How Quickly Do Kids Grow Once gluten-free? My 3 1/2Yr Old Is 2Yr Old Size

[MaZoodleTwins]

I am just curious how quickly kids start to grow once they are gluten free. And I also want to know if most kids catch up or if some kids stay pretty small. She was DX with Celiac and we just started a gluten-free diet this week(our entire house is gluten-free)

Madison is 33.5" tall and 26lbs, she will be 4 years old at the end of October. She is VERY petite/small and is not even on the growth chart for percentiles.

I have read both things, that some kids catch up really quickly, some so fast that they get joint pain and I've also read that some kids stay small and might just grow a tiny bit.

We like her being tiny, she's our little Tinkerbell but I buy my girls lots of clothes in advance, like for the Fall/Winter or will right now buy things for next Spring/Summer but if she might grow a ton, I don't want to be buying a bunch of clothes that she might not fit it.

[Jestgar]

Don't shop just yet.

[VydorScope]

Our results may not be typical, but here is what happened with Timothy...

He WAS in the 101st percentile for his age, then he got really sick and started losing ground. Eventually we discovered the gluten-free diet and he got better... but he has never again returned to the 101st percentile, or even close. So my assumption based on that is that they do not make up for lost time, just start growing normally from where ever they are once better.

BUT again, that is just in my case, I do not know what is typical.

[1974girl]

My daughter went from 50% down to 21% when they discovered her thryoid issue. Most people think weight when they think of thyroid but in kids, it is the height. But within 3 years, she was back up to 50%. The doctor called it "catch up growth" and I was skeptical but it worked. If your daughter has always been small, then she may just be small. The doctor said the warning flag is when they take a dive down on the curve. If my daughter had always been 21%, then they wouldn't have worried. It was when she took the dive from 50% to 21% that they caught her thyroid.

[cahill]

We like her being tiny, she's our little Tinkerbell

I am sure you will like her being healthy even more then you like her being tiny.

[rosetapper23]

My son was always in the 110% percentile for height, but his celiac kicked in just as he began his adolescence at age 11. He began to fall behind in height, which baffled me because height calculations that had been made at age 2 had predicted that he would end up between 6'5" and 6'8". When he entered high school at age 14, he was of average height but grew to six feet by age 16 even though he was suffering from chronic diarrhea. It was right around his 16th birthday that I discovered that my mother, son, and I all had celiac disease. My son followed the diet as best as a teenager could (which meant that he cheated occasionally when out with friends), but he grew four more inches until he was 25! I learned at a celiac conference several years ago that some celiacs' bones don't stopping growing in their teens; rather, because a hormone that turns off the growth mechanism is poorly absorbed, those celiacs continue to grow into their young adulthood. This happened to me, as well--I grew until I was 25. I'd always thought that was odd, but now I know why it happened. It also explains why I've observed at celiac conferences that many people who attend them are taller than average. I attend celiac conferences all over the United States and have noted this phenomenon at all of them. This is not to say that there aren't also many shorter-than-average celiacs--I'm just saying that the majority of attendees appear to be taller than average.

So....it's possible that your daughter may gain some height later in life. It'll depend on how well she is absorbing certain hormones.

[maximoo]

rosetapper my son will be 18 next mth the celiac was discovered just last year. The pediatrician said that once stage 5 of puberty is complete no more growth will occur. He has a beard, chest hair, finger hair the whole 9 yards. How does the lack of hormone absorption affect the stages of puberty? Was/is stage 5 delay thru age 25? Did your son have all the secondary male characteristics? Since my son does I do not expect any more growth but I ahope I'm wrong, he's 5'6.

[rosetapper23]

maximoo,

What I took away from the lecture is that the hormone that STOPS bone growth usually kicks in in the late teens; however, with celiacs who have difficulty absorbing hormones, the hormone has little to no effect on stopping the bone growth. Therefore, the person continues to grow for several more years. My son had all secondary characteristics by his mid-teens, as did I, and we continued to grow. If you attend celiac conferences, you'll notice that a lot of celiacs have large, fully developed, and sometimes overly large jaws. I believe that this is the result of this inability to stop bone growth in the late teens. My jaw continued to grow into my 20's, and when I attend celiac conferences, I constantly get mistaken for other people because so many of us have this characteristic in common and resemble each other. We tend to have very distinct facial features with our cheekbones, jaws, and chins curving forward. I refer to this facial makeup as "crescent face" because in a 3/4 pose with smiles on our faces, we look like a caricature of a crescent moon smiling. Believe me--study the faces of celiac conference attendees. We pretty much all look related, and the strong curved facial bones are actually attractive. And, as I said previously, most of the attendees are tall.

