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.

I’d find it a ball ache to have a separate toaster etc. Just let dh feed her toasty fingers at the cafe etc and she’ll be fine 🙂 problem solved!

Oh it'll be fine. My DH is coeliac and DD and I eat very little gluten for the reasons you've outlined. We don't eat many special gf products, we just tend to eat more rice and potatoes than bread and pasta I guess.

Your dc only needs to be exposed to one 'type' of gluten containing food to avoid intolerances later. So for example you could choose to give them wheat-containing pasta but not bread, or bread but never toast. Or just buy the organix baby biscuits, they have wheat in them and are fine for the odd treat plus will expose your child without worrying about toasters / heat testing / washing up etc.

I would think as long as he has it regularly out of the house, like several times a week, it will be fine. Watch out for the rice content of GF foods, as consuming lots of them can lead to a a too-high level of arsenic ingestion.

I'm not coeliac but my dad, sister, DP and MIL all are.

My kitchen is mainly gluten free but with a cupboard for Twixes a small amount of stuff with gluten in it. The DC eat mainly naturally gluten free meals like us but from weaning they did get a regular dose of gluten via things like Heinz spaghetti hoops which are non crumby/very easy to contain. Would something like that and a dedicated microwaveable 'gluten' bowl be a compromise of sorts?

@ikeepaforkinmypurse The amount of alcohol remaining after cooking is 5 - 10%. If you use a glass of red wine whilst making spaghetti bolognese, that means there is about a teaspoon left in the entire bolognese after cooking. Giving a tiny portion to a baby or toddler means they would get at most an eighth of a teaspoon. There is more alcohol in vanilla extract, but I bet you don’t get this dramatic about toddlers being given a bit of birthday cake....?

This is irritating me: it's not coeliacS! It's coeliac . No 's'.

You can get rid of the alcohol by boiling it away at the beginning of cooking, e.g. add it to the pan after sautéing garlic, boil and reduce by at least a half, till there are no alcohol fumes left, and then add the tomatoes etc (rather than putting the wine and tomatoes in together).

But TBH, I really wouldn't worry about 5-10% of the alcohol, as Fenella says. DD was put on Ranitidine in alcohol at 4 weeks old, and none of the medics had a problem with that, so meh.

There are so many heavier carb alternatives to gluten. Rice, potatoes, quinoa. People eat huge masses of gluten these days, lots of white processed stuff

There is more alcohol in vanilla extract, but I bet you don’t get this dramatic about toddlers being given a bit of birthday cake..

I don't give alcohol to my kids, in cakes or others, and people completely underestimate they amount still left in cooking, especially when using slow cooker.

It's another parenting choice, I just change the recipes until they are older.

I don't give alcohol to my kids, in cakes or others

Do you really ask at parties etc if the cakes have vanilla essence in them? That's dedication!

You're overstating the case for cross contamination procedures, OP. The coeliac society themselves don't even advocate separate washing up water and say that a simple rinse is fine.

Wash your hands after handling gluten products or leave them to when DH is sorting food for the dc.

4 slot toaster, colour coded if necessary should sort the crumb issue.
And just wash up normally! You don't need to wash up separately, or use different cloths.
Different knives for condiments or scoop some out onto your plates as a habit rather than buttering/jamming direct.

It's not that difficult.

I don't give alcohol to my kids, in cakes or others

Do they use hand gel? Nearly 100% alcohol. Of which some will be absorbed through the skin

People eat huge masses of gluten these days, lots of white processed stuff

Gluten is in all wheat and other cereals. It’s nothing to do with white processed stuff. I doubt gluten ingestion has changed much over the years.

Do they use hand gel? Nearly 100% alcohol. Of which some will be absorbed through the skin

Of course we don't, we are a soap and water house, it's cringey when you see parents covering their baby's hands in the staff.

Micah, not true, gluten consumption has increased a lot in the past 40 years. Most “white processed” carb products contain gluten, even if they aren’t made of wheat, barley or rye due to milling and processing practices in food factories.

Also, the method by which most modern shop bought breads are made is very different (much faster) than traditional bread making methods which actually reduced the amount of gluten (and lectins and other protiens ) in the finished product by breaking down the structure of some of these proteins.
Lots of traditional methods of grain preparation have been abandoned because they take too long and therefore cost too much/reduce profit. But these methods were developed by people over the last few thousand years (since grains became a part of the human diet), because without the right preparation they cause gut problems in a lot of people.

In a modern western diet, people are now exposed to highly processed, gut irritant grain proteins at almost every meal. About 80% of most supermarkets shelf space it taken up with highly processed grain products. Unfortunately we now regard that as “normal” food, but it isn’t.

Gluten is in all wheat and other cereals. It’s nothing to do with white processed stuff. I doubt gluten ingestion has changed much over the years.

Coeliac disease was identified by a physician who noticed that during the war, when the Netherlands experienced a famine and wheat became relatively rare, a lot of people who had previously been afflicted with digestive issues reported significant improvements. When bread was dropped over Holland, their symptoms returned.

So, on a small scale, changes in consumption of gluten lead to the modern identification of coeliac disease, and on a wider scale, I suspect that the ubiquity of pasta/noodles/pizza etc alongside a wide range of bread (and breaded) products has increased over the last few decades. My adult meals certainly feature more gluten than the meals that I had as a child where the predominant carb was potato, and my parents definitely eat less 'imported/foreign' gluten containing foods than I do.