How Old To Diagnose?

[ILoveBeingAMom]

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to this but am thankful for this resource!

How old does a baby need to be to be diagnosed with Celiac's? Here is my situation:

When my daughter was about 5 months old, a relative gave her a few (maybe 4-5) of the Gerber veggie puffs. A few hours later, she woke up throwing up (not spitting up). I didn't link it to the veggie puffs until she had them again a month or two later and the same thing happened. I mentioned this to the doctor at her 9 month check up, and he suggested it could be a gluten intolerance, but said that she's too young to test for that. He said I should just use trial and error to see if she has any more reactions (at that time, I hadn't really given her anything else that had gluten in it).

Since then, I've tried a few things...cheerios (but she didn't end up eating those b/c she has no teeth yet and I think they were too hard in her mouth. She just played with them) and a baby food: harvest vegetables with mixed grains. She had a severe reaction to the baby food a few hours after eating 1/2 a jar...she woke up with major vomitting and was very weak and lethargic. Does this sound like it could be Celiac's? Are there other foods I should try to "test" it myself? I'm scared to try things because she has such a strong (and messy!) reaction, yet she's only 10 months old and doesn't have any teeth...which severly limits our options for food! I am still nursing, but I'm often at a loss for what to feed her in terms of baby food. I try to make my own baby food, but it has been hard to keep up with and so much of the store bought kind has gluten in it. Any suggestions? Also, when I'm reading labels, what are the main things to stay away from when avoiding products with gluten?

This is all very new to me, and I just want to make sure I'm doing what is best for my little girl. Thank you so much for any advice you can give!!

Erika

[Mother of Jibril]

It sounds like your daughter is not getting much gluten right now. Which is fine! It just means that a blood test is going to be useless. You could do a genetic test if you want to determine her risk. My son is extremely intolerant to all dairy products and corn (and I assume gluten too... I won't even try it). These foods give him eczema, diarrhea/constipation, and eventually vomiting and bloody stools if he has too much. So... I just leave them out of his diet completely.

Some foods that my son loves (he's 12 months old and has two teeth):

Perky Os (they seem to dissolve in his mouth OK... no choking)

Baked sweet potato

Eggs (omelet or hard boiled)

Simply Fruit (freeze-dried fruit)

Avocado (messy, but delicious)

Soy yogurt (you could use regular yogurt)

Little bits of meat (fish, chicken...)

Tiny bits of apple, orange, melon, or kiwi fruit (he's not a fan of bananas)

Any steamed, boiled, or sauteed vegetable cut into bite-sized pieces (broccoli, mushrooms, beets, carrots, zucchini... he'll even even brussel sprouts)

We used to use a food mill, but these days he prefers to feed himself. He was a REALLY picky eater before we figured out that corn was bothering him... now he's doing great

Just my perspective... but as long as your daughter is not eating gluten I wouldn't worry about getting her diagnosed. Testing for celiac is something to think about when she's older.

ps - Welcome to the group!