Celiac Or Not?

[norahsmommy]

My youngest daughter is 12 months old. Since introducing solids it seems we have been having problems. One of the first foods we introduced was oatmeal at 6 months and Gerber puffs. She became so very constipated she would scream horribly when trying to go #2. It was awful to watch. She occasionally would have steaks of blood in her diapers and her bm smelled SOO bad. It was like a rotting dead thing. Then after the major blockage of poo she would have diarrhea for the day. Then she wouldn't poop for 8 days. It was a vicious cycle. She would scream and fuss all day and get up 8-11 times a night. I told her doc but he suggested that her digestive system was slow and she would get better once she was crawling more. She didn't. I was convinced it was food related so I took her off all solids and added them back slowly. She had no problem with baby foods we tried and then she had a cracker. She got a rash, and was obviously in pain the rest of the day, and she didn't poop for 7 days. All from 1 cracker! Then I cut out breads again and she got back to pooping normally and wasn't fussy anymore. Then I added back crackers and it happened again. It happened with puffs, bread, crackers, and also with a babyfood that contained barely flakes. So then I started to wonder if it was celiac or at least a gluten intolerance. She has been gluten free and doesn't have issues unless I mess up and feed her something that has gluten in it or I set her food down in an area that had bread crumbs or something. Its hard keeping gluten away from her. I have 2 other young kids and they are constantly dripping crumbs everywhere even if I make them eat only at the table and vacuum every day. My husband does it too. In order to make 1 sandwich he somehow manages to get crumbs on the floor and every counter surface in our small kitchen. Then he will pick up that sandwich and pick up baby and play with her while dripping crumbs. It is very frustrating trying to keep it away from her. I am not perfect and she has been getting gluten lately and is back to having constipation, though not so much pain as before when she was eating bread and crackers. I want to get her tested but I dread that she needs to be eating gluten. Any advice or tips would be great!

[norahsmommy]

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[Jestgar]

Have you considered getting her tested?

[norahsmommy]

Have you considered getting her tested?

I am going to ask that they test her at her next doc appointment on the 3rd. I don't think they will do it that day but hopefully they will schedule her an appointment soon. How long did it take to get your child tested after you or your doc suspected gluten problems?

[Skylark]

Yes, she sounds like she has gluten issues. If she's mostly gluten-free the testing will not be reliable though. It's so hard to have to gluten challenge to get good tests.

[norahsmommy]

Yes, she sounds like she has gluten issues. If she's mostly gluten-free the testing will not be reliable though. It's so hard to have to gluten challenge to get good tests.

I am going to be putting her back on gluten until testing is complete. I don't want to, but I do want to know what the problem is. If its NOT gluten I need to find out what it is.