Do I Gluten My Baby?

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

My head is just spinning with questions at the moment and I spent hours last night lying awake in bed when I should have been sleeping.....

Anyway, I've come across differing opinions on whether to introduce gluten to younger siblings. My baby will soon be at the age to introduce wheat (I actually already had given her a few regular crackers but stopped when Nathan was in the process of being diagnosed) and just wondering whether to go ahead like normal and then get her tested and stop or whether to just not introduce it yet? Because we're going gluten-free in our house she will obviously be gluten-free but I'd like to know whether she needs to make that a long term decision by the time she is around 2yo it'd be nice to know whether she needs to be strict about it if out of the home. I've read too that the test isn't necessarily accurate in under 2yo's, so not sure which way to go.

Any advice would be appreciated.

TIA

[Guest nini]

Just my personal opinion. Gluten is toxic period. If I had known what I know now when my daughter was a baby, I NEVER would have given her Gluten.

[bluelotus]

I agree with the above opinion, but then again, when your baby is a teenager or young woman, she will want to make her own food decisions outside of the house. In that sense, it would be good to have her tested for celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, so she will know whether she can eat gluten on her own choosing (out of the house) or if it is completely off limits. I'd definitely bring this up with a good doctor familiar with celiac disease issues.

[e&j0304]

I am kind of going through the same thing right now and I have decided to just remove gluten from my little guy's diet and see if his symptoms inprove. He is only 11 months old and doesn't seem to enjoy eating, spits up/vomits frequently and has watery stools about 4 times per day. His older sister was recently diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity and although she had totally different symptoms I think that he could also be gluten sensitive.

We have a supportive family dr. and although I haven't discussed my plan with her yet I feel and hope that she agrees that this is the best way to go about this right now. I guess that when he is older he can decide if he wants to eat it and whether it makes him sick. The same goes for my daughter who was not diagnosed with "celiac", but rather a gluten sensitivity. When she's older it will be her call if she chooses to eat things that make her sick or feel bad in any way. I assume that the consequences of eating gluten will make her likely to stick to the diet.

I guess for now we're the ones who make decisions for our kids and although that's awful hard sometimes I feel that the benefits outweigh anything else when it comes to going gluten-free for both of my kids. Good luck with your decision. I know how hard it can be!

[Carriefaith]

This is a tough decision, no wonder you were up all night! It's hard because they will grow up and wonder why they can't eat what everyone else is eating and will wonder why they weren't tested. Personally, if I had a baby, I would keep him/her on the same diet as me, which is gluten and dairy free. I think the benefits of these diets outway being able to eat them.

[lovegrov]

Most every celiac expert I've seen says introduce gluten when you would normally.

That's what we did. So far, I'm the only one with celiac disease.

richard

[VydorScope]

I am looking at the same problem , or will in a while since we plan to have another child. Dunno that there is a right answer since you can no have them tested unless you introduce gluten. If you dont do it now, the child will do it later. That is a garrentee. So you have realy only to decided the when it will happen, and if you or the child will be in control of it.

Reguardless of how good/bad it is.. in the end the child will make the decsion for you if you wait.

Becasue of tha tI think as a baby I would keep them glutne free, then when they are a bit older and more able to communicate I would introduce gluten slowly and watch for reactions. I guess thats the best comprimise.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Well, we know when non-Celiacs go gluten-free and then re-introduce it back into their symptoms it takes time and it is not easy. If your child doesn't have Celiacs and isn't used to gluten when she is a little older and eats what she wants or something at school she will get sick from not being used to it. That's just something I have thought about.

[e&j0304]

MySuicidalTurtle,

I didn't know that. I just always thought that if a person was not sensitive to gluten and did not eat it on a regular basis they could eat it occasionally and be ok. In fact, I think there is a woman on this board who is gluten-free without sensitivity and eats gluten when out to eat with no problem. She is just gluten-free at home because her little boy has celiac and she wants to be gluten-free because she read Dangerous Grains.

I could definitley be wrong, however. This is an interesting subject to me because I don't want to cause my little boy any problems in the future if he is not gluten sensitive but we are making him gluten free. Maybe others have suggestions.

[aikiducky]

Well, we know when non-Celiacs go gluten-free and then re-introduce it back into their symptoms it takes time and it is not easy. 

