Re: Advice Needed: Introducing Gluten

November 16, 2009

Hi ,

My oldest daughter and I have celiac disease as does my sister.

I have kept my two younger daughters, now 3 and 7 years old, gluten free since

birth, originally assuming that I would let them eat gluten around the time they

started school, to see what would happen.

Well they are big healthy girls, and now I find I have no inclination to give

them something that might make them sick. We eat a wonderful, healthy diet, and

having seen how sick their older sister got on gluten, I just don't want to give

it to them.

Interestingly, the doctors at the recent HealthNow conference at Stanford

corroborated my instinct to keep them gluten free until the day they want to

challenge the diet and see what happens.

So, we're getting the genetic test for them, and if they test positive for the

celiac genes, we'll keep them gluten free and healthy.

--lp

palmer@...

________________________________________

From: [ ] On Behalf Of

E. Hansen [mehansen76@...]

Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 9:33 AM

Subject: [ ] Advice Needed: Introducing Gluten

Hi,

I am a new subscriber to your group. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac a year

ago and follows a gluten-free diet. The improvement in his health has been

amazing! We have already learned a lot from the posts here.

My question is regarding introducing gluten to our son. He is 8 months old and

breastfed. We introduced solids at 6 1/2 months, and he eats lots of fruits and

veggies as well as a gluten-free rice cereal. I've read differing opinions about

gluten and infants who have a family history of Celiac. Some schools of thought

recommend introducing gluten while a baby is still breastfeeding and that the

immunities in breastmilk can help suppress the development of Celiac later in

life. Some other schools of thought recommend abstaining from gluten consumption

for as long as possible, in which case the baby may have weaned by the time

gluten is introduced. I've had conversations about this with my son's doctor

(this doctor also diagnosed my husband's Celiac), and he is of the mind that we

should wait. I would appreciate any thoughts/advice/experiences people may have

had so that we can continue the conversation at his 9-month appointment.

Thank you!

~

November 16, 2009

Because there is no scientific evidence pointing toward any one particular approach, I think at this point you just have to do what makes sense for your family/what makes you feel better. Since I didn't know until my children were 5 and 8 that I had celiac disease, we chose to continue allowing them to eat gluten, even our youngest, who carries at least one of the genes. Since he doesn't have celiac now and there's no scientific proof that continuing to eat gluten will make it more likely that he will develop the disease in the future, it didn't make sense to us to stop him from eating it now. But knowing that he carries the gene, we are much more likely to catch the disease quickly, should it develop. While I don't find it horrible being gluten free, it is still difficult and restrictive, and we are not comfortable placing these restrictions on our child simply because of what might happen... I figure I didn't develop the disease until I was 40; maybe if my son follows the same trajectory, by the time he's 40 they'll have come up with a medication that will treat celiac disease...

Tristan

November 17, 2009

My husband has celiac and before introducing gluten to my twins (now 13 mos

old), we had them tested for celiac genes. My son came back positive. The

stanford pediatric gastroenterologist recommended we introduce gluten to our son

but get his blood tested for antibodies to make sure we catch any reaction he

would have to gluten. Our pediatrician who was initially skeptical is now

pushing for gluten free diet because of the heightened risk that my son has for

celiac.

Celiac esp. in boys can manifest itself not in physical symptoms but behavioral

issues. Once those symptoms manifests themselves, it is hard to undo all the

damage.

For that reason and because we are already a gluten free family because of my

husband's celiac, we have kept our children gluten free also.

As the other moms have said here, it is an individual choice whether you want to

introduce gluten and then monitor for any intolerance or just stay gluten free.

Either way, I would recommend getting your twins tested for the celiac genes.

It will give you more info to make an informed decision (i.e. if they tested

positive, they are at heightened risk)

>

> Hi,

>

> I am a new subscriber to your group. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac a

year ago and follows a gluten-free diet. The improvement in his health has been

amazing! We have already learned a lot from the posts here.

>

> My question is regarding introducing gluten to our son. He is 8 months old and