I’m going to preface this post with: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I AM NOT A PSYCHIATRIST. But I do know my child. So take this for what it’s worth, it is my merely my humble, non-clinical opinion (and my husband’s). Any nay-sayers or Doubting Thomases…keep on movin’ and keep it to yourselves.
My three year old and I have been on the GAPS Diet since February. 10 months. We’ve learned alot along the way. I’ll post the link to where we were at last summer for your reference, and if you’re reading about GAPS for the first time, it will give you a little more info…
Cool new things: she has healed enough to be able to eat cheese and nuts, although being previously moderately allergic to dairy and all nuts. Even a couple months ago, they were giving her diarrhea, eczema flares and causing some behaviors we didn’t much care for…so we removed them from her diet for awhile. Being able to eat these foods has been a really positive change for her, and allows a few more options. I won’t get much into the physical stuff that is no longer an issue…because we really had alot of that taken care previously and I talked about most of it in the GAPS Part 3 link shown above.
We never really thought that she had any cognitive issues before GAPS, or at least much outside of grumpiness. I stated in the GAPS Part 3 post that at that time, I felt she had some sensory issues, and I’ll stick by that. I don’t really know what else to call it. She has always been extremely bright, and social when she wants to be. Maybe we were just really focused on her physical health. Maybe it didn’t click until we saw such dramatic sudden improvement. Don’t really have an answer for that. But when she started healing more…it was OBVIOUS.
A few months back, we were having issues with lots and lots (and lots) of screaming tantrums, that seemed to last indefinitely. All day during times when we were home. I’ll take the blame for the last bad bout we had…I was stupid human and I thought she’d be able to “cheat” at the State Fair just once, and eat some gluten free fries. WRONG. After that she went backwards and we started seeing alot more of the screaming tantrums, “fuzzy” behavior and rubbing her ears, and being more quiet and reserved socially. Our setback lasted about a month and a half (I’ll include myself in this…fair fries…GF or not…BAD IDEA) and as suddenly as it started, it ended. Even now, I really don’t know what happened to cause the dramatic shift in her behavior except that I have chalked it up to detoxing and/or further healing. I can’t pinpoint one specific thing so that’s my best guess.
Things got a little better a month and a half after the fry incident…and they kept getting better. About a month ago, we really started seeing some great stuff from her. Her screaming tantrums are now what are typical for three year olds…fairly few and far between and redirectable. Her speech has advanced alot suddenly, and she is cracking jokes and making witty comments, and she’s knows she’s witty. Her level of facial animation is amazing, and she knows that her “funny faces” are a HOOT. And best of all…she is initiating hugs and kisses and LOVE. She has always been a very cuddly and clingy child, but it wasn’t until this change that I realized that she was seeking comfort more than she was actually showing love. She started to tell us “I love you!” which she has never done before (this is personally my favorite part 🙂 ). My big kids started to say this around age 2, and she is almost 4. While we gave it no thought when she wasn’t saying it (figured it was just her personality)…it is obvious to both my husband and I that this is all part of her change and healing because it is all happening at the same time and is so sudden. No, I don’t think it’s because she’s “feeling better” or because she’s “growing up”. I think that based on what I’ve read from the “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” book and everything we’ve learned along the way, her brain is finally detoxifying. I have long suspected that she was storing mercury and other toxic elements, and now maybe I’ll never know. Which isn’t all bad. We can just focus on HER.
Thank you Lord for giving us the tools to heal our child…and help her to be who You meant her to be. 🙂 I am forever grateful. This all makes me so excited for the end result…so stay tuned!
This post was shared at The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter; Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday; Cultured Palate’s Tasty Traditions; Butter Believer’s Sunday School Blog Carnival; Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays;
Diary of a Small Town Earth Muffin 
I’m so glad I’ve ended up here this morning.We’re about to start a GAPS diet with our 7 year old …much to the scoffing and eye rolling of the school psychologist and even our pediatrician. I figure anything is worth a try at this point. Thanks for the affirmation.
