Do I Have To Go gluten-free Too?

[FeedIndy]

DD has been gluten free fo several weeks, and doing well! She has also been dairy free for 7 months (most of her little life!) I nurse her, and I know that in light of her food allergies I should continue. Do I need to be DF/gluten-free too?

Her doc didn't mention it when I asked about my own diet. He said I shouldn't need to change anything, but recently 2 people have mentioned that I should go gluten-free too. Thoughts?

[Jestgar]

Gluten (or maybe it's gliadin) does pass through breast milk...

[Ursa Major]

Yes, you will need to go gluten and dairy free as well. Both the casein and gluten pass through breast milk. In fact, a mother has to stop ALL the foods a baby is intolerant to.

A good example is my oldest daughter. When her twins (a boy and a girl) were very small babies, they both had severe eczema, and especially the boy would have his skin literally come off his bottom after bowel movements at times.

My daughter had them tested for food intolerances. It turned out that they're both intolerant to the nightshades family (wonder where they inherited that from ), and neither can tolerante dairy, the girl is intolerant to soy, too.

So, my daughter stopped having all those offending foods, and within a short time the eczema cleared up, Ethan's bum was fine, and they did much better overall. Now, if she'd just take them off gluten, I'd be really happy..............but that's another story.

[KayJay]

I think it depends on the severity of the intolerance. I was told by Maddie's doctor that only a small amount of what I eat actually is passed on. She would get sick if I ate dairy and soy but as she got older I could eat some and it wouldn't affect her.

I think if she is doing fine and not reacting at all then you shouldn't have to change your diet. On the other hand if she is still having symptoms then give it a try.

[kabowman]

I had to give up certain foods that my, now 15.5 YO son, was and still is, intolerant to--but he showed a reaction so I could identify the foods to avoid.

[ylimaf]

YES. I was breastfeeding my one year old and he was slowly dying instead of quidkly dying. Thanks to a good pediatrician he is alive. he is two years old. I went gluten free and he started to gain weight. I ended up with celiac diseas after weening him. Yes it is sad to give up gluten. Yes it is sad I have it now. IT WAS WORTH IT. MY BABY IS ALIVE.

[TCA]

My daughter almost died because of the gluten that passed through my breastmilk. The drs. told me it wouldn't pass through, but they were WRONG. I finally eliminated it on my own for a week and she improved dramatically. I reintroduced it and she got very ill again, so I eliminated it altogether. I also found after a few months gluten-free that I felt great. The joint pains, gas and irritability that I had thought were something I had to deal with were gone for the first time in my life. If I eat something it returns with a vengence. You might be surprised if you try the diet at how much better you might feel if you have gluten issues that are less common.

[aprilh]

YES, Gluten and dairy and other food intolerances DEFINATELY pass through the breast milk. This is something I don't think doctors are much aware of. I NEVER had a doctor advise me on this, I just happened to find out by talking to a clerk one day in the store. She told me the story of her daughter and how they figured out that dairy bothered the baby through breast milk. I had an "ah - ha" moment and thought that for sure was what was wrong with my baby. It worked.

With my second child I could not eat dairy, corn, brocolli, garlic, spicy foods. You can pretty much tell what is bothering them if they are fussy after nursing.

I didn't know at the time about gluten and that is why he never really got rid of the upset tummy. If only I had known then what I know now, I would not have gone through 2 years of screaming, fussiness, gassiness, poopy issues, etc. He would have been a much happier baby and I would have been a much happier mom!

The gluten-free diet is a piece of cake compared to that!

[IrishKelly]

DD has been gluten free fo several weeks, and doing well! She has also been dairy free for 7 months (most of her little life!) I nurse her, and I know that in light of her food allergies I should continue. Do I need to be DF/gluten-free too?

Her doc didn't mention it when I asked about my own diet. He said I shouldn't need to change anything, but recently 2 people have mentioned that I should go gluten-free too. Thoughts?

ABSOLUTELY YES... my neigbor's baby had a horrible reaction when she was nursing him due to her gluten intake. (she does not have a wheat allergy but her baby does) Beware!!

[Guest cassidy]

I was reading about this yesterday. According to the Dr. Sears book I was reading it said that wheat (and therefore gluten) is the only allergen that can cause a reaction in the baby.

So, yes you need to go gluten-free, but I would do more research and see if you need to go dairy free because this book said that you should be able to eat dairy.

