6 Months Old With Celiac In The Family

[KatieB]

I don't know how to approach the possibility that my daughter has Celiac. There are many people, mostly women, in my immediate and extended family who have Celiac. I myself have been positively diagnosed with the disease through the biopsy. However, I do not have any symptoms. The only reason I was tested was because my mother tested all of my siblings and I after she was diagnosed with it. Two out of three of us sisters have it.

Anyway, my concern is now for my daughter. She is 6 months old and I don't know how to give her the healthiest start with the possibility looming in my mind that she may have Celiac. She has been very healthy so far in her life. She had some trouble around 2-3 months old with constipation. She was breast feeding at the time and no, I am not on the diet. With no symptoms I find it very hard to motivate myself to give up gluten. As soon as, I started her on some formula her constipation stopped. Her constipation could have been explained by numerous reasons other then Celiac, but it is a possibility.

Now that I am supposed to start feeding her solids I don't know whether I should keep her on a gluten free diet until she is old enough to be tested or give her what is recommended for all babies and see what happens. The TCM I see suggests that I keep her off gluten as long as possible but I don't want to deny her certain nutrients just based on the possibility of Celiac. At the same time if I can avoid her getting Celiac I want to! So far she has only had formula, rice cereal and fruits and veggies but is her digestive system going to develop properly without having the recommended oats and barley? Plus, I checked the ingredients of the rice cereal I've been giving her and the third ingredient is barley malt!

Any suggestions or insight would be very much appreciated!!!

[lovegrov]

Experts generally agree that you should feed her as if she doesn't have celiac. In fact, there was at least one study that suggested that children are more likely to develop celiac if you delay introduction of wheat (not sure how solid that evidence is). And testing is of no use at this age,

richard

[Athena1277]

I would keep her one a normal diet. Just be aware of the signs of celiac disease in children and be on the look-out for them. My husband and daughter both have celiac disease. My son is 20 months old and is on a normal diet. We do know that he has one of the 2 genes for celiac disease, so we know he could have it one day, but hopefully he won't.

If you are really concerned, call the Un. of Maryland Center for Celiac Research. My son is enrolled in a celiac disease study with them. Everyone there is very knowledgeable about celiac disease in children. I'm sure someone there could help you.

[Takala]

I don't know how to approach the possibility that my daughter has Celiac. There are many people, mostly women, in my immediate and extended family who have Celiac. I myself have been positively diagnosed with the disease through the biopsy. However, I do not have any symptoms. The only reason I was tested was because my mother tested all of my siblings and I after she was diagnosed with it. Two out of three of us sisters have it.

Anyway, my concern is now for my daughter. She is 6 months old and I don't know how to give her the healthiest start with the possibility looming in my mind that she may have Celiac. She has been very healthy so far in her life. She had some trouble around 2-3 months old with constipation. She was breast feeding at the time and no, I am not on the diet. With no symptoms I find it very hard to motivate myself to give up gluten. As soon as, I started her on some formula her constipation stopped. Her constipation could have been explained by numerous reasons other then Celiac, but it is a possibility.

Now that I am supposed to start feeding her solids I don't know whether I should keep her on a gluten free diet until she is old enough to be tested or give her what is recommended for all babies and see what happens. The TCM I see suggests that I keep her off gluten as long as possible but I don't want to deny her certain nutrients just based on the possibility of Celiac. At the same time if I can avoid her getting Celiac I want to! So far she has only had formula, rice cereal and fruits and veggies but is her digestive system going to develop properly without having the recommended oats and barley? Plus, I checked the ingredients of the rice cereal I've been giving her and the third ingredient is barley malt!

Any suggestions or insight would be very much appreciated!!!

___________________________

I bolded the parts above in the original post that make me very concerned.

I don't know where this myth is coming from that anybody really needs wheat, rye, barley, or oats to get enough nutrients and to develop properly, whether they are children or adults. There are many nutritious forms of carbohydrates and alternative gluten free grains that can be used in a balanced diet.

The child needs a healthy mother. If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease by a medical professional, and are not adhering to a gluten free diet, and are now seeking advice that sounds like you need a rationalization for continuing to just eat gluten because you don't feel motivated, you have a big problem. This is a separate issue from what the child is going to be eating, yet it ties into that as you are both from the same household and obviously would be likely eating the same menu. The disease is causing auto immune damage to your interior organs, whether or not you feel anything yet. Chances are, you do feel "something," but are attributing it to some other problem. You cannot stop yourself from being this way whether or not you eat gluten, once your genetics are triggered by something in the environment. It is not a death sentence, but a call to creativity to be able to be healthy, and of all the diseases to get stuck with, this one is unique in it has the easiest way ability to make yourself healthy again- no medication necessary.

[ChemistMama]

KatieB:

OH my goodness. These boards are full of supportive people who can help you go gluten free. If you care about your little one and would like to be healthy enough to see her children, I would stop eating gluten immediately. I talked to my son's pediatric GI and if you have celiac in your family, her suggestion was to wait to introduce gluten until she's 10-12 months old. HOwever,you can also follow the advice of the other posters, and introduce gluten when you'd like...she's already had some gluten if she's breastfeeding and you're not gluten-free.

Is the only reason you've not started a gluten-free diet is because your asymptomatic? Trust me, you don't want to have to deal with the symptoms once they do show up, and they will. As you get older it takes longer for your intestines to heal, and when your villi are destroyed down to nothing, you'll have to deal with 6-12 months of intestinal pain, diarrhea, anemia, and lactose intolerance until you heal. Not fun. For the love of all things sacred, please go gluten free!!!!!!

[HiDee]

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=55406

Hi KatieB, there is a lot of relevant information to your situation in the above link. I have decided not to give my children any gluten at all, at least not while they are young and not at home since we are a gluten-free household. They aren't missing out on any nutrients, there are plenty of extremely healthy grains (sometimes more nutrient rich than wheat or barley) that we include in our diet like quinoa, millet, sorghum etc. I would follow the advice of your TCM, her digestive system will develop just fine without gluten-containing grains. In fact it seems that babies' digestive systems, according to some of the research referenced in the above link, do better without grains at all in their first year. I had to stop giving my baby rice cereal shortly after we introduced it to him due to extreme constipation and he's much better without it - he just gets more fruits and veggies.

I agree with Takala that you would be wise to start cutting out gluten, it's a bit overwhelming at first but really not a big deal once you make the jump and get used to it. My situation is somewhat similar in that I didn't have a lot of extremely apparent symptoms but I do have family members with way worse health problems now from long-term gluten damage and I'd much rather live with the small annoyance of eating gluten free right now rather than the major health problems I might have to deal with later. So, of course your body and health are yours to do with what you will but just try to think about it objectively and think ahead a little.