Baby With Gluten Intolerance?

[Amaya'sMama]

Hi all,

I am new to this site and am hoping some of you can offer me some info and advice. My daughter is 12 weeks old and we have recently discovered what seems to be a gluten intolerance. Starting around 3 weeks she was very very fussy, crying for hours, very uncomfortable and very gassy. Around 4 weeks she stopped having regular bowel movements (on;y going every 7-10 days). Her pediatrician said this is common with breastfed babies, but 10 days is longer than he is comfortable with. She was fussing while nursing, often refusing to latch and was spitting up very frequently.

I started cutting things out of my diet, starting with dairy. I didn't notice much difference, if any. Next I tried gluten and within about a wekk, she was like a completely different baby. I have been able to put her down in her swing without her crying, she's smiling a ton, not as gassy, very rarely spits up and started pooping at least once a day, sometimes as much as 6 times a day.

Over the last week or so she has been fussy, gassy, spitting up and not pooping as much. The only thing I can think of is instant mashed potatoes that we ate the other night, maybe they had gluten in them? We usually eat home made, but we were in a rush. Right after eating them I felt sick too, I don't have an allergy or sensitivity that I know of, but I have been gluten-free for a month bc she is exclusively breastfed. Also, she had vsccines last week which tends to throw her off, not sure if that could be it.

My questions for all of you are,

- Is it common for a baby (or person of any age) to be sensitive to more than one thing? Could it be something else entirely that I am eating? She was doing great for about a month, then this, thats why I think it was probably something I ate that had gluten that I didn't catch.

- How do these things usually pan out? I haven't had her tested for anything, but the change in her was so obvious that I decided to stick with the diet. I spoke to her pediatrician and they recommended being gluten-free until she was ready for solids, then slowly introducing it back into my diet first. Is this something I should look into further or just take it as it goes?

I think she is much more sensitive than I initially realized, do you have any recommendations on cook books? I think for now I am going to make everything I eat myself. That seems to be the easiest and surest way to avoid gluten all together.

Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

[suziq0805]

I'll try to help some if I can. I was recently diagnosed with gluten sensitivity and we suspect gluten issues with my 20 month old son. I don't have a cookbook yet- i just search online and am able to read reviews to see what has gotten good reviews before I attempt it (I'm just learning to cook now since I used to eat a lot of processed foods). I also get recipes from my local celiac support group- see if your community has one because I have learned so much and gotten some good recipes from my local group.

Keep in mind that testing isn't very accurate on children younger than 3. Any testing needs to be done while eating a gluten diet. My son was tested while gluten-free so the results came back negative, but were worthless since he wasn't eating gluten. I'm not saying put your child back on gluten to be tested, but just wanted to mention it so if you or your doctor want to at some point you are aware of this.

My son began reacting to foods when we introduced rice cereal and oatmeal. When it's time for this for your child check into the ingredients and manufacturing procedures. We had to avoid oatmeal since I couldn't find one that didn't contain wheat. We did not have luck with cereals due to what we think is cross contamination issues with a certain brand. I also decided to just make his baby food- especially once he got to the 2nd and 3rd stages because so many had wheat, pasta, broths or oatmeal in them. I also avoided ones with rice because he reacted to certain brands of rice cereal too. I used my blender and made a bunch of a certain food, poured it into ice cube trays, froze them and stored them in freezer bags. Then I could just pull out how many cubes I needed at a time and microwave them. It took more time, but also turned out to be cheaper. I used the website www.wholesomebabyfood.com for ideas/recipes for homemade baby food.

[Booghead]

It is common to be sensitive to more then one thing. It could be something else you are eating. It probably wasn't the potatoes(mine don't have gluten in them) but it could have been something else.

Babys can react to vaccines. I know this years flu vaccine has made everyone I know sick including me. So vaccines could be a problem.

If she has a gluten allergy she will likely grow out of it. If she has Celiacs she will not grow out of it. Celiacs is genetic but it can be a resesive trait. If you became sensitive to gluten as well then I would say you might be her genetic link. I would get a blood test for you (not the baby). If your blood test comes back positive stay gluten free and I would bet money on her having it if you do.

So far I have found out you must make everything yourself. Everytime I have gone out to eat I have gotten sick. Don't worry about processed foods too much though, just check ingredients for wheat, barley, rye.

Poor little thing. Sounds like I did when I was a baby I must have had Celiacs then too! *Also many Celiacs are very sensitive to milk products. So perhaps cutting out dairy for a little while would help her more. I have been off dairy for about a month. It makes me instantly sick whereas gluten takes a little while.

Maybe thats why the instant ones don't agree with her, because you put milk in them?

Best of Luck

[Jestgar]

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a gluten allergy, and children do not grow out of gluten sensitivity, they only stop exhibiting the symptoms for a while.

