Could My Son Have Celiac?

[CaseyF]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease in August of this year. I developed celiac symptoms in my 3-4th month of pregnancy (my son was born 2/2/2011) symptoms which I never had before (the DH is what gave it away BIG TIME) when i started feeding my son barley and other baby foods with gluten ingredients he would get a rash on his face similar to what i would get after eating gluten before going gluten free and he would be fussy for a few hours afterwards. I brought this up to his pediatrician and I asked to have him tested for it also.. well the test came out negative. I am just wondering how accurate you think those results are? he was only eating gluten maybe 5 times a week for a couple of months.. is that enough to get positive result? After the test I stopped feeding him gluten completely and now his skin is perfect. I dont want to deprive him of gluten (i know its good) if i dont need to but i am scared to try it again. Is it likely that because i developed the celiac and dh symptoms during pregnancy that i passed it right along to him?

[sahm-i-am]

Well, Celiac is definitely a genetic disease and can certainly pass from parent to child. My daughter had gastro symptoms and failure to thrive all her life. We had her tested and her bloodwork came back negative, but her Genetic testing told us she had 2 markers for it. She decided to go gluten free (she was 10 at the time and ready to feel better) and has never felt better! So, even though her bloodwork was negative, she felt better gluten-free. Your son is too young to tell you, but his skin is definitely screaming at you! I would listen to it. And sure, gluten is so mainstream, but I guarantee you that when he is older more and more people will be intolerant of it and it won't be as difficult. Actually, my daughter has an easier time avoiding gluten because she doesn't really remember or miss it. I, on the other hand, had gluten in my life for 42 years before I had to get rid of it and it is harder to let the memories go.