Coeliac's Disease

[MrsNai]

Just after some advice and tips please.

I have Coeliac's Disease so my baby has a one in three chance of also having it.

Following GP and Coeliac UK's advice I am not eliminating gluten from baby's diet (in order to avoid causing an intolerance to gluten) but will be introducing it in the normal course of weaning. The first time he tries gluten will be tomorrow.

So, if you have or had a baby with Coeliac's Disease what were the symptoms you spotted?

If you have Coeliac's Disease and your child does not, what are your top tips for avoiding cross-contamination?

How did it go?

So far he has been a bit fractious but that may be tiredness as he hasn't napped well today.

No clear signs of pain and bowel movements seem fine for now so am hoping that all is well.

Fingers crossed

I’m in the same boat, just a few months behind. I’d love to hear how you get on and how you’ve managed avoiding cross-contamination so far.

Pre baby my husband had a gluten box for biscuits and snacks. It sounds a bit harsh but seemed the safest way to avoid cross-contamination and as I do most of the cooking it worked well.

Now we are giving baby Weetabix every other morning and using normal pasta (Boots have a great range of baby cooking ingredients such as stock cubes and pasta).

To minimise cross-contamination I have been making gluten-free sauces then my husband makes the pasta and stirs it in. I make all baby's purees in batches so some portions are frozen.

The hardest part so far is checking food temperature (usually I dip a finger in and lick it) and avoiding kissing a food-smeared cheek or having food spattered on me. So lots more cleaning and lots of tupperware pressed into service to help keep the kitchen free of cross contamination.

I am also encouraging family to cook gluten containing meals for baby.

Still learning so more advice would be great.

Thanks for your reply. Our house is totally gluten free except for beer, which doesn’t pose much cross contamination risk. So I’m not really sure how we’ll approach it with the baby. I’m considering doing all the gluten-intro at my parents’ house because they live close by and already have good procedures in place to keep me safe and still eat gluten themselves :)

How are you monitoring for symptoms? And keeping from driving yourself crazy doing so...?

Resurrecting this thread to find out how OP and PP are doing with this! Just starting out weaning DD and OH is coeliac. Our house is entirely gf except for non gf oats for me. My OH is so worried about the risk of cross contamination that I think weaning might be really stressful. What age did you introduce gluten? Struggling to find consistent advice.

So far my baby still seems okay with gluten but I am watching for signs such as tummy pain, vomitting and diarrhoea after eating gluten.

As regards cross-contamination it is a major headache and I have given up on toast at our home as it is such a nightmare to clean. Instead every other morning my baby has Weetabix for breakfast (prepared the night before by my non-Coeliac husband) and when visiting family I have asked them to please make baby's meals have gluten through normal sandwiches, semolina, gluten containing snacks. At home there is a shed load of Tupperware storing foods and my husband serves and supervises gluten containing meals such as bread sticks or meals out.

I introduced gluten at around seven months by giving him small pieces of buttered toast one breakfast. I booked a GP appointment for the following day but cancelled it as there was no reaction. It was hard to feign calmness feeding baby as I have a very violent reaction and felt rotten giving him something potentially painful yet hoping he was okay and wouldn't be lumbered with Coeliac's Disease.

Cross-contamination is still a nightmare and the two parts I find toughest are not kissing baby until all wiped clean and not testing gluten food or sharing it.

So far I haven't glutened myself and we have discovered the irony of having a baby who loves both Weetabix and semolina pudding despite having a Coeliac Mum and Dad who doesn't have issues with gluten but just can't stand either.

In terms of managing stress, as it is undeniably stressful, I recommend administering a large G&T. 🍸