[MaZoodleTwins]

Thanks for all of the replies, I guess I'll just wait to buy any future clothes. Neither myself or my husband are very tall so I don't think she will be that huge anyhow but I'm sure they would be taller than she currently is.

[MaZoodleTwins]

maximoo,

What I took away from the lecture is that the hormone that STOPS bone growth usually kicks in in the late teens; however, with celiacs who have difficulty absorbing hormones, the hormone has little to no effect on stopping the bone growth. Therefore, the person continues to grow for several more years. My son had all secondary characteristics by his mid-teens, as did I, and we continued to grow. If you attend celiac conferences, you'll notice that a lot of celiacs have large, fully developed, and sometimes overly large jaws. I believe that this is the result of this inability to stop bone growth in the late teens. My jaw continued to grow into my 20's, and when I attend celiac conferences, I constantly get mistaken for other people because so many of us have this characteristic in common and resemble each other. We tend to have very distinct facial features with our cheekbones, jaws, and chins curving forward. I refer to this facial makeup as "crescent face" because in a 3/4 pose with smiles on our faces, we look like a caricature of a crescent moon smiling. Believe me--study the faces of celiac conference attendees. We pretty much all look related, and the strong curved facial bones are actually attractive. And, as I said previously, most of the attendees are tall.

This is extremely interesting...my Mom must not be one of the Celiacs who have this because she is about 5'1"-5'2" and none of the facial characteristics. However, my Moms brothers are both well over 6' tall and they both have the characteristics you are talking about!! Both of them have multiple health problems and have for many years(all linked with Celiac) but they refuse to get tested. And we are pretty certain my Moms Dad had undiagnised Celiac and he was over 6' Tall with the same characteristics you are talking about. Might be just a coincidence but either way, very interesting.

[rosetapper23]

MaZoodle Twins,

Do you have a photo of your brothers? I see these characteristics so often at conferences, I can usually spot a celiac just walking down the street. I have to fight the strong urge to tell them that they should get tested.

[VydorScope]

MaZoodle Twins,

Do you have a photo of your brothers? I see these characteristics so often at conferences, I can usually spot a celiac just walking down the street. I have to fight the strong urge to tell them that they should get tested.

Now I am curious, do I look Celiac to you? My avatar is my picture.

[MaZoodleTwins]

MaZoodle Twins,

Do you have a photo of your brothers? I see these characteristics so often at conferences, I can usually spot a celiac just walking down the street. I have to fight the strong urge to tell them that they should get tested.

They are my Moms brothers, so my Uncles. I don't have any photos here of them but if I remember next time I go to my Moms I will see if I can find some pictures of them. I know we have some, it would just be a matter of finding them. I would be very curious to see if you notice the look you're talking about.

[frieze]

Thanks for all of the replies, I guess I'll just wait to buy any future clothes. Neither myself or my husband are very tall so I don't think she will be that huge anyhow but I'm sure they would be taller than she currently is.

I would think, perhaps, this is where the different gene sets come into play. How tall are your siblings (if any) and how tall are your husband's siblings (if any)? If both you and your husband have had your height shortened d/t celiac, then it can't be taken as a "slam dunk" that your offspring will be short. good luck

[maximoo]

rosetapper: Quite intersting indeed! I believe the pituitary glan realises growth hormones. So you are saying the growth hormone doesn't "shut off" until mid 2o's? no matter if puberty is complete? I was going to have my son get a bone age scan but decided against it since Dr. said he's about stage 5 will probably will not grow more, an inch maybe. Perhaps I should request it afterall. My dghtr is 14 & is 4'10.5 (rather petite) Her bone age revealed she is 12.3 which shows plenty of room to grow. She did just grow an inch since Jan. I am hoping for a minimum of 5 feet but your theory gives hope she may grow beyond that. However her dad & grandparents are short & I am avg at 5'6 When you say you notice most celiacs have a cresent shaped face are you referring to caucasians only? Have you seen dark skinned or multi racial celiacs with this cresent face & large jaws? I am assuming you mean lower jaw? My dghter needs a palate expander for her upper jaw to help correct a crossbite.

One more q: how old were you when you got your first 'cycle'? I also heard growth stops 2 yrs after a girl gets it. But if you grew until you were 25 then that blows this 2 yr theory outta the water.

