Constipation... Gluten-free Trial Run?

[Mother of Jibril]

My daughter is three years old. She had eczema (on her cheeks and legs) as a baby. She also seems to have a leaky gut. Last week I had a moment of panic... she wears pull-ups at night and in the morning I noticed her pee was orange! I started thinking about UTIs, and then I realized she had eaten a bunch of Cheetohs the day before.

Anyway... she has a very strong mind of her own and it took us a LONG time to get her potty-trained. Now she's doing great with #1, but she does NOT want to use the potty for #2. I've seen her do it a few times, but usually she goes in her underwear. Today one of her preschool teachers asked if I had any "tricks" for getting her to go in the potty. I wish. Her poo is really solid and I'm wondering if she's constipated because of a food intolerance. Maybe she would use the potty if #2 was a little easier to pass.

I don't think it's a big deal to try a gluten-free diet for a couple of weeks and see what happens. However... I mentioned it to my husband and he was like, "Why would you want to do that? All kids go through this. She just needs to eat more fruit." I don't want to project my own health concerns onto my kids, but gluten intolerance is genetic! I prepare 95% of her food, so I guess I could do it without him... but I worry that he'll give her some toast or a sandwich when I'm not looking. She *loves* these foods. Especially noodles.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of waiting until after my genetic test comes back from Enterolab... or maybe after Halloween... but it would be SO nice to get her using the potty for #2.

[ShayFL]

This is def a hard time of year to start gluten-free with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas/Chanakuh every month. You might wait for the genetic tests from Enterolab, so you could at least have something to show your husband that can lend support to what you want to try. But even if you have no supportive genetics, there is no reason not to try it. You may have to just ask your husband to humor you for a few weeks so you can at least have your own piece of mind.

[Mother of Jibril]

Hmmm... good point. My daughter has been looking forward to Halloween all year. We don't celebrate Christmas and I cook all the food for Thanksgiving (my husband could care less about it... he's from West Africa). Sweet potatoes, cranberries, and turkey are deliciously gluten-free.

I've improved my diet a lot in the last five years and my husband has really come around to the whole idea of organic food. Maybe the Enterolab results will help convince him about gluten intolerance. It's funny because our (breastfeeding) son is intolerant to casein... he didn't hassle me when I took dairy products out of my diet! Maybe I'm trying to push things too fast. I just don't want my daughter to suffer from something that might be easily resolved.

[Mother of Jibril]

So... I decided to try reducing the amount of gluten my daughter was eating. I haven't laid down the law to my husband or enforced a "no gluten" policy at school (yet), but I think it's helping! She had a really loose #2 in her underwear this weekend (what a mess) and I told her if the poopie doesn't hurt, PLEASE use the potty. And tonight, she did! Whoo hoo!!

I'm not making any firm decisions until after I get my genetic results from Enterolab... maybe until Halloween is over (although I did find some gluten-free, casein-free, organic lollipops )... but if this lasts I am SO happy. My daughter has been really healthy and I want her to stay that way! I don't want her to suffer from the same problems that so many of my family members have suffered through.