Morning Breath In A 2 Year Old

[Breila]

On another thread someone questioned awful breath in their child who was suspected celiac. I commented that my 7yo, who is diagnosed celiac, had atrocious morning breath that is now subsiding on the gluten-free diet. I never considered it a symptom though, only realizing that the two may have been connected after the fact.

Now my 2 yo is getting the same kind of morning breath, the kind where you can't stand to be face to face with him until you've brushed his teeth. Should I consider this a warning sign or am I being paranoid about this? I will say that we have plans to get the blood tests for the whole family, but it is an expensive and therefore slow process. I'm just wondering if maybe I have reason to move him up on the list, so to speak. Is there a connection to bad breath?

[Ursa Major]

I really believe that bad breath could be a celiac disease symptom. My youngest daughter used to have such awful breath, that I could smell it when she sat in the back of the car, with me being the driver. It got much better when I made her 100% dairy free. But it completely disappeared on the gluten-free diet.

Since an older sibling had the same problem, and his/her breath is getting better on the gluten-free diet, I think you certainly have a clue why your little one has such awful breath.

Just be aware that the celiac disease testing is VERY unreliable in children under six. So, even if your two-year-old child's results return negative, that doesn't necessarily mean that the child doesn't have celiac disease. That might just mean that the damage isn't yet severe enough to have destroyed the villi to such an extent that he/she will have leaky gut and therefore antibodies in the blood.

If the blood test is negative, I would do the Enterolab testing, or just put the child on the gluten-free diet. At that age a good diet response is diagnostic (actually, it is at any age), and especially if an older sibling has been diagnosed with celiac disease already.

[celiac-mommy]

Our dd had the same problem, it smelled like poo . I asked the dentist about it and there were 2 thoughts: 1. She's not brushing the back of her tongue well enough or 2. her tonsils are large and pocketed like mine and food is getting stuck back there so she needs to gargle with an anti-bacterial type mouthwash. (I realize this isn't going to work with a 2y/o) She started doing both, but I really think it was the mouthwash that made the difference. There's been no more issue since!

[AliB]

Our youngest grandson has that problem but then I have too all my life. I have always woken with a mouth like a sewage pit. It is due to toxins and infections that the body is trying to dispel via the tonsils (ever had those little 'cheesey' lumps in your mouth that smell like someone died? They come off the tonsils and are like solidified pus! That's why the tonsils should never be removed - they are the body's way of telling you something is wrong - remove them and the body has one less way of getting rid of its garbage!) - far better not to put the rubbish in your mouth in the first place!

Dropping gluten is a big start but if it gets replaced with lots of high-carb, high-sugar foods then the problem will not go away. Our eldest grandson is Celiac and on a gluten-free diet and unlike the little one LOVES fruit and veg and has rarely had a problem even before gluten-free. The little one is a carbaholic - he probably has candida which can also contribute to stinky breath.

Now my body is sorting itself out and I have radically cut the carbs, my breath is a lot more pleasant to be around, too!