Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

New Here My 18month Old Has Celiac's

jenn33

Recommended Posts

jenn33 Newbie
jenn33
Posted

Hi everyone,

My name is Jenny and I have two boys a 3yr old and 18 month old. Our 18 month old was diagnosed with Celiacs on 11/19. His symptoms started in July about 2 weeks after we started him on a "normal" diet and off of formula. Starting the first week of October he got much worse. Poor guy had no energy a huge belly and the worse diapers I have ever seen (even worse than roto virus lol). Anyways after making my doctors office start blood test to figure him out we came to the conclusion he has Celiac's. On the 24th of November he was starting to swell all over his body so we packed him up and headed to the Children's hospital an hour away from home where we stayed for 3 days. They did the biopsy while we were there and we are hoping to here back from that any day. He has been gluten free (to the best of my knowledge) for a little over a week and is already showing signs of improvement. Finally my baby boy is wanting to play and smiling again. I know we have a long road a head of us but I am so thankful that we figured it out and can move on. We will be getting the whole family tested although none of us show symptoms.

This is all very new to us and I was hoping you could help me with dinner choices that the whole family can enjoy. I have been winging it and trying new things but it has been stressful since we all know how picky toddlers can be. He also goes to daycare where I have been packing his lunch any good ideas for that would be helpful too.

Sorry so long thanks for all your help in advance

Jenny

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Welcome Jenny!

First, take a deep breath -- it's great that you have a diagnosis and know what you can do to help your son.

These first days/learning curve are the toughest. It took about a month for our house to come to grips with gluten-free and find all the hidden gluten in our home.

Keep it as simple as possible for now. Grilled Meat/Fish, steamed vegies, fruit, nuts, rice, potatoes.

I know I saw a list of kid friendly food recently, I'll try to find and add to your post.

Hang in there!

p.s. I have a daughter named Jenny - her son went gluten free because of severe stomach problems when I found out I was celiac - he was 18 months and is doing much better eating gluten-free.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

my post submitted twice...not sure how to remove the second copy

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Below is one old list I found, I know there are more lists in other posts -- plus other members will give you lots of ideas. Be sure to ask if you have questions during the learning curve.

+++++++

That's really all you NEED to buy from the specialty stores. You will like the Kinnikinnick White Tapioca Bread as much as your child will.

From your regular grocery store you can purchase snacks:

fruits

veggies

Fritos corn chips

Cheetos

Lays Stax potato chips

Lays regular potato chips

cheese sticks

yogurts

cold cuts *read labels *ask deli clerks to wipe down slicer before slicing your order

raisins

nuts

make own trail mix

fruit snacks packs

popcorn

jello

pudding

rice pudding

rice crispy treats made with Post fruity pebbles or cocoa pebs

Meals:

Hot dogs Oscar Mayer

chili

beef stew

chicken soup

tacos

nachos

burritos made with corn tortillas

bologna Oscar Mayer

salad

rice Brown is more filling than white

Post fruity Pebbles Post Cocoa Pebbles

Classico Alfredo sauces are gluten free!

scrambled egg burritos on corn tortillas *hint for preparing corn tortillas* lightly warm on each side with a pat of butter* softens to texture of flour burritos!

bacon

You can make so many meals from the regular store. So many. Until your financial situation permits, you can make your son Pizza on a slice of Kinnikinnick bread. That's how my son still PREFERS it even though I have the Kinnikinnick crusts, and Chebe bread.

celiac-mommy Collaborator
celiac-mommy
Posted

I agree with Lisa. It took me longer to totally get the hang of it, but I didn't have all these wonderful people to talk with for a year and a half after my dd was diagnosed! Thank God for this forum and all these wonderful people!!

