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Food Allergy
bluegfluff
member
How to introduce wheat, when worried about celiac?
bluegfluff
member
in Food Allergy
Hi, I have celiac disease. My home is almost entirely GF (DH has his own bread for sandwiches he takes to work, but everything else is GF), and M (daughter) hasn't been exposed to any wheat yet. I realize celiac is genetic, and therefore M has a chance to have it. 2 of my cousins have it, so the genes are definitely in the family.
She's only 6 months old, but I don't know if anyone has experience with introducing wheat in this situation. I was a pretty undersized and malnourished baby, because 30 years ago, celiac wasn't common (or commonly tested for- it took the hospital a month to figure out what was wrong). M is healthy and happy, but I just don't know how to approach wheat with her. Should I wait till a year? I'm bf-ing mostly, and she's had very little food so far, but when I tried asking her pediatrician, I don't think she got what I was asking.
Anyway, nice to meet you all! I'm so happy this board is here.
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Re: How to introduce wheat, when worried about celiac?
As far as I can tell the recommendations are all over the place. Some say wait until after a year while others say introducing it early is better.
You could have the genetic testing done but it is pricey. And from what I was told it isn't considered conclusive.
I am Celiac and have Dermititis Herpetiformis (another type of Gluten allergy) and I've been so for over 15 years. My house is mostly gluten free, my hubby does have bread and some snack foods but he eats gf pasta and other treats that i made.
I am expecting in November and have been thinking about this as well. I do not plan on feeding gluten to my child but if it happens I guess we'll see if there is a reaction. Gluten filled stuff is mostly crap anyway-cookies, white bread, processed foods. So I'll keep him gluten free for as long as possible.
If you do introduce gluten I would start with cereal, gold fish crackers or something else little. Good Luck~
While we have a diagnosis, we never did the "gold standard" - the biopsy. DS was sick, his blood levels were off the chart, and we saw a change w/in 3 days once we took him off gluten. We and his doctor have NO question that he has celiac.
But we want to take him to a new doctor, Dr. Fasano at the Univ of MD, who is a leader in the field of celiac research. I'm nervous that when we do, he's going to want to do a biospy, which means putting DS on gluten again.
If, IF, we ever do this, DS will be older and more aware of what is going on. We want him to understand his issues and we want him to be able to communicate w/ us how he feels.
If you're already living GF and if it's really not difficult to do so w/ your DD, I don't know that I'd worry about it until she gets older and can communicate how she feels.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
That is an excellent point, thank you! I wasn't sure if she'd even have a noticable reaction at first, and I don't want to go out and invest in- oh- pretzels or something, to test stuff out. But I have been thinking about it for the future. Particularly in a few years, when we will do some pre-school. It's all very confusing, but she has sucked on GF bagels, and had baby mum-mums, and every time I see my mom I remind her NOT to give M wheat. My mom knows, but I can't help reminding her.
Good point about already living that lifestyle. I have everything GF anyway, not like we'll have to change anything in the house.
Some research suggests that introducing gluten between 4 and 6 months may reduce the chance that they will develop celiac disease. There is nothing conclusive yet, as far as I know.
DH has celiac disease and we have a mostly GF home. I have some gluten bread/bagels/wraps for sandwiches or toast (and our own toaster) for DS#1 and I. But all family meals are GF. We chose to introduce gluten around 7 months for both boys. I hate that infant cereals are so flakey and work hard to make sure I'm not "contaminating" surfaces. DS#2 seems more interested in "real" food, so I think our powdered cereals days are over already, thank goodness. He does love dry toast - this might be an easy gluten intro for those of you who already have gluten bread in the house, by the way.
It's a personal decision based on what you feel is best for you and LO, really. Whatever you decide, best of luck.
My DH has guten-intolerance (unknown if Celiac's) and his sister has it too, so it has to be genetic. My DD is close to 6 months and we've been doing some foods, but staying away from gluten. What type of a reaction would I look for if I gave her some bread? I'm not sure if we should do the genetic test - I found a company that tests your fecal matter for sensitivity to gluten. I really feel so clueless about this whole matter. We live in England, and I don't have a pediatrician that I can really talk to about matters like this.
So those of you who have possible wheat intolerance, when are you starting wheat and why? What reactions do you look for? And breastfeeding? I eat wheat all the time, and it hasn't seemed to bother her through the breastmilk. Have you noticed a reaction through breastmilk?