2 Year Old With Tummy Problems

[HaleyAndNataliesMommy]

My 2 and a half year old DD, Haley, often has digestive problems. I am not sure what is causing it.

She was a formula fed baby and from the beginning she has always had very adult like bowel movements. They are often times rock hard. They have never been baby-like at all. Her most recent bowel movement ended with her screaming and it came out bloody & hard as a rock.

She is only 24 pounds at 30 months old.

She also refuses to eat wheat products for the most part. She used to enjoy spaghetti, but now refuses to touch the stuff. She won't eat mac n cheese, she opens up sandwichs and eats the stuff out of the inside (even peanut butter and jelly) and will toss the bread away. She licks the cream out of oreos and wont eat the cookie. I just always figured she was a picky eater, like most todders.

She recently, earlier this week, ate Teddy Grahams - which she has never had before - and bologna (also something she hasn't had before). The only two new things she's had - which resulted in her rock hard, bloody BM. There are times when she can have okay BM's - not too hard, and those weeks, she usually doesn't eat breads or noodles - during her "picky" weeks.

I do believe my brother has Celiac's, though he has never been diagnosed - or thought about it. He is 23 and has never weighed more than 125 pounds, no matter how hard he tries. I always remember him having a giant bloated belly (my DD's is not nearly as pronounced as his was). My mom says she was always giving him enema's because he was ALWAYS constipated. I know it can be genetic.

I hope to be able to atleast TRY a gluten free diet for her, though it is very hard. I live in a house with 5 other adults who refuse to eat "gluten-free" and would give her foods with gluten.

Do you think this is a case of celiac's or just a small allergy to wheat or something? Should I just try my best to start her on a gluten-free diet?

Thanks.

[RiceGuy]

Welcome to the board! I'm sure you'll get plenty of helpful answers here.

It does sound like she could very well be Celiac. And it seems she's picked up on the fact that certain foods make her sick, as she's refusing them. Bloody bowel movements are certainly cause for concern.

Given the poor reliability of tests for such young children, I think I'd try a gluten-free diet, and see how she does. Try avoiding dairy at the same time too, at least until she's feeling better. The damage to the intestine often makes dairy difficult to digest.

IMHO, only if you want her to get tested, should you keep her eating gluten. But again, the tests are not very reliable at that age, so you're looking at trying the diet anyway. The advantage of testing would be IF they come out positive, then you'd know for sure, and she'd know too, as she grows up. Then she'll be less likely to go off the diet later in life.

It probably cannot hurt to try the gluten-free diet for about a week. The antibodies and intestinal damage is said to start diminishing at around two weeks.

If you want to pursue testing, perhaps you can include only tiny amounts of gluten in her diet. a single cracker or other small item in a given day might be enough, but I'm sure it will be difficult to do that, knowing she'll suffer.

[Genna'smom]

My daughter stopped eating and drinking when she was almost 2 and no one could figure out why till after 2 extended hospital stays they did a biopcie and found she has celiacs disease. She had no classic symptoms but was always had "rabbit turds" as we called them and did not sleep good. We would not have know if we did not do the biopcie and no one even thought to tell us to go gluten free first so follow what you think is best for your child. Mine ended up with failure to thrive and down to 18lbs at 2 and now has a feeding tube. She is doing better and is about 26 lbs at 3 years old. Still small but eating some and it took us almost 6 months to get her to eat again. the drs said she is smart and it took her time to figure out that food would not hurt her anymore. Progress is slow but at least we have progress....

Follow your mommy instinct.

Bonnie