My Baby & Husband Have Celiac... Need Advice

[gatakat]

Hello all:

I just found this website and I am very glad I did. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac about 4 years ago. He has been struggling with it ever since. He cheats here and there (and pays for it)... he has the most difficult time accepting the fact that he cannot eat gluten (being Italian and not being able to eat regular pasta KILLS him). Even though I think corn pasta tastes great, he disagrees. When he was first diagnosed, I found VERY little gluten-free items in our area... and now, there is so much stuff out there, which I am grateful for. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.

My son was born in October and when he was just 8 days old, he started having wretched diarrhea. It lasted 20 days. (it was an awful time and test after test and hospitalization after hospitalization were causing major stress in our lives when we shoudl have been enjoying our beautiful boy). After MANY negative test results, the doctor said the only way to really test for Celiac was through Endoscopy which I said no too since he was soo little and needed to be put to sleep. *he did have a Colonoscopy but was awake during it*. Then suddenly, the best thing ever happened. We learned of this new, state-of-the-art gene testing that is only performed in California.... Ofcourse, we did it. SURE ENOUGH, POSITIVE FOR CELIAC. Strangely enough though.... it was BOTH my husband and I who were carriers and thus, my son's Celiac is FAR WORSE than my husband's Celiac. I have never showed symptoms but now I know I carry the gene.

My son is now 8 1/2 months and I am stressing about.. all foods he comes in contact with. He is getting teeth now and I'd like to know what finger foods I can give him... since obviously cheerios and cookies are out of the question. I worry about how HARD some gluten-free foods can be since, he has only 1 tooth...

Any advice you can give a new mom is greatly appreciated.

All my love

Sussie

[Worriedtodeath]

I would stick with natural fruits/veggies for a long time. There is a yahoo group called silly yaks that has lots of kid recipes on it icluding gold fish crackers. You could make your own teething biscuits. There is a cheerio sub called Perky o's. We make lots of cookies and i even just made a cookie cake that a little one could probably gum. Leave out the chocolate chips and it would probably be soft enough but hard enough to hold shape in those little baby hands you could make some gluten-free bread and cut that into strips and toast it.

I cut veggies into itty bitty cubes and then boiled them until they could be squished but still held their shape when touched. I fed mine that which seemed to satisfy their need to feed themselves. we didn't know about Celiac until later so I did the normal course of finger foods so I don't have much insight into that first year gluten free.

HTH

Stacie

[RiceGuy]

My only thought is that any grains at such a young age seems a bit early to me. I mean, wouldn't celery or something be better for teething? Maybe I shouldn't try to make suggestions though, as I'm no expert in feeding infants. I don't know...all the things I can think of that are tough enough to gnaw on might also get stuck in an infant's little throat.

But for finger foods in general, how about some fresh raw garden green peas? Also blueberries (oh, the stains!), raisins, figs, cut green beans, cucumber slices, melon slices, boiled & cubed sweet potato or squash, etc. I suppose sunflower seeds are too small, but if you mash up some figs or other sticky fruits, and press a bunch of seeds into that, it might make a tasty snack bar. Come to think of it, I'd add shredded coconut, and eat it all myself LOL!

I'm sure someone more experienced and thus qualified will have great suggestions for you.

[AliB]

Have a look at the Pecanbread website. It has some great ideas for food for children who need to eat basic. It's aimed for children with ASD but the info is extremely useful for everyone.

Don't worry about feeding your little one too much in the way of gluten-free baked and sweet stuff - I think the longer we hold off giving them the sugary stuff the less of a taste they develop for it. My youngest grandson at 4, unlike his older brother, has never liked fruit and veg and would happily live on chocolate biscuits if he had half a chance. I wish they had never been given to him. You don't miss what you've never had! We love our kids and want to spoil them, but sometimes we really 'spoil' them if you get what I mean!

My eldest grandson who is 7 loves fruit and veg. I have a series of photos of him when he was not much older than your baby, sat in his highchair in our garden chomping on strawberries and grapes cut in half. I have framed them as the expressions on his face were just fantastic!

Try giving him soft little french beans, french fries (and sauces to dip them in), cooked carrot sticks, banana, soft boiled egg to dip the fries in (good co-ordination thing!), pieces of cooked chicken (try chopping it fine, seasoning, adding an egg, forming into little balls and fry for a few minutes gently, moving them round the pan so they don't get too crispy and hard) and chunks or slices of cheese if he's dairy tolerant, sliced pear, pieces of rice cake or little snack-a-jacks, gluten-free toast with peanut butter, jelly or spread, cooked sweet potato chunks, etc.

We always think of finger foods being dry and hard but they can also be moist and soft - as long as they can be picked up by chubby little fingers, it doesn't matter what they are, and getting messy is all part of the fun!

