AIBU to not feed baby gluten?

[CanaBanana]

I have coeliac disease so I can't eat gluten. Cross contamination is a big problem. If DH puts normal bread in the toaster I can't use it for gluten free bread because of cross contamination from crumbs. If he butters his normal bread then dips the knife back in the butter, I can't eat it because of cross contamination from gluten on his knife. Any plates or pans etc that he uses for gluten have to be thoroughly scrubbed in separate washing up water. And if I touch gluten I have to scrub my hands. Then I can't eat the meal so have to cook something separate. It's a huge hassle so we made the decision to just not have gluten in the house. DH eats gluten when he's out but we don't have it at home.

DS is due to be weaned in a few weeks and the HV is insisting he has to eat gluten as normal. This would be a huge hassle for me in terms of avoiding cross contamination. I'd need a separate toaster, would have to cook and wash up separately, scrub the pans, scrub my hands after touching his food, etc.

AIBU to just not give him gluten at home? Is there any reason he couldn't have a slice of gluten free toast? Obviously he will still eat some gluten at gran's house or in a cafe etc.

There’s ready made baby food pots with gluten in maybe your baby could have those? No need for gluten bread etc they are very sugary anyway.

I have a child who's gluten intolerant. We eat quite a lot of gluten free meals as a family even though 3 aren't. It's easier that way.

Personally I wouldn't wean onto bread (gluten free bread is much less healthier than regular because they add stuff not in regular bread) and go for fruit, yoghurt, gluten free porridge etc Veggie sticks are great finger foods and have the advantage of being naturally gluten free.

I used to work in dietetics. There is often concern about people cutting out a 'major food group' without advice, as some kids really end up with a poor diet. This is probably where your HV is coming from. But, you are not cutting out a food group - you are cutting out one ingredient. No-one would be in uproar if your child didn't ever eat corn, which is a staple carb in many countries.

I have an auoto-immune condition and have severe reactions to gluten, so my whole family is now gluten free as it is easier for food prep, and also a preventative measure for their future health. They now have an even better diet than before as the are not just filling up on empty calories in bread, and eat a huge variety of fresh veg, fruit, protein, fats etc.

The only concern I have with my kids being gluten free is that if they are coeliac (I'm waiting to pluck up the courage to re-introduce gluten for six weeks so that I can be tested) then they will not show symptoms. But, if a parent is coeliac then I assume that they would just be tested anyway - so with your DS, at some point you could introduce a full gluten load for six weeks and have him tested?

Sauces taste exactly the same using gf flour etc
Pom Bears are also gluten free and super easy for young kids to eat.

When I was first weaning my baby I don't think anything gluten related was fed anyway, mostly fruit etc. If you plan to introduce gluten foods when eating elsewhere you will be exposing them to gluten thereby ruling out the possibility of the reaction problems??

I don't understand why should HV be concerned about Kosher and Halal.....
From what I hear they are concerned about strict veggie diet.
I agree with @ikeepaforkinmypurse about the tone of your voice.

It's not easy dealing with allergies, but it is possible nad with bit of a system in place it can be easy. If you can't have 2 toasters try the toaster bags. Maybe enlist your DH to help with washing etc?

I'm the same as you OP, but I definitely wouldn't restrict gluten when weaning. If your DC does also have coeliacs, they would have to do the gluten challenge for a dx and imho that would be horrendous for them

I would just be very on the ball whilst introducing foods and be insistent on proper testing if I had any worries.

You could request the gene test (we had this with my daughter), but on the whole they're very reluctant to do this without positive bloods/biopsy first x

it was a pain cos I couldn't test some of their food by tasting
Yes, this is another issue... I can't test food for temperature or flavour if it contains gluten.

Do you have some sort of plan in place with your GP to get your DC tested
I plan to ask my GP for a blood test at about 1yr. My HV insists this is unnecessary because if DS has coeliac he'll have symptoms. She has obviously never heard of asymptomatic coeliac disease!

Do you seriously never eat out apart from in completely GF restaurants ?
I eat in restaurants that offer GF options. But an occasional bit of gluten when eating out once every few weeks is very different from being exposed to it every day at home.

We have one work surface in our kitchen dedicated to being gluten free
Must be nice. I only have one work surface!

You aren't going to be giving sausages for a long time yet anyway though op. I really cannot understand why it would make much difference, especially over the next year or so. The only difference would be pasta and bread - read up on the ingredients and of you are happy with them then do it!

I don't know what sort of weaning advice your HV actually gave, but weaning foods don't tend to contain a lot of gluten anyway. I am still horrified at the thought of giving baby sausages!

My sister is coeliac and was a pain in ass when we all across at parents.

Seperate toaster bags will help prevent wheat crumbs for either you or husband.