I’m so glad you ended up here too! 🙂 Ignore the eye rolling and do what you feel you need to do. Hopefully you will have wonderful success! Just know that sometimes it can feel slow, and sometimes we’ve felt like we’ve gone backwards…and sometimes the improvements are so glaring…like this post…that it really keeps you going! 🙂 I wish there were more parents like you. In my humble opinion, the schools are overflowing with kids who would benefit greatly from something like this – whether it be for cognitive/behavioral issues or physical health. It’s sad when you’re discouraged from changing your child’s quality of life for the better because of ignorance and arrogance. Been there. Hang in there and best wishes to you and your family on GAPS!!! 🙂
I have a feeling it’s going to start off very difficult. My kiddo is a super picky eater and when reading off the things to eliminate, my husband said, “Um….those are all his favorites. What’s he going to eat!?” We’ll see how it goes.
Our 3 year old was very much the same. She happily ate…cereal bars, raisins and drank milk. And that’s about it. Our first few days were really tough – we did a lot of bribing with small prizes and it still didn’t go fantastically. On about the fourth day she switched gears and started eating anything. The holidays have been tough – so many places that we are supposed to bring “treats” to – even GAPS treats – so she can participate like everyone else, and her tastes have gone back to the sweet again and she hasn’t been eating as well, even things she previously loved. I’ve just decided to ride it out through the holidays and reel things back in afterwards. Thankfully she hasn’t seemed to regress. She has overall become a really good eater though (not counting the past couple weeks!). Good luck, and try not to be intimidated by the lists of what to eat and what not to eat. And don’t stress out if he won’t eat right away…it will happen, just like the book says. Good luck! 🙂
I am starting this diet as a family. My husband 5 year old 2 year old soon to be 6 and 3 in jan and feb. I am EBF my 8 month old so have decided to do the full gaps diet minus dairy. Will we still see a difference? I am just worried that I will be wasting my time. What r your thoughts?
I think anything is a good effort…although I am no expert. We too are learning as we go… Admittedly, we have seen the biggest healing from intro, but you can always go back and do it some other time if you feel you need to. If you are on facebook, there are a couple of different GAPS groups that you might want to check out…GAPS for Families and I think one that deals more with pregnancy and breastfeeding issues, although I can’t place the name of it offhand. The people in the GAPS for Families group have a wealth of information combined – they might be able to answer your question better than I can, or there could be someone else doing the same. I wish your family the best of luck!!!
Thank u
I saw your comment on a blog about eczema and the GAPS diet and how it helped heal your daughter. I’d love for you to write a guest post on my blog about your daughter’s eczema, the diet, and how it helped exactly. Would you be interested? Please email if you are: jennifer@eczemacompany.com
Here is my blog: http://www.itchylittleworld.com/
Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
I would love to, and thank you! I’ll email you… BTW I looked at your blog and I love the labels. 🙂 On the note of eczema, my big kids found some old pictures that we were looking at last night. My littlest was then around 1, and had terrible eczema. My husband and I were almost surprised, we had forgotten that she looked that rough. GAPS has sure been a miracle for us. 🙂 Thanks again and have a great day!
Yes, Oliver’s Labels makes some great things. Love the allergy labels especially. Isn’t it amazing to look back at our little ones – to see how much their skin was suffering – and how far they’ve come? I wrote a post just last week about how they don’t remember how bad it was. You can surely relate. http://itchylittleworld.com/2013/01/22/how-quickly-they-forget-or-chose-to-forget-the-hard-times/
I’m thrilled the GAPS diet worked for you and cannot wait to read your story. I’ve had quite a few readers ask me about it, but we never tried it, so it will be great to hear your success story.
Pingback: Happy One Year GAPSiversary…To Us! « Diary of a Small Town Earth Muffin