[rosetapper23]

maximoo,

I was 13 when I started menstruating, so, yeah, it had no effect on my growth. As for people of other ethnicities, I've only observed African-Americans with the same enlarged lower jaws and crescent-shaped faces. I've never seen an Asian at the conferences, though I've met a number of Asians at Meetups who claimed to be gluten intolerant but did not have celiac. The bone structure anomalies among Caucasians seem to vary, though. While most have the appearance I described, those are people who descended from either English/Scottish/Irish or Scandinavian/German backgrounds. People from Italy differed in that they tended to have bulbous, wide foreheads as though the overgrowth occurred there instead of in the jaw area. The main feature, though, is the curving of the facial bones, whether the bones are bowed out or simply curved (such as chins that curve at the end). I would love to conduct a study on this; thus far, though, I've been too timid to ask people for permission to take photos of them. I'm attending a conference in Seattle on Saturday, so perhaps I'll snap a few photos then. Some of these people can have faces so curved, they look like caricatures....and they resemble other attendees so closely, they look related. Oftentimes at these conferences, people will stop me and act as though they know me, and then when I tell them they're mistaken, they look aghast and say something like, "But I was just talking to you a few minutes ago! How could you forget?" When I explain that there are probably a dozen people who could pass as my sister at these functions, they just look at me as though I'm just pretending not to know them.

[maximoo]

Rosetapper: I would like to see pics if you ever get any. I think I'll have son's bone age scan done after all.You've given me hope that his growth plates may not be fused yet as I thought perhaps they were. Thx for all this info.

1 more q: exactly how tall are you & did you say son is now 6'4? (I guess that's 2 q's. lol...)

[rosetapper23]

I'm 5'8-1/2", and my husband is 5'11". Also, yes, my son is now 6'4". My son and I both grew an inch from age 24 to 25. When I was 24, I was measured by my college gym teacher, my employer's doctor, and my personal physician, and one year later, they all measured me at one inch taller....so I believe the data to be correct.

I should mention that there is height in my family--my brother is 6'3-1/2", my daughter is 6', and my grandfather was 6'4". My grandfather's father was supposedly considered a giant (from photos, it appears he may have been close to 7'). My great-grandfather, though, married a woman under 5', and my grandfather also married a short woman, so our line became shorter and shorter over time.

[maximoo]

Rosetapper: Until you were 24 you were 5'7 1/2? At what age did you attain 5'7 1/2? So you had one last growth spurt btwn 24-25 were you growing slowly all along till the last spurt? I never heard of a woman growing in her 20's except if she had tumor on her pituitary.I've heard of guys growing until 21 tho. The majority of women are their full height by age 16. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Its absolutely fascinating. I'm so glad for all this info. I will get that bone age scan for my son for sure even if I have to twist Drs arm lol..

one last thing: Do the feet continue to grow as well? I'm pretty sure DS's feet have stopped growing (size 9) They've been this size for about 2 yrs now. DD's is a size 6 which she attained last summer & it doesn't seem they have grown. She is 4'10 1/2 so size 6 is fine but she is still growing. I am a true 7 but feel more comfortable in a 7 1/2 I am 5'5 1/2. My mther wore a 5 1/2 -6. She was 5'2. I'm thinking DD might go to a 6 1/2. Did your feet or your son's feet continue to grow as well?

[rosetapper23]

Yes, you understood correctly--I grew a full inch between 24 and 25. The same happened for my son. In fact, even though two of my siblings refuse to get tested for celiac, they also grew an inch in their 24th year. Before I found out I had celiac, I just assumed it was an inherited thing. Regarding feet, I don't know if my feet grew because of pregnancies or simply "old-age spread," but my feet were size 6-1/2 until I was 35, and then they went to 7-1/2 (though, some shoes had to be an 8 to fit). My head also got bigger during that time. I bought the cutest cowboy hat (just for dressing western style--I don't usually wear a cowboy hat!) when I was in my mid-30's, but it didn't fit after I turned 40. I question whether my bones really ever "set" completely. Now, please don't imagine that I walk around with a big head and big feet!

[maximoo]

Think of your big head like this: bigger head to hold a bigger brain filled with wisdom

[frieze]

Open Original Shared Link

Remember the "Jefferson's"? TV show....the upstairs neighbor (the actor, not the character) had this, dx by a doc in the Tv audience.

[rosetapper23]

Ha ha! But, yeah, I definitely don't have that! I have a normal-looking head--really......