Breastfeeding Baby With Possible Celiac

[BethHS]

I have a 9 month old baby who has been breastfed since birth. He's growing well and thriving. My husband is gluten-intolerant, so we knew that could be a possibility for our son as well. I had read that breastfeeding can offer some protection against celiac disease, which is part of the reason I wanted to make sure I breastfed him as long as possible.

We started our son, Lance on solids at 6 months, but I decided to hold off on wheat. We were also concerned about possible allergies since he has a touch of mild eczema. However, when we introduced him to wheat recently, he got a rash on his cheeks and his back got really red. I thought maybe that was an allergic reaction, so of course we cut out the wheat.

Lance had his 9 month well baby appointment recently, and I asked the doctor about the reaction, and he thought it sounded like it would be more likely that the rash was related to possible Celiac and not an allergy, mostly because of family history. He suggested that we cut out gluten for now, and that eventually we all get the blood test for Celiac. In order to get tested, I know that would mean that my husband and Lance would both have to introduce wheat into their diet, right? It doesn't really seem worth it... doesn't it take awhile to cause the damage again?

Also, should I cut gluten out myself since I'm still breastfeeding? I had asked a LC about this before Lance was born and she didn't seem to think it was necessary.

[Ursa Major]

In my experience, eczema is always a reaction to food somebody is intolerant to. I expect that your son has that mild eczema because you are still eating gluten. And yes, it is very necessary for the mother to stop eating gluten when the baby is gluten intolerant, because gluten WILL be in the breastmilk otherwise.

I agree with your doctor that your son's awful rash is likely caused by a reaction to gluten, and that it is an intolerance rather than an allergy.

But I think it is a terrible idea to try to destroy the villi in both your husband and child for celiac disease testing! To purposely make them sick just to confirm what is already known is unconscionable in my opinion.

It would likely take years of eating gluten before your son would test positive. In those years he would likely be very ill, not to mention stop growing, having mental problems like ADHD and possible autism, and he could develop diabetes. And those are just some of the things that could happen.

Is it worth it? No way! If your son reacts to gluten now, he always will. You simply don't outgrow a gluten intolerance.

[ShayBraMom]

Why take him off now and then get him sick again? Baasic bloodstest for Celiac involve a genetest anyway, the common Genes linked to Celiac s are DQ2 and DQ8, for that neither your husband nor your son need to be on gluten at all since the genes are not influenced by what you eat. My little daughter never had the scoping, because I'd taken her off the gluten, she was off for a good wekk when the doc told me that I would have to put her back on it for 3 month!!!!!! before he'd do a scope on her. I think he could have still done it since damage doesn't heal THAT fast (it took my daugher 6 month before she started tolerating all kinds of others foods again, it took that long ofr her to heal)- but I wans't smart aobut it back then! Eitherway, she had so many signs pointing to Celiacs, even her teeth when they came out looked like glass like they often do in infants if they have celiacs (later on often yellow ect.), her antibodytest in Stool with EnteroLab showed less then 10 is negative, she had more then 69 Units of antibodys and was officially labeled as Glutensensitive (only a scope would get her an official diagnosis, the way of treatment is the same though- Off of gluten life long- so it didn't matter). shes dong great on glutenfree, if she for some reason gets glutened, other places outside the home it still can happen no matter how carefull, I know because aobut a day or so after she gets yellow, slimey , VERY stinky poo and foul gas, not to mention the discomfort she gets and bad mood!

In my experience, eczema is always a reaction to food somebody is intolerant to. I expect that your son has that mild eczema because you are still eating gluten. And yes, it is very necessary for the mother to stop eating gluten when the baby is gluten intolerant, because gluten WILL be in the breastmilk otherwise.

I agree with your doctor that your son's awful rash is likely caused by a reaction to gluten, and that it is an intolerance rather than an allergy.

But I think it is a terrible idea to try to destroy the villi in both your husband and child for celiac disease testing! To purposely make them sick just to confirm what is already known is unconscionable in my opinion.

It would likely take years of eating gluten before your son would test positive. In those years he would likely be very ill, not to mention stop growing, having mental problems like ADHD and possible autism, and he could develop diabetes. And those are just some of the things that could happen.

Is it worth it? No way! If your son reacts to gluten now, he always will. You simply don't outgrow a gluten intolerance.

[Rook's Mommy]

Our sons doctor wanted us to test him as well. We refused. From what I read the test is iffy that young. But we know that this is the most important time for brain development. He can be tested later on. What is most important now is that he grows properly.

I had to give up gluten as well but we found out before he was eating solids. I have been gluten free since he was six months old. I would try going gluten-free for awhile and see if it makes a difference.

[BethHS]

I will go gluten-free until I'm done nursing, which shouldn't be too hard since most of my meals are gluten-free anyway, since my husband has been gluten-free for a couple years now. My son really hasn't had a lot of symptoms besides the mild eczema that seems to be getting better all the time, and the flare up with the wheat. I know symptoms are different for everyone, but he has never had diahrrea, his teeth look normal, and he's growing normally. My concern is the symptoms that he has are also somewhat consistent with a wheat allergy. I'm wondering if we should get him allergy tested when he's a little older, and if he doesn't test positive for that, assume that he probably has Celiac. I think at this point it doesn't seem worth it to have him or my husband get back on gluten to get tested. My husband was so miserable before he cut it out, I can't imagine him doing that again for 3 months.

[slmprofesseur]

My DS does have a wheat allergy. He had the eczema all over his body. The longer he ate wheat the worse the symptoms got. It started with the rash then went to runny stools, wheezing, colic, crankiness, slow weigh gain. He was tested at 8 mos old for a wheat allergy. The allergist said that meant I had to avoid all of these foods (wheat, eggs, nuts..) until he was weaned. I noticed a big difference.

DS was tested (RAST/Skin) at 18 mos and has NOT outgrown his allergies. I tried wheat free for a while but still had rashes. So then we went gluten free and wheezing. rashes stopped. HTH!

[Kibbie]

My daughter was diagnosed at 18 months and I nursed exclusively until we introduced solids at 6 months old. (then continued to nurse her until she was 13 months) Like you we held of on wheat products however but I did introduce oats to her diet around 7 or 8 months. She's always had skin issues even when she was only receiving breast milk. She gets a rash on her bottom that is red

I have a friend who's son 9 months old has a wheat allergy (5 on the RAS test) and he has never been introduced to Wheat. His only exposure to this was via breast milk so it is possible for your son to have a reaction the gluten in your breastmilk. Because of his moms food allergies and his multiple food allergies (combined they have a wheat, oats, corn, dairy, soy, egg, and nut allergy) she was not able to produce enough milk on that "free from allergy" diet to support him so they are giving him formula now.

As far as putting everyone back on gluten to test them that is entirely up to you. You may want to look into the genetic testing and see if they have the markers for Celiac disease if they do then you can assume a positive result from a gluten free diet means they were positive. If its just an allergy they can test that with out you giving them gluten products.