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My first child has celiac disease, should my next child be gluten free? Amber asks: “My daughter was diagnosed with a severe case of Celiac Disease at 14 months. She has been gluten-free for 4 months now and is doing wonderfully. My husband and