daughter's age and was flaring, I used to calm down a little when I ate a motherload of protein (probably because I was also anemic). My recommendation is to just keep it simple, no crazy spices or flavors, no catered food that's been sitting out for a while, etc.

This is all amazing information. I will start "digesting" it all.
I want to thank you all for being there and being so generous with your abundant knowledge.
I'll keep you posted about Cata's evolution.
Thanks again.

Chicken, rice, and salad. No milk.

When you say NO MILK, does this include Lactaid milk, or is Lactaid OK?
(Sorry, did not get the book yet.)