Cut butter block in half and keep yours seperate and prevents x contamination.

Train your husband to do the above and explain to him he has to deal with kid if your really unwell.

Most weaning foods are now gluten free as a bonus but for the baby it's not essentially a good thing to leave gluten out as it's expensive to buy and he's going to be exposed at some point at parties etc.

I totally understand your CC fears, I live in a house of 7 (soon to be 8) I'm the only one totally gluten free & my youngest DD is very low gluten - she has NCGI so we allow a small amount to keep her symptoms low unless she starts getting worse, where we will cut all gluten from her diet (this is to stop a more severe reaction if she excludes it & eats it by accident causing a bad reaction, this has been advised by the consultant).

I just have a separate toaster and butter/jam etc and make sure I wipe down the sides when I prepare food (it is clean, it's more for my peace of mind).

Yes it is a faff, but it's worth it to me if it means I'm not going to get sick. I can't really expect everyone in the house to go without.

I am coealiac and my family know not to put a knife onto toast and then back on the butter etc. I use the grill for toast and lay it on foil beforehand. I do sometimes prepare sandwiches, pasta etc for my dds, but I wash my hands straight away afterwards. I did used to make normal cakes but now I only use GF flour.
We have a normal kitchen but I keep my GF things on their own shelf. I don’t eat bread often anyway as it isn’t generally all that nice. You should be fine with preparing pasta, with bread you could have a separate board and toaster, or use the grill. You could wear thin rubber gloves, I sometimes do, but more often I just do a sandwich swiftly and then wash.

I am still horrified at the thought of giving baby sausages!

it's the current fashion, with baby led weaning parents are being told to give some of their food to the babies and they do give anything. I have even seen parents happy to give pasta sauce or casseroles made with wine.

I chose to completely disregard the baby led weaning, but many parents seem happy with it, so who knows.

You don't serve food to your kids because it makes your life easier, you give them what is best for them.
I just don't see the point in creating extra work unnecessarily plus the risk of cross contamination if I don't need to. If it was truly better for my child to eat wheat rather than potato, for example, then I'd do it. But I'm not convinced that there's any reason to do that? (despite the HV insisting that I must) Was just wondering if anyone else knew something I don't. DS will have gluten from DH and DM so I think I'll go ahead and just continue to be gluten free at home.

One thing that is easier to feed that contains gluten is wraps, that is the only bread based gluten food that I will feed the kids, due to the lack of crumbs, so if the HV is worried that lack of exposure will cause an intolerance, you could just offer a wrap a few times a week

. ( I can’t find any hard scientific evidence that excluding a food group gives a real intolerance ) .

@hba1981 you can get proper wraps made from corn but they are ££ and hard to find.

kitchenfloor I think we may have found them once and my Ceoliac daughter loved them, but the GF wraps in the supermarket are horrid, may have another search and see if I can get some.

@HBA1981 There are proper corn tortilla wraps that you can get, but I can't think of the name of them as I haven't bought them in awhile. They were available in Sainsbury's and Tesco's I think 🤔

I've been told I need to go and get a blood test to check for Coeliac, I had no idea how bad cross contamination could be. Surely I couldn't have it without knowing if even crumbs can make people feel ill for a week?

www.coolchile.co.uk/shop-mexican-food/table-tortillas-white-15cm

A friend of mine is coeliac, and has done exactly what you're considering - her now nearly 3 year old is gluten free at home, but has gluten if out/at someone's house and it's worked really well for them. I don't think she ever asked our HVs as they are so understaffed we barely saw them after the first few weeks!

@privatedoor yesss I can't imagine giving my children sausages and they've never had one as there is nothing healthy about them at all. Processed crap linked with causing cancer.

GinaCarbonara my Ceoliac disease was picked up randomly after contracting sepsis and then Cdiff from antibiotics. The infection went odd so they ran all sorts of tests and my TTG (Ceoliac ) bloods came back off the scale.

When I had my scope there was no Villi left, in a few of the areas they took samples from.

My only symptoms were mildish IBS, low iron, tiredness and just feeling off. I had given up going to the Drs as I really believed I was getting health anxiety.

Within 6 months I could not believe I felt so ill for so long and thought it was normal, however my reaction to gluten has gone from bloating and feeling off, to full on reacting with my whole body.

Once I was diagnosed, all my first degree relatives were tested. My mum and my eldest DD tested positive, all with vague symptoms but nothing that shouted Ceoliac.

kitchenfloor thanks so much and they are cheaper than the Befree wraps in the supermarkets.

Gluten is a normal part of our everyday diets because it's a convenient ingredient, not because our bodies need it. Nobody, babies or otherwise, NEEDS gluten. As long as your little one is getting a full and varied diet, not eating gluten will have zero effect on them. If anything, it might be better!