8 Mos Old - Is This Celiac? Please Help Me

[justinebehr]

Hi there, this is long so I'm sorry in advance. I'm extremely frustrated because my 8 month old is having some strange problems.

My husband's father has confirmed Celiac Disease.

When my DD was 1 month old I noticed an arching back reaction while I breastfed her. I read about a milk link so I stopped drinking milk (but kept all other dairy in my diet). She stopped arching her back and was doing well, she slept through the night and was very happy.

Around 3 months of age she stopped STTN but other than that everything was fine. We thought she was teething... At 5 1/2 months we introduced some banana and she loved it. We did it for 6 days in a row with no issues. Then we tried sweet potato... the first day was fine, the 2nd and 3rd day was HORRIBLE.. when she ate it she was fine but 6-8 hours later she cried and cried and cried and would whine and moan (seemed like an abdominal discomfort) for hours... we immediately stopped and didn't try sweet potato again until 5 days later. Same thing happened 6-8 hours after she ate it. so I stopped solids for a while... I instantly though reflux and stopped all dairy in my diet. We tried Avocado, 6-8 hours later she would whine in pain for hours.... then pears, then green beans...

We have tried these things off and on up until now (she is 8 months next week) and still the same reaction. I am dairy free and breastfeeding her exclusively. I am frustrated because she is drinking my milk every 1-2 hours and its very hard on me to breastfeed her so much. I want the best for her but when we talked to the doctor he said he cant understand why she would have the same reaction to all the different foods and why it would be 6-8 hours later.

He said maybe celiac and reflux and referred us to a specialist but that wont be for weeks. Can anyone tell me if you have had similar issues??? She is thriving and has not been exposed to gluten first hand (only in my diet)...

I just wonder if I cut gluten and dairy out and then try the solids if she might be able to tolerate it then? Any positive experiences with this??

Sorry for being so long, Im just frustrated and frazzled.

Thanks!!

Justine

[Pattymom]

Wow, that does sound frustrating,while I didn't have exactly the same thng, I have hadbreastfed only 8 months olds, it is exhausting. I remember the exasperation of constant nursing, made worse by my MIL comments on why I wasn't feeding the child (uhh, because of the crying and rashes!) I a gald I held off on the solids and kept nursing, a healthy baby is something that most people take for granted until you don't have one, s if breastfeeding kept us healthy, I figured it was the least I could keep doing. Even though it feels like it now, it really wont' last forever, really. I do miss the prolactin rush of nursing. One thing I see now, is how much healthier my babies were because I didn't push the solids when the obviously weren't working. epecially after hearng about lots of kids here, I realize how much we pain we avoided. With my most sensitive child, I did give up gluten while nursing her and notcied a big difference, I would say your plan to try that and see if probably your best option. Most likely she would test negative in blood work, though given that she is reacting to everything, I would want t go to the specialist. Removing gluten now might change the results of an endoscopy if she heals and not give you a clear medially defined answer, but if it leaves her able to tolerate solids it would giv eyou a practical answer. Given she is reacting to everything though, I would want to look further.

Good Luck

Patty

[wsieving]

We had the same experience here. First we thought she had colic. Then we thought maybe she wasn't getting enough of my breastmilk so we pushed solids even harder.... At 1 year, she STILL wasn't wanting to eat ANYTHING. 4 months later we began a gluten-free diet, and her appetite picked up within a week. It would be worth a try especially if it runs in your family.