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Growth Catch Up In Older Kids

Worriedtodeath

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Worriedtodeath Enthusiast
Worriedtodeath
Posted

HI!

How much did your kids grow after going gluten-free and how old where they when you started gluten-free? I'm wondering just how much my 10 year old would grow if he went gluten-free.

I suspect ,since dealing with all the baby's problem, he is also Celiac. Both boys had almost identical problems to hers except they never slipped off of the growth chart, just fell down a few percentile points. Then their diaherra stopped and they have since floated between bouts of diaherra and constipation along with the general my tummy hurts all over. I'm going to have them tested just to see what their levels are.

Thanks

Stacie

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dandelionmom Enthusiast
dandelionmom
Posted

My daughter is tall anyway for her age but shortly after going gluten-free she shot up a couple of inches and filled out (she's still thinner than anyone else in her classes though). 3 months after going gluten-free we had to buy all new clothes in the next size.

buffettbride Enthusiast
buffettbride
Posted

My daughter never fell off the growth charts either, she just kinda stayed stuck in the 50% percentile for height, which was odd because both her parents were tall as kids. Just didn't seem right. It was most noticeable going back to school last year after summer when everyone grew and she didn't!

I haven't measured her lately, but I think I will tonight because there's definitely been some progress. Since her growth stunting was minor and gradual, I expect her catch-up to be as well.

taylor- Rookie
taylor-
Posted

Hey! when I was diagnosed I was about a year and a half. I was very very small for my age, in one of the lower percentiles (when I was really sick I lost 5-10 pounds). About 6 months after my biopsy and going on the diet I gained a lot of weight, I was really fat, but I was also really short. I thinned out by 1st grade but was still the shortest in my class. I was always the shortest one until probably 5th-7th grade, Needless to say, it took me several years to catch up, but I did do it, and I'm actually one of the taller ones now and at a healthy weight. If he is gluten intolerant/celiac, going gluten free would definitely help his growth and weight!

shan Contributor
shan
Posted

my daughter was 2 and 2 months, when she went gluten free. In 7 months - as in when i bought for her the winter clothes, she had grown two/three clothes sizes and three shoe sizes :) she is still on the shorter side, but she has grown loads!!!

Cath4k Apprentice
Cath4k
Posted

My 16 yo dd was never short. Actually as a baby she was always at the top of the chart. But she kind of stopped growing around 14 yo when she hit almost 5'7". This is a normal height and a normal age to stop growing, but I always thought it was odd that she didn't grow taller, as that was what we had expected her to do. This is the same age when we really started to note that something wasn't right as far as her health was concerned. Of course, we can look back now and see what the gluten was doing even way back to babyhood, but hindsight is 20/20.

At 16 yo and after probably a year and a half of staying at the same height, she has grown probably 1/2 inch since going gluten-free. She has only been gluten free for two months! She is now noticeably taller. I noticed it first by looking at her next to her father and then when I was helping her fix her hair and had to reach up higher. Then she saw a friend that she hasn't seen for a few weeks and the friend noticed that she is taller. So we measured her and she has grown.

My 12 yo is also growing. She was another one who started out at the top of the charts all through baby and toddlerhood and then just sank down the chart and stayed down there ever since. It was never too far down to worry about, but she would go YEARS between growth spurts. At 12 yo she JUST grew into a children's size 10. She has noticeably grown also and hasn't even been gluten free as long as my older dd. She and one of her friends were the shortest girls in their Sunday School class and my dd says she is now much taller than her friend rather than just a tiny bit taller.

Cathy

cyberprof Enthusiast
cyberprof
Posted
My 16 yo dd was never short. Actually as a baby she was always at the top of the chart. But she kind of stopped growing around 14 yo when she hit almost 5'7". This is a normal height and a normal age to stop growing, but I always thought it was odd that she didn't grow taller, as that was what we had expected her to do. This is the same age when we really started to note that something wasn't right as far as her health was concerned. Of course, we can look back now and see what the gluten was doing even way back to babyhood, but hindsight is 20/20.

At 16 yo and after probably a year and a half of staying at the same height, she has grown probably 1/2 inch since going gluten-free. She has only been gluten free for two months! She is now noticeably taller. I noticed it first by looking at her next to her father and then when I was helping her fix her hair and had to reach up higher. Then she saw a friend that she hasn't seen for a few weeks and the friend noticed that she is taller. So we measured her and she has grown.

My 12 yo is also growing. She was another one who started out at the top of the charts all through baby and toddlerhood and then just sank down the chart and stayed down there ever since. It was never too far down to worry about, but she would go YEARS between growth spurts. At 12 yo she JUST grew into a children's size 10. She has noticeably grown also and hasn't even been gluten free as long as my older dd. She and one of her friends were the shortest girls in their Sunday School class and my dd says she is now much taller than her friend rather than just a tiny bit taller.

Cathy

My 14.5yo son has dropped from the 75 percentile in height to below 25% and from 50 percentile in weight to below 25% in two years. He is 5'4' and is one of the shortest kids instead of being among the taller ones - and so skinny. He lost weight in September/October and went gluten free in November, despite the negative blood tests and the GI's disagreement. I am PRAYING for a growth spurt. Not because being short is so bad but because I want him to be healthy.

I hope it works.

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ryebaby0 Enthusiast
ryebaby0
Posted

Be hopeful! My son was tiny (less than 5lb) at birth, dx at 9 at the 8-10th percentiles and then fell off both height and weight charts. He is now, at 14, in the 50th for weight, and the 80th for height!

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