Did Your Kids Do This?

[B'sgirl]

My 18 month old has been on a gluten free diet for about 7 weeks now. He still has had gluten on occasion by stealing a snack off the church nursery floor or some relative slipping him a cookie at a gathering without realizing he can't have them. He has also been off dairy for about a week. He still has the sticky, sandy bowel movements at least every few days. But the most frustrating thing is that he has been waking up at night and no matter how many times I put him back to bed he gets back up and either whines for hours, or plays with his toys. I don't know if he is just hungry because he's not getting enough calories in his new diet, or if he is having stomach cramps, or something else. Do you think this is related to Celiac or his diet, or do I need to look elsewhere for a solution? Have any of you experienced this?

[Cinnamon]

Yes, we've had this and I'm sure it's from gluten. I can always tell if my son cheats because he will sleep poorly, and when he does sleep, he wets the bed, and he will be 12 years old next week! When he's gluten free, he sleeps well. I'll bet your son is getting glutened, or hasn't healed thoroughly yet. I can't imagine how hard it must be to keep an 18-month-old gluten free!

[gfgypsyqueen]

My daughter was up all night complaining of being hungry before she was diagnosed. She was fed all night too because she was so sick. So it was a bad cycle. After a few weeks of being gluten-free/CF she slept well and we only have problems when she gets gluten-free or dairy. Her behavior and wetting the bed are the first indicators that something has gone wrong.

I think after just a week or so the baby is still healing. Stomach cramps would probably be right. Just figure the baby has been used to diarrhea constantly and now all of a sudden the bowels are working right. I know mine had her first formed poop after a week or two on the diet. She was so happy.

BTW: if family and church aren't "getting it" about gluten-free food, think about a medic alert bracelet. That made a HUGE difference for us.

[JennyC]

My son was diagnosed at 3.5 years old and he had horrible sleep patterns as well. From the bm's and sleep patterns you are describing it sounds like he might still be getting gluten. If he is in an environment where he can pick gluten up off the floor, then it is likely everywhere and there is an enormous cross contamination risk. I know it's hard but you may have to make more adjustments to avoid cross contamination.