Our household is about 98% gluten-free. It's so much easier that way, little to no risk of CC. My son was diagnosed when he was 2 and we had a much more difficult time with him than our daughter (diagnosed at age 4). She was able to understand more so why she couldn't eat certain things and could associate her stomachache with the gluten. Max, however, went through quite a rebelion at school, eating gluten foods off other kids' plates before the teacher could get to him because he was frustrated, angry and just didn't get it. He's 4 now and it's like old hat for him. He knows what he can and can't have, we have a snack box for him at school so we don't have to deal with any CC from the kitchen and I pack a full lunch every day. I let the kids help plan meals and grocery trips. We focus on what they can eat and not what they can't and after you get the hang of it, you'll probably start to experiment more with cooking and baking. It's my mission to learn as much as I can and teach them everything I learn so when they are grown and out on their own, I've make it that much easier for them. Look at it as a positive adventure than a negative.

We're all here to help!!

nmlove Contributor
nmlove
Posted

My kids are 4, 2, and 5 months. Here's some of what we eat:

Snacks - cheese stick, yogurt, cheese/lunchmeat roll-up, nuts, peanut butter on rice cake, EnviroKidz rice bars, fruit leathers or sticks, any fruit or vegetable, mini muffins on occasion

Lunches - hot dog, lunchmeat/cheese roll-up, mac-n-cheese, pancakes, eggs, leftovers, corn tortilla quesadillas, soup (chicken us a favorite), always add fruit/veg

Dinner - meat, at least one veggie (or two with no fruit)

Some favorites - Meatballs, taco night (they like to eat it without a shell too), pizza

In general I try to balance it out. We're eating a lot of meat but I'm slowly working on that.

jenn33 Newbie
jenn33
Posted
  • Author

Thanks ALL!! I plan on doing some MAJOR CLEAN OUT this weekend and restocking the house :) Wish me luck!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Good Luck!

:D

Mom of a Celiac toddler Apprentice
Mom of a Celiac toddler
Posted

First of all: I am so sorry you had to watch your little boy suffer so! The hardest part of my life was watching my son pre-diagnosis, because I knew he was not "normal." He is now a very happy 22 month old that can not be slowed down!!

Glutino sandwich cookies are just like Oreo's for a special treat.

Chebe pizza crust is better than any glutened pizza crust I have ever had!

Authentic Foods or Mama's pancake mix.

gluten-free Waffles.

gluten-free granola bars.

Annie's rice mac and cheese., and the tapioca bread that has already been mentioned.

Those are pretty much the only things we buy from specialty stores. We do lots of fruits and veggies, smoothies are big hit and I'm able to sneak some veggies in there!

Nutella and PB are pretty big with him, he gets bored with PB so we switch to Nutella for a while then switch back again.

Something that has been really helpful for me is Amazon. They have a huge selection and once you know what you will go through a lot of, you can sign up for their subscribe and save service (cancel at any time) to save even more!

You are fortunate in that he won't remember what he is missing! My son doesn't even ask for goldfish anymore because he has his own special snack cupboard. When his older brother gets something from his snack cupboard my gluten-free kid goes to his cupboard and gets something special for himself!

Keep asking questions-the people here are never ending for support! It is the most amazing community!!

Hi everyone,

My name is Jenny and I have two boys a 3yr old and 18 month old. Our 18 month old was diagnosed with Celiacs on 11/19. His symptoms started in July about 2 weeks after we started him on a "normal" diet and off of formula. Starting the first week of October he got much worse. Poor guy had no energy a huge belly and the worse diapers I have ever seen (even worse than roto virus lol). Anyways after making my doctors office start blood test to figure him out we came to the conclusion he has Celiac's. On the 24th of November he was starting to swell all over his body so we packed him up and headed to the Children's hospital an hour away from home where we stayed for 3 days. They did the biopsy while we were there and we are hoping to here back from that any day. He has been gluten free (to the best of my knowledge) for a little over a week and is already showing signs of improvement. Finally my baby boy is wanting to play and smiling again. I know we have a long road a head of us but I am so thankful that we figured it out and can move on. We will be getting the whole family tested although none of us show symptoms.