If you cooked the potatoes in the pot that you usually use for pasta, that would be a source of gluten.

Your initial plan sounds good: Stop eating gluten and just see how things go. You might decide to wait to reintroduce gluten until she can talk about how she feels.

[gary'sgirl]

If she has a gluten allergy she will likely grow out of it. If she has Celiacs she will not grow out of it. Celiacs is genetic but it can be a resesive trait. If you became sensitive to gluten as well then I would say you might be her genetic link. I would get a blood test for you (not the baby). If your blood test comes back positive stay gluten free and I would bet money on her having it if you do.

I think this poster must mean an allergy to wheat, because I don't think there is such a thing as an allergy to gluten, only sensitivity/intolerance or Celiac disease.

Also, it would not be very beneficial for you to get a blood test as this poster suggests, because it would not be valid if you are not eating gluten, and you of course don't want to eat gluten if your baby is going to react to your milk.

I think that from what you describe that it is very likely gluten that was the main problem for your baby. The symptom are exactly the same that my babies had - even down to the timing of when the baby started to have symptoms. We didn't figure it out as quickly as you did though and my kids have had other problems because it took us so long to find the problem.

I think that it's possible that you got some kind of CC from somewhere (posably the potatoes), but it could have been the vaccinations too.

You might want to look into delaying some or all, of the vaccinations until your baby's system is older and stronger, because vaccines can be very hard on the immune system, and since your baby is obviously having digestive problems you know that that part of her immune system is already having trouble. -Just a thought to consider.

Anyway, I really hope you can figure it all out. I know what it's like and it's a really tough thing to go through with a little one.

I wish you the best!

[M0Mto3]

I was just looking through the aisles at mashed potatoes and they are not all gluten free. In fact, I am pretty sure the Betty Crocker ones had wheat. I ended up getting Idahoan(?). They say gluten free on the package and are pretty tasty.

I didn't realize that my LO had issues with gluten until she was about 10 months. She took about 2 months to show signs, although it took much longer to figure out those signs.

I did find lots of baby food options that are gluten free. I would love to say that I could make my own, but with 3 kids and a full time job, I am just not that good. So, Happy Babies brand makes gluten free rice cereal, pureed foods, puffs. Target sells it and you can order it online.

[Amaya'sMama]

Thank you all so much for your input, it has been so helpful.

When I said gluten allergy, I guess I meant sensitivity/intolerance. This is all very new to me and I obviously have a ton of research to do.

One more question, it's been a month since I went gluten free, at one point I did have gluten (unintentionally) and had a pretty upset stomach myself. Is this a common reaction for anyone that goes gluten free and then has it again, or would that suggest that I have a sensitivity myself as well?

Thanks again!

[Ollie's Mom]

Thank you all so much for your input, it has been so helpful.

When I said gluten allergy, I guess I meant sensitivity/intolerance. This is all very new to me and I obviously have a ton of research to do.

One more question, it's been a month since I went gluten free, at one point I did have gluten (unintentionally) and had a pretty upset stomach myself. Is this a common reaction for anyone that goes gluten free and then has it again, or would that suggest that I have a sensitivity myself as well?

Thanks again!

You may have a sensitivity.

My hubby eats gluten free at home because the house in gluten free. He can go and have a slice of pizza once or twice a month and not have any adverse reaction at all. I've been gluten free long enough that even a breadcrumb will make me sick.

[Jestgar]

You may have a sensitivity.

Yep.

[Booghead]

I did mean a wheat allergy. Sorry about that. Quick typing >.<

[salexander421]

My questions for all of you are,

- Is it common for a baby (or person of any age) to be sensitive to more than one thing? Could it be something else entirely that I am eating? She was doing great for about a month, then this, thats why I think it was probably something I ate that had gluten that I didn't catch.

- How do these things usually pan out? I haven't had her tested for anything, but the change in her was so obvious that I decided to stick with the diet. I spoke to her pediatrician and they recommended being gluten-free until she was ready for solids, then slowly introducing it back into my diet first. Is this something I should look into further or just take it as it goes?

I think she is much more sensitive than I initially realized, do you have any recommendations on cook books? I think for now I am going to make everything I eat myself. That seems to be the easiest and surest way to avoid gluten all together.

Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

Yes! It is totally common for someone of any age to be sensitive to more than one thing. I had similar issues with our youngest. She spit up (more like vomited) from day one and started having more severe issues at 2 months. I started by taking out dairy which helped some but not completely. I ended up doing a total elimination diet and was only eating a handful of foods because she was reacting to EVERYTHING. We finally figured out our older daughter's gluten intolerance when she was about 2 1/2 and this is when the light went off for our youngest, she was about 1 at this time.

I didn't realize I had issues with gluten and dairy until I went off of it for my daughter. I was amazed at how great I felt! The first time I tried something with gluten in it I felt sick. Another light bulb went off.

