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Can Celiac Cause Slow Growth In Ebf Baby?

megsybeth

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megsybeth Enthusiast
megsybeth
Posted

I've recently been diagnosed with celiac and believe my son will be soon. Doctors first tested him for celiac (blood test) at around 18 months because of failure to thrive. But his weight and height dropped markedly at two months. He didn't have solids until four months and then only a little fruit and rice cereal. Is it possible that my milk, being celiac, could have caused his slow growth? Or his celiac reacting to proteins in my milk?

I just wonder about it because he's textbook celiac in every other way, but I don't understand how his height could have been affected months before he had gluten. Also, his younger brother was and is very, very big and chunk, also breast fed.

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alicia534 Rookie
alicia534
Posted

I'm new to this, so I don't know much about celiac yet. I do know that gluten can pass into your breastmilk. My son is on a gluten free diet and because I am breastfeeding I have to be gluten free also. I do think that if your son has celiac disease the gluten in your breastmilk could affect him. My son was always very big but started going down on the charts after starting solids so I don't have experience with that. Just because one of your children has celiac disease doesn't mean the other will so that could explain why his brother is big.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

If he was celiac from birth and you were NOT gluten free at that time (early breastfeeding), then yes, he could have gotten glutened from your breastmilk and that could cause slow growth. If you were gluten free during that time, however, no.

megsybeth Enthusiast
megsybeth
Posted
  • Author

Thanks, Tarnalberry. I was not diagnosed or gluten-free then so I was on a regular diet. I'm just so thankful that both my boys were born at all now that I know about the risks of untreated celiac and pregnancy. when I was diagnosed earlier this month I did stop gluten based on blood work alone so that my 8mo wouldn't get it, just in case he is celiac or sensitive. When I finally get into a GI she probably won't like that, but I couldn't wean in the midst of all this and couldn't go on feeling like I might be harming a baby.

monahere Newbie
monahere
Posted

My son is 8 months old, we EBF for 7 months, I was on regular diet for first 6 weeks and then on a total elimination diet ( top 8 allergens and some other foods free) due to baby's feeding issues, but still he did not grow at all from 4 to 6 months, we put him on formula at 7 months and he grew 1 inch in 10 days. I don't know if the gluten that passes in breast milk first 6 weeks did the damage or probably cross contination, which I was not too careful about since I had noooo idea about celiac, did the damage. DS is still not diagnosed with celiac but he is DQ2 and DQ8 positive, so I am treating him as celiac and waiting for an appt to see a celiac specialist.

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