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I wonder about that really. Some people seem to go easily from gluten free to eating gluten and back. I wonder if it mightn't be that when people have trouble starting to eat gluten again that it is a sign that they really are sensitive to it, only their bodies are able to adjust to some degree after a while on gluten?

I remember reading that both introducing gluten too early, and introducing gluten too late, makes a child more likely to develop celiac. I don't remember where I read it though.

Pauliina

[ravenwoodglass]

Well, we know when non-Celiacs go gluten-free and then re-introduce it back into their symptoms it takes time and it is not easy.  If your child doesn't have Celiacs and isn't used to gluten when she is a little older and eats what she wants or something at school she will get sick from not being used to it.  That's just something I have thought about.

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Where did you get this? If it was from a medical article would you please post a link? People react to gluten if they are sensitive to it. If you ae not you can go back and forth between consuming and not consuming forever and it won't cause a problem. If you have a gluten-free household and you have a child who does not need to be gluten-free you WILL NOT make him sensitive to it by not feeding gluten to him. Delaying the onset of full blown celiac may be possible by delaying the introduction of gluten but the child will still be gluten sensitive, you can't change your genes by avoiding or wallowing in a substance. Gluten sensitivity is genetic, it is not caused by gluten it is caused by the bodies reaction to it.

[Guest nini]

Well, we know when non-Celiacs go gluten-free and then re-introduce it back into their symptoms it takes time and it is not easy.  If your child doesn't have Celiacs and isn't used to gluten when she is a little older and eats what she wants or something at school she will get sick from not being used to it.  That's just something I have thought about.

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I think this just proves the theory that gluten is toxic for everybody. If we would just LISTEN to our bodies...

stepping off my soapbox now

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Thanks! Wow, still a bit confused though...my mum is going to her doctor tomorrow to get a test done since she also thinks she's suffered for years. Her doctor has Celiac's, so she's going to ask his opinion on it too.

[CeliacMe]

I agree with everyone else, gluten is terrible. Please read dangerous grains if you do not believe me. Furthermore, if your other child is gluten free, the best thing for that child would be to have a gluten free kitchen at home, a safehaven where that child can eat and no worry about cross contamination. It is very, very difficult to clean gluten off of things (it makes a sticky film that is very hard to remove). You would really be doing EVERYONE a favor if you had a gluten free house.

[CeliacMe]

That quote of course, is based on the theory that everyone is gluten sensitive because gluten is a more modern "man made" grain and our bodies (the human race) have not had time to adapt to this protein. There are studies and such that suggest that gluten damages all human epithelial tissue, not just celiac tissue. Celiac is an autoimmune response ("disease") to the gluten, in attempt to "protect" your body from the gluten. I know that this is a bit confusing because many still belive that Celiac is an autoimmune disorder where the body "attacks itself" in response to gluten. In fact, the Merk manual describes it as such.

The people from the "gluten is bad for everyone school" typically believe that gluten is bad for everyone, ie it causes some damage to everyone's intestines and Celiac antibodies are an immune response to the damage, not causing the damage. The term for the damaged intestine is "leaky gut" and this "leaky gut" breaks the barrier (lining) in the intestine and lowers everyone's immune system making them more prone to any types of infections. If you believe this, it explains why our wheat loving culture is constantly sick and we have a drug for everything. In fact, acid refulx is a disease, IBS is a disease. We are classifying symptoms as diseases. Logically, the only way to confirm that these people would have Celiac or are suffering damage, would be to do an upper GI. Since most people "aren't that sick" or aren't exhibiting "classic" symptoms, and doctors are taught that the condition is rare. The odds of them actually being tested, let along diagnosed, are slim to none.

Where did you get this? If it was from a medical article would you please post a link? People react to gluten if they are sensitive to it. If you ae not you can go back and forth between consuming and not consuming forever and it won't cause a problem.  If you have a gluten-free household and you have a child who does not need to be gluten-free you WILL NOT make him sensitive to it by not feeding gluten to him. Delaying the onset of full blown celiac may be possible by delaying the introduction of gluten but the child will still be gluten sensitive, you can't change your genes by avoiding or wallowing in a substance. Gluten sensitivity is genetic, it is not caused by gluten it is caused by the bodies reaction to it.

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