I don't know how much you want to experiment because I'm sure you want your baby to be healthy, but if you go gluten-free and df for a few weeks and then try re-introducing dairy into your diet to see if the baby is still ok - that might give you an answer.

[Suzie-GFfamily]

DD has been gluten free fo several weeks, and doing well! She has also been dairy free for 7 months (most of her little life!) I nurse her, and I know that in light of her food allergies I should continue. Do I need to be DF/gluten-free too?

Her doc didn't mention it when I asked about my own diet. He said I shouldn't need to change anything, but recently 2 people have mentioned that I should go gluten-free too. Thoughts?

I think it probably depends on the mother and the baby...

I've noticed that some of the moms who posted here and said the gluten affected their baby also had gluten-intolerance/celiac disease themselves- so in this case they (myself included) probably had a leaky gut before they were diagnosed and treated with a gluten-free diet. I feel that if the gut is leakier than it makes sense to me that there would be a greater chance that undigested protein fragments could pass through the gut lining, get into the blood stream and then into the breastmilk.

If the mother is not gluten-intolerant it may be a different situation. So perhaps to answer your question it might be best if you get tested for celiac disease/gluten-intolerance first.

Once you've been tested you can decide what works best for you and your baby. If you are NOT gluten-intolerant than perhaps it won't make much difference if you eat it yourself. But you could do a trial elimination diet for 2-3 weeks and see if it makes any difference or not.

It is well-known that cow's milk protein can pass into breastmilk if the mother consumes products made from cow's milk. Fewer people are aware that gliadin can pass into breastmilk as well. Some mothers take a digestive enzyme (Pancrease tablets) which helps to digest these proteins more thoroughly- and this is an alternative to eliminating the foods (if you are not intolerant to them yourself).

I don't have any information about what is best if your child is dairy and gluten intolerant. Perhaps in some cases it could be beneficial for the baby to be exposed to minute amounts of the allergen via breastmilk (ie in cases of a wheat ALLERGY or a dairy allergy- but for a baby with celiac disease it might be best if the mother doesn't consume any gluten at all). For babies who are very sensitive, they might do much better if the mother eliminates the allergens from her diet.

I know there are some papers published in medical journals about cow's milk protein and gliadin being present in breastmilk. Perhaps you could find some of them and then ask her dr. what he thinks.

Most importantly, you could also monitor your baby- look for possible signs in your child that could indicate an allergic reaction. Most commonly these are seen in the regions where the body defends itself from the external environment- ie the digestive system, the skin, the lungs and nose. Plus, many allergic babies will have behavioural changes too if they are exposed to the allergen.

Suzie

[FeedIndy]

Wow, Suzie. I had never given any thought to my own intolerances. I have stopped eating what (for the most part) and she is doing so much better. (She's gained 2 lbs in the 7 weeks since diagnosis-we're back on the growth chart!) When I cheat, she tattles on me 24 hours later. I used to slip in a piece of pizza or cheeseburger now and then, but since changing my own diet, it has become very obvious that she reacts when I eat wheat. I can't cheat anymore, for her sake. It never occurred to me to have myself tested too. I'm due for a well visit soon so I'll discuss the possiblity of testing wtih my doctor then. Thanks for the heads up on that possiblity!

[Suzie-GFfamily]

Wow, Suzie. I had never given any thought to my own intolerances. I have stopped eating what (for the most part) and she is doing so much better. (She's gained 2 lbs in the 7 weeks since diagnosis-we're back on the growth chart!) When I cheat, she tattles on me 24 hours later. I used to slip in a piece of pizza or cheeseburger now and then, but since changing my own diet, it has become very obvious that she reacts when I eat wheat. I can't cheat anymore, for her sake. It never occurred to me to have myself tested too. I'm due for a well visit soon so I'll discuss the possiblity of testing wtih my doctor then. Thanks for the heads up on that possiblity!

Glad to hear she is doing better, what a lucky little girl she is to have such a devoted mommy.

You'll have to let us know what happens if you get tested too. Are you eating any gluten now? If you have only cut out wheat (but not all gluten) that would make a difference to the accuracy of the blood screen when you get tested. If you are completely gluten-free the test results could have a false negative. I don't know how quickly the antibody levels decline when you go gluten-free.... does anyone know?

Food intolerances can be hereditary, so that should be enough of a reason for the dr. to check you too.

NB> If you get tested for gluten-intolerance, ask to have a total serum IgA test in addition to the celiac blood test (usually this is a tTG test). Some celiacs are IgA deficient and it would be important to know this when interpreting the results of the blood test.