This is all very new to us and I was hoping you could help me with dinner choices that the whole family can enjoy. I have been winging it and trying new things but it has been stressful since we all know how picky toddlers can be. He also goes to daycare where I have been packing his lunch any good ideas for that would be helpful too.

Sorry so long thanks for all your help in advance

Jenny

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,667
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    bailey1023
    Newest Member
    bailey1023
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Inkie
      Tea Bags and Gluten

      By Inkie · Posted

      Thank you for the information ill will definitely bring it into practice .
    • Scott Adams
      Tea Bags and Gluten

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      While plain, pure tea leaves (black, green, or white) are naturally gluten-free, the issue often lies not with the tea itself but with other ingredients or processing. Many flavored teas use barley malt or other gluten-containing grains as a flavoring agent, which would be clearly listed on the ingredient label. Cross-contamination is another possibility, either in the facility where the tea is processed or, surprisingly, from the tea bag material itself—some tea bags are sealed with a wheat-based glue. Furthermore, it's important to consider that your reaction could be to other substances in tea, such as high levels of tannins, which can be hard on the stomach, or to natural histamines or other compounds that can cause a non-celiac immune response. The best way to investigate is to carefully read labels for hidden ingredients, try switching to a certified gluten-free tea brand that uses whole leaf or pyramid-style bags, and see if the reaction persists.
    • Scott Adams
      Inconclusive results

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      This is a challenging and confusing situation. The combination of a positive EMA—which is a highly specific marker rarely yielding false positives—alongside strongly elevated TTG on two separate occasions, years apart, is profoundly suggestive of celiac disease, even in the absence of biopsy damage. This pattern strongly aligns with what is known as "potential celiac disease," where the immune system is clearly activated, but intestinal damage has not yet become visible under the microscope. Your concern about the long-term risk of continued gluten consumption is valid, especially given your family's experience with the consequences of delayed diagnosis. Since your daughter is now at an age where her buy-in is essential for a gluten-free lifestyle, obtaining a definitive answer is crucial for her long-term adherence and health. Given that she is asymptomatic yet serologically positive, a third biopsy now, after a proper 12-week challenge, offers the best chance to capture any microscopic damage that may have developed, providing the concrete evidence needed to justify the dietary change. This isn't about wanting her to have celiac; it's about wanting to prevent the insidious damage that can occur while waiting for symptoms to appear, and ultimately giving her the unambiguous "why" she needs to accept and commit to the necessary treatment. This article might be helpful. It breaks down each type of test, and what a positive results means in terms of the probability that you might have celiac disease. One test that always needs to be done is the IgA Levels/Deficiency Test (often called "Total IGA") because some people are naturally IGA deficient, and if this is the case, then certain blood tests for celiac disease might be false-negative, and other types of tests need to be done to make an accurate diagnosis. The article includes the "Mayo Clinic Protocol," which is the best overall protocol for results to be ~98% accurate.    
    • Scott Adams
      Medication

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Welcome to the community! Generally, for a gluten challenge before celiac disease blood tests, Tylenol (acetaminophen) is considered safe and should not interfere with your antibody results. The medications you typically need to avoid are those like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) that can cause intestinal irritation, which could potentially complicate the interpretation of an endoscopy if you were to have one. However, it is absolutely crucial that you confirm this with either your gastroenterologist or your surgeon before your procedure. They know the specifics of your case and can give you the definitive green light, ensuring your surgery is comfortable and your celiac testing remains accurate. Best of luck with your surgery tomorrow
    • Xravith
      Taking Probiotics but Still Getting Sick After Gluten – Advice?

      By Xravith · Posted

      Thank you for the advice. I’ve actually never checked for nutritional deficiencies, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve always taken vitamin and mineral supplements — otherwise my symptoms get worse. This week I stopped eating gluten to confirm whether my symptoms are really caused by it. Starting next week, I’ll reintroduce gluten — it’s sad to go back to how I was before — but at least I’ll be able to take the necessary tests properly. I think the diagnostic process will be long, but at least I’m happy that I finally decided to address this doubt I’ve had for years.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.