Daisy's Keto Café is a wealth of knowledge and experience and we were delighted when some of our Café families, who have been through the process of weaning their child off the ketogenic diet, recently offered their advice and support... 

Juliet

"My advice would be slow and steady. We started increasing the protein first and we went a little too fast and had a few small breakthrough seizures. We slowed the increase in protein down and we had no more seizures. We also weren’t prepared for the sudden growth spurt. Having only grown 2cm in 2 years, when increasing the protein he grew 5cm in 5 months and had awful growing pains and stretch marks. After the protein became unlimited we started to slowly increase carbs at the same time we reduced fat. The whole process took about 6 months. Good luck!"

Claire

"Take it slow and steady, after a few years of us cooking and preparing it's a strange world. We've been off the diet nearly 2 years and I still find myself cooking keto style but with less fat, we still have the smaller portions too and as I've learnt that's ok, my girl gets put off by full plates and lots of carbs. I learnt that it's ok not to give a full bag of crisps in fact as we were told an offering is acceptable and eating interesting salads is also ok, my girl loves coleslaw style salads. The diet though opened a huge door of offering textures and tastes and before keto it was baby food style and now we're chunks and shredded foods. I'm definitely going to keep some keto things and will forever be changed in terms of balance and looking at sugars or alternatives in baking just not the push on the fat x "

Sarah

"We took our wean really slowly. We didn't tell my daughter too much about the wean or how far along the wean we were or she'd think it would be instant (no concept of time). It was such a strange feeling and still feels strange now 3 months later. We let her lead once weaned off e.g. if we had a burger in a bun she will decline the bun, or if we have a dessert she will choose fruit. Our ketones hung around right until the end after months of trying to get them higher! As I Mum it felt very lonely, strange and worrying. Always ask in Daisy's Keto Café if you need anything."

Iuliana

"Our son was 6 years old and after 2 years on keto he was weaned off last year to prepare for his brain surgery. I have to say we followed the weekly advice in weaning and found it difficult to cope after weaning completely because he became so still, inactive off keto, on the diet he was brighter enjoying life. Definitely, low carb intake was a good option for him at that time. However, he didn’t have seizure-free days before, during or after weaning off, but the diet helped a lot with daily activities because ketones were a source of energy for his brain. Currently, he’s been seizure free for six months and he had only one short seizure while being out shopping xx"

Vanessa

"We did it slowly. The plan was over a month. My daughter was keen to wean as she only agreed to do it for 2 years but did say if seizures got really bad she would go back on to my relief. We used the keto food had in freezer & added extra bit of carbs that were her choice which she enjoyed choosing, extra lower carb veg were her choices to begin with. Then a few lower carb crisps. Funny enough as we introduced more carbs her ketones went up. She was never seizure-free on keto & I was very nervous her weaning off but her 1st year off keto she had less seizures than the 2 years she was on keto. 1st year keto 281 seizures, 2nd year keto 170 seizures and 1st year off keto 44 seizures. They have slowly crept up again but not as high (99 seizures 2022 & 59 seizures 2023) & we introduced Lamotrigine to the Carbamazepine & it seems to be a good mix at mo. We've had 63 seizure free days end of last year & on day 18 again now. But also her last seizure in 22nd March (she had a diet coke), she had diet coke on keto as one of only drinks with no carbs. Wondering now if she could of had less seizures on keto. Good luck all xx"

Isabel

"Echoing what others have said, take it slow and steady and be conscious of what is changing. I found that my biggest struggles were that I was struggling to eat "enough" where my stomach had shrunk over keto to accommodate the smaller, but high fat and calorie dense portions, and I still have moments where a quantity of food I would have found "easy" to eat pre-diet is just too much for me! Taking the time to slowly accommodate these changes through the wean means that these small things are less frustrating, and making sure to be patient when the wean may take slightly longer is really important too. Good luck to anyone currently weaning."

Claire

"Weaning off the diet is a sad and tough time but it's not the end. The support in Daisy's Keto Café is amazing, epilepsy like autism and other disabilities doesn't go away, we learn new skills to manage and keep our little folks safe no matter how old they are. We are finding her diet post keto is actually just better than it was before. Before she wouldn't eat salad, cheese, meat, crunchy things and now it appears she will eat anything xx"