I remember sitting in the dining room with Connor next to me in his chair and the little tinker kept leaning over and pinching my string beans off my plate and scoffing them! He thought it was a great game!

[peetred]

What about arrowroot cookies? Can't celiacs have arrowroot? I am not sure, but I bet there is a gluten free alternative if the ones in the store are not already gluten free.

[slmprofesseur]

My baby/toddler does mostly fruits (and a few )veggies. Bananas, mangoes, melons, pineapple etc. We leave Gluten-free cereal in the church nursery for him.

[theceliachusband]

Hi there,

I feel for you and the dilemma at hand. Both my wife and daughter are Celiacs.

Let me be radical here and though I agree with other posters who advise against grains at such early age, we gave our daughter Cocoa Pebbles when she was little. To replace the Cheerios.

In terms of Pasta, let me tell you about Brown Rice Pasta from a company called Rizopia. It is made in Canada.

I am from Austria and LOVE pasta. We have exclusevly switched to Rice Pasta and let me tell you (or your husband), it is the closest you will ever get. It is brilliant.

Peter, The Celiac Husband

Hello all:

I just found this website and I am very glad I did. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac about 4 years ago. He has been struggling with it ever since. He cheats here and there (and pays for it)... he has the most difficult time accepting the fact that he cannot eat gluten (being Italian and not being able to eat regular pasta KILLS him). Even though I think corn pasta tastes great, he disagrees. When he was first diagnosed, I found VERY little gluten-free items in our area... and now, there is so much stuff out there, which I am grateful for. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.

My son was born in October and when he was just 8 days old, he started having wretched diarrhea. It lasted 20 days. (it was an awful time and test after test and hospitalization after hospitalization were causing major stress in our lives when we shoudl have been enjoying our beautiful boy). After MANY negative test results, the doctor said the only way to really test for Celiac was through Endoscopy which I said no too since he was soo little and needed to be put to sleep. *he did have a Colonoscopy but was awake during it*. Then suddenly, the best thing ever happened. We learned of this new, state-of-the-art gene testing that is only performed in California.... Ofcourse, we did it. SURE ENOUGH, POSITIVE FOR CELIAC. Strangely enough though.... it was BOTH my husband and I who were carriers and thus, my son's Celiac is FAR WORSE than my husband's Celiac. I have never showed symptoms but now I know I carry the gene.

My son is now 8 1/2 months and I am stressing about.. all foods he comes in contact with. He is getting teeth now and I'd like to know what finger foods I can give him... since obviously cheerios and cookies are out of the question. I worry about how HARD some gluten-free foods can be since, he has only 1 tooth...

Any advice you can give a new mom is greatly appreciated.

All my love

Sussie

[Lisa]

"My son was born in October and when he was just 8 days old, he started having wretched diarrhea. It lasted 20 days..."

I don't understand how a child as young as 8 days can have diarrhea associated with Celiac, unless he is reacting to your breast milk.

[HiDee]

My son is now 8 1/2 months and I am stressing about.. all foods he comes in contact with. He is getting teeth now and I'd like to know what finger foods I can give him... since obviously cheerios and cookies are out of the question. I worry about how HARD some gluten-free foods can be since, he has only 1 tooth...

Any advice you can give a new mom is greatly appreciated.

All my love

Sussie

Baby MUM-MUMs are awesome. Made of rice, gluten-free, very easily gummed and dissolved in a baby's mouth (with or without teeth). My Wal-Mart carries them in the baby food isle but they are also on Lame Advertisement. They have a regular flavor and a vegetable flavor. My toddler has been eating them since she started on rice cereal, she loves them. They are a great snack for babies and kids when you are on the go and not a bad price.

[Juliet]

Other things besides Baby Mum-Mums that we used with our daughter (those mum-mums weren't available at the time ):

Health Valley Rice and Corn chex like cereal (however, now you can just use regular General Mills Rice Chex) slightly crushed up - they easily dissolved in her mouth by 7 months

fresh, homemade gluten free bread (try these links: Open Original Shared Link or Open Original Shared Link

cooked very soft arborio rice (clumps together nicely, but still very mushy)

Gerber Wagon Wheels

And of course, all the pureed fruits and vegetables you can stuff down that mouth of theirs!

[Amyleigh0007]

My 11 month old only has two teeth so the foods I give her must be easy to chew (gum) also. I bought a food grinder and she eats almost everything that we do. She really likes mac and cheese (Tinkyada elbow noodles, Velveeta, milk). I cut the noodles in half. I also bake sweet potatoes and let them cool. Then I press the inside into little balls so she can pick them up. I also do that with carrots. I steam organic baby carrots, grind them in the food grinder and press them into little balls. They are formed enough for little fingers to pick up but very easy to chew (gum).