DH has Celiac...

KKSBeans

I am seeing multiple things that say to introduce wheat before 7 months to reduce the risk of gluten sensitivity, our doc said not to feed her exclusively gluten free, but other things I have read says to keep her gluten free.

What say you ?

ehnasto

Preface... I AM NOT A DOCTOR.

I would say do some research about the statistics of passing on celiac onto baby. A friend of mine has celiac and a son that is less than a year old. She has been feeding him small doses of wheat (like baby cereal) to see if he has a reaction. She does not keep him gluten free. So far, there has been no reaction. It does help that this baby's dad has an iron stomach. For her situation there are no indications at this point that baby has celiac.

I would pick a direction you feel comfortable with and move forward while closely monitoring the situation.

The potentail that your kid has celiac or any other big time issue is scary but you have to remember your baby has your DNA too and there is no gaurentee that they will have a problem.

julandjo

Here's an interesting article about it.

 https://www.healthnowmedical.com/blog/2011/04/08/gluten-intolerance-risk-when-to-introduce-gluten-to-a-baby/

 FWIW, I have Celiac, and so do both of my kids.  DS was exposed early (about 5 months), and his reaction was very obvious.  We waited with DD until closer to a year, and she too had a strong reaction.  If we have any more biological children, he or she will be kept GF indefinitely.  Not only do I have to maintain a GF household for my health and the health of my kids, but there's just no *need* to have gluten in the diet, you know?  By no means is it an essential nutrient.  Any gluten trial we do would be a one-time thing at someone else's house, then see what happens.  I know though that not all Celiacs will react with a single exposure like the 3 of us do; some need months of exposure before a reaction is obvious.

KKSBeans

Thank you ! I started her on oatmeal as opposed to rice cereal for this very reason, because I figured a) oatmeal is a possible trigger depending on the person and b)I didn't want to start out with full on gluten. She had issues, but not issues indicative of Celiac. She ended up with hard stools and we decided to stop cereal altogether and just move forward with veggies at 6 months.

Thanks for the advice and the article, I will definitely take time to read it.

georgi611

I have Celiac. I was first diagnosed in 1994. 1995 I was told I did not have it, and fast forward to 2008 after MANY years of sinus problems and battling anemia (and a hospital trip and 2 blood transfusions), I was rediagnosed and have been following it ever since! I introduced wheat cereal and barley cereal to my daughter when she was a little over 4 months, as I have read many articles that say introducing it between 4-6 months while they are drinking breastmilk can decrease their chance of having celiac. Maybe it's baloney? I dunno, but I figured why not give it a try? She did not have any reactions to it, and actually enjoys it.

julandjo

KKSBeans:

She had issues, but not issues indicative of Celiac. She ended up with hard stools 

Just wanted to point out that this CAN indicate Celiac.  Remember that there are over 300 signs and symptoms, and she may or may not show any of the "classic" ones doctors are trained to look for.  I had a lot of seemingly unrelated health problems, but my *only* GI symptom was constipation.   Turns out all of those "unrelated" problems were directly caused by the Celiac.  

Coleslawcat

I have celiac and have been told the odds of passing it on to my kids is between 1:10 and 1:20. So while it's definitely possible, it is more likely they will not have it. I avoided the gluten containing cereals because they were very powdery and emessy and I thought they might be a cross contamination issue for me, but I did not avoid gluten aside from that. I have 3 kids and they have been all been tested and at this point none of them have it. I just keep a close eye on them for any possible signs and they will all be retested when they are older.

SKS11

Hello,

I'm new to the bump and only ttc but I just went to my DH's Celiac Nutritionist last week to ask just this question. She told us that there are two theories that have considerable support from research. Both of these theories agree that you should introduce gluten while breastfeeding and in very small quantities. Where they differ is age. The first suggests 6 months. The second 9-12 months. The research that supports 6 months shows if you wait until 9-12 months the chances of developing celiac increases, just slightly. However, she warned that newer research is starting suggest that the reason behind this slight increase is the fact that if you introduce gluten at a later age like 9-12 months the child is likely to eat more of the food than at 6 months, emphasizing the fact that at whichever age you should make sure that you introduce very small quantities. 

She also told us that there has been research showing that not having the right probiotics in the digestive tract has been linked to increased risk of developing celiac. And that the other major research findings right now are pointing to the fact that we're too clean and that immune systems are not being properly trained while we are young (she said to let your baby play in the dirt). Both of these research topics relate to all autoimmune diseases, not just celiac. 

The first thing I would do is the gene test for the 2 most indicative celiac related genes (its just a cheek swab test). This will at least help give you an idea of your odds. 

I hope this helps and isn't too much information. Good luck!