Just Had A Newborn Baby

[Annaem]

Just had my little boy. Wondering if there's any advice you can give a celiac mom. Im trying to breast feed along with the formula ( Similac). They've decided to keep monitoring him and later on give him iron and b 12 drops. For now he seems to being doing well. Ive been told not to introduce wheat until 4-6 months. Anyone have any other tid bits i should know about?

[dandelionmom]

Congratulations on your new baby! I've been reading a lot about how breastfeeding can possibly help prevent celiac so it is great that you're nursing! Other than that, enjoy that sweet little newborn, this time passes sooooooo fast!

[blueeyedmanda]

Congrats on your little bundle of joy!!! We have just had two other members give birth in the past month. I hope one of them sees this thread and can give some answers.

[Guhlia]

Welcome and congratulations! We also just a had a baby 2.5 weeks ago. We are planning on waiting to introduce gluten until 1 year old. That way most of her systems have a chance to develop properly for a year without any negative intervention from gluten. Similac is gluten free, so no need to worry about that. Just out of curiosity, why are they giving him b12 and iron?

[Nikki'smom]

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy!!!!!!!!!!!

[ElizabethN]

I've been wondering about this as well. Our baby is due any day now (actually is 9 days late as of today..) and I have been trying to find information while I wait. Would a baby react differently to gluten than an adult? And would it be an instant reaction or would it take the baby awhile to develop problems? I am very nervous about introducing gluten because I would be worried that the baby would react to it and I wouldn't know. I am assuming most pediatricians wouldn't be too familiar with this?

[natalie]

Hi,

Last year I saw Dr. Michelle Peitzak (sp??) speak at a Celiac conference. She said you should introduce gluten not before 6 months of age but no later than 9 months of age. Hope this helps.

[ShayBraMom]

If you have Celiac yourself, you should be waiting even longer then just 4-6 month with introducing any grain, breastfeeding or not! Congrats by the way, i'm so jealous, you just had the greatest exerpience ever, sadly we are done alrady with two kids, so I'm not gonna get the chance again!

[Annaem]

Welcome and congratulations! We also just a had a baby 2.5 weeks ago. We are planning on waiting to introduce gluten until 1 year old. That way most of her systems have a chance to develop properly for a year without any negative intervention from gluten. Similac is gluten free, so no need to worry about that. Just out of curiosity, why are they giving him b12 and iron?

Thanks! i read that you should introduce gluten between 4-6 months? how did you decide to wait one year before introducing gluten?

all babies are born with stores of b12 and iron from being in the tummy for nine months that should last nine months. However because my levels were fluctuating of iron and b12 when i was pregnant his stores may not last 9 months. In other words his stores might run out sooner i.e., 6 months. These drops ensure that he gets more than enough. It also has to do with me nursing. If i feed him formula then he doesn't need the drops because the formulas has lots of iron and b 12. I am currently on the low side because i had some blood loss.

[gfpaperdoll]

Well remember when the docs say that you should introduce gluten at a certain age that basically it is a guess - I think that I did read that they did some small study - you could google it.

personally, if I had known that I had a gluten problem when my kids were born - I would have never fed it to them. My son was born with a gluten problem & nearly died & my doctor telling me the whole time that wheat was not giving him diahrrea - when I would give him a soda cracker & watch him eat it & the diahrrea would start running down his leg - I thought you know I can either believe the doctor or believe what I am seeing - so I went to the health food store 38 years ago & bought rice crackers for my baby... & I took a lot of flak for that radical behaviour!!

I think gluten is a cheap way to feed the masses while causing illness to support the drug industries and to insure that people do not live too long. In addition to making sure that they are not too healthy & feel like doing anything more than watching TV after working each day to pay their taxes.

I think of gluten as rat poison that uneducated clueless people consume. Now for those of us that know better, I think we should do better and not give our kids gluten... I will say this again, I cannot figure out how a mom that does not eat gluten could feed it to her kids, this just boggles my mind.

[Annaem]

The thing is if he is not celiac then life would be easier for him. If you never introduced it, would he develop an allergy to it? Wheat allergies are just as tricky as gluten intolerance. Thats why i want to know when you introduce gluten so that he develops immunity (allergy wise) because he may not be gluten intolerant like his mom. The thing is my home is gluten free but i want him to be able to enjoy a slice of birthday cake at a friends house. Some studies say 4-6 months other opinions are 6-9 months. This is something i need to research more closely. I guess my question is, do i need to introduce gluten in his infancy so that he doesn't get a wheat allergy and builds immunity. Otherwise i wouldn't introduce it at all or at least until he was old enough that i could get genetic testing to know if he was celiac or not.

[Merika]

i also heard dr pietzak talk awhile ago, and have looked at some research. Apparently, babies introduced to wheat between 6-9 or 8-10 months old have the least problem with it in the future. Earlier causes more problems, as does later.

you may want to get an additional source of breastfeeding information. US and international recommendations (health policy officials, not solo doctors) all recommend *exclusive* nursing until 6 months of age. This means no table foods, ie baby foods, wheat, whatever, until after 6 months old. (Technically this applies to formula as well, but that is a whole other ball of wax...)

My baby is 7 mos old and my older is 5 yrs and I'm the celiac, so I know how difficult this all is to sort out I am still figuring stuff out too.

Best wishes,

Merika

nak

[mama2]

Hi,

Last year I saw Dr. Michelle Peitzak (sp??) speak at a Celiac conference. She said you should introduce gluten not before 6 months of age but no later than 9 months of age. Hope this helps.

I had read that too in a book... I belive it was in Celiacs for dummies.

Even some of the baby rice cereal has gluten in it... but cream of rice does not it says gluten free on the box.

congrats & best wishes.

[loraleena]

Congratulations!

Glad you are breastfeeding. Is there a reason you are doing formula as well? If possible I would only breastfeed. Adding formula before3-6 months will negate most of the benefits of nursing. The formula will raise his risk for food intolerances. I am a lactation counselor and this is the latest info I have learned. I can give you suggestions for building up your supply if needed. You can pump and bottle feed when you need that convenience. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

[Annaem]

Congratulations!

Glad you are breastfeeding. Is there a reason you are doing formula as well? If possible I would only breastfeed. Adding formula before3-6 months will negate most of the benefits of nursing. The formula will raise his risk for food intolerances. I am a lactation counselor and this is the latest info I have learned. I can give you suggestions for building up your supply if needed. You can pump and bottle feed when you need that convenience. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

My supply is low and he is a big boy with a big appetite. He was drinking 4 oz by the second week. Secondly, know that he has learned the bottle it is difficult to exclusively give him breast milk. He is very fussy on the breast. i top him up with formula after i breast feed. He basically drinks 4-5 oz of formula every 2 hours and he is one month old. When i breast feed him i still need to give him some formula to satisfy him and he drinks 3.5 oz. Which makes me think he's only getting 2 oz. I also pump and get 1 oz out from each breast after 10 min.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Congratulations!!!!!!

Giving him formula does cause low milk supply, unfortunately (been there )

I would forget the formula completely. If he needs to nurse every hour, then let him nurse every hour. That is the fastest way to build up your milk supply, and far better for him than chemicals out of a can. Formula is also a big factor in juvenile diabetes, BTW--it contains corn syrup.

Doctors are the worst sources of info for breastfeeding. They tell you that formula is the equivalent to breastmilk--and it's not. There are over 100 substances in breastmilk that they haven't been able to duplicate yet. They tell you that feeding every 2-3 hours is normal--and it's not. The first few weeks, feeding every 30-90 minutes is normal. No, you can't really get anything else done, and you shouldn't expect to. And they never tell you about growth spurts, where the baby wants to nurse constantly.

In fact, I had a pediatrician tell me that if the baby wanted to nurse more than every 3 hours, that meant that my milk supply was low and that I should supplement with formula. Nothing could have been further from the truth. They nurse constantly to get you to make more milk--and it does work. Usually the growth spurts occur at around 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months, but might occur more often then that.

The nursing benefits for you come a bit later, when you can pick up your baby and go anywhere you want with nothing more than a diaper bag. I don't even recommend pumping and bottle feeding it to him unless you work outside the home (then, it's a must!). Nothing is more INconvenient than bottle-feeding a hungry baby if you nurse! (been there )

For now, sleep when he sleeps, nurse whenever he wants, tell your husband you can't (make dinner) (vacuum the rug) (clean the bathroom) (fill in the blank) right now because you have to feed the baby. Then, put your feet up, nurse away, and relax!

The only thing that causes low milk supply in a healthy mom is not nursing enough--which feeding formula ensures. Pumping doesn't empty the breast nearly as well as a baby, and tires the mom out if she is nursing and bottle feeding too! Who needs all that??? (besides for working moms, of course)

I do think we are lucky to have formula for moms who for whatever reason can't nurse, or who have a low milk supply for medical reasons (low thyroid can contribute to that one, as can having been on magnesium sulfate for pre-eclampsia) or other reasons.

He might fuss at the breast a bit for now because you are giving him both breast and bottle. That is very hard for some babies. If you have to go back to work while he is still nursing, then I'd say you need to just give him one bottle a day--and get your husband to give it to him. Less confusing for the baby if he just associates you with the breast.

Look up www.llli.com, and you might also be able to get some help from your hospital's lactation consultant. If it's over the phone, it's free, but I think you might have to pay something if she comes to the house.

And I've read studies that indicate that nursing moms get better rest and produce more milk when they sleep with the baby. I believe it--but it isn't necessarily for every mom. Some moms and some babies just do better by themselves. Do what makes YOU feel right and happy.

If Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!!!!!

[Annaem]

Thank you for your advice. What you said makes alot of sense.. I will attempt to wean him off the bottle and encourage more breast feeding.