I would just keep you and her off gluten until you're ready for solids and then decide what you want to do. If it were me, I would probably keep her gluten free until she's much older when she can better communicate how she is feeling. But, you may want to try it sooner...that's totally your decision. As far as testing goes, it's not very reliable for young children. There are young children that test positive but I think they're fewer and far between.

You may want to read up on leaky gut if you haven't already.

As far as cookbooks go, I can't offer too much advice. Most of my recipes have come from the internet. Here's a couple blogs I really liked when I first got started with the gluten free diet Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

We now follow a mostly paleo type diet which is grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, and legume free which pretty much takes care of all our food intolerances. I just got a recipe book called Paleo Comfort Foods and it is awesome!

Hopefully this helps some! All I can say is it does get easier! I'm still nursing, she is now 28 months and she is doing great and thriving! Oh one more thing, as far as vaccines are concerned are you comfortable holding off on those? Our daughter had her first 2 vaccines when she was 2 months old and this is when her major issues stared, she got her next set at 4 months...more issues. She got another set at 6 months and this is when I decided we needed to hold off on vaccines. She didn't get any more until she was 18 months. She was doing really good at this point so I decided to catch her up on just one vaccine. She started having issues again. We have not had any more vaccines since. Just something to think about.

[salexander421]

Also, we didn't start solids until she was 9-10 months old. I didn't want to complicate things further and she was thriving well on my breastmilk. There's really no need for solids for the first 12 months if you're breastfeeding, you just have to go with what you're comfortable.

[Roda]

If and when you are ready to try solids Pocono Cream of Buckwheat might be worth trying. I love it and it has directions on how to mix it for infants.

I believe my youngest son's severe reflux and other issues were related to gluten when he was a baby. However I had no idea. He was also exclusively breast fed. He reacted to oatmeal and rice cereal by getting a bad rash on his head. I ended up feeding him barley cereal! No wonder his reflux didn't go away. I did end up having to eliminate all dairy, oats, rice and tree nuts. I wasn't gluten free though but inadvertantly I was gluten light. When I started reintroducing things back into my diet, I stated having weird symptoms. It took 2.5 years and a lot of research on my part to realize I had celiac. By that time my youngest son was almost 4 and the troubles he had were no longer there. I had both my boys screened after my diagnosis and their tests were negative. Two years later my youngest son started having symptoms again. He was reblood tested and his IgA tTG was positive. He is now almost 7 and has been gluten free for a year now. I really wish I knew about gluten when he was a baby. However, because of the elimination I did do, it eventually lead me to it.

Looking back at my oldest son's issues as a baby/toddler he was probably intolerent of gluten too then. He is almost 11 and has been gluten free for a little over three months now. All his blood work is negative (tested 3-4 times) and he had a scope/biopsy that was negative in Aug. He and his younger brother are doing well now.

If not for my youngest son and the symptoms I had after ending my elimination, I don't know how long it would have taken for me to recognize I had celiac, if at all. I feel very fortunate. I believe I had problems with gluten to some degree since I was small.

[tarnalberry]

There is absolutely no need to start the introduction of solids with cereal. It's just a waste of nutritionally void simple carbs, outside of the added vitamins. (If I want to give vitamins, I'll give vitamins, not simple starches with vitamins added.) Not only that, but breastfed babies do not (generally) need the iron in fortified cereals (formula fed babies often do) because, while breastmilk has very low levels of iron it it, the iron in breastmilk is VASTLY more easily absorbed. (One of the primary reasons for this is that breastmilk also contains lactoferrin, an substance that prevents bacteria in the intestines - healthy and less than healthy ones - from selectively absorbing the iron leaving little for the body.)

I highly recommend baby led weaning (Open Original Shared Link). You can even skip the purees. (Purees were introduced decades ago because babies fed formula at that time weren't getting enough nutrition, and they needed additional foods introduced very young, before they were developmentally ready, by three or four months. Purees that were spoon fed to babies were the only way to get something past their gag reflex that was liquid enough to not choke them and required no work on the part of the baby.) I like that BLW is a very "developmentally appropriate" way to go, and most kids I know who've tried it really, really like it. Not to mention it's SOOOO much easier to not cook separate food for the baby and just give them what you're having. (Though, of course, this may mean some small menu changes for your own dinner, like having sweet potato fries - which a seven month old can nosh on - instead of corn on the cob (which actually is a fun food for babies who are just slightly older, giving them, at first, the cob leftover after you've eaten most of the kernels off of it.)

[salexander421]

I would be cautious with the Pocono cream of buckwheat, me and my two girls have gluten reactions to it.

I agree with what Tiffany says about purees not being necessary. We started solids (very slowly!) at 9-10 months and by that time I was able to just mash her food with a fork, she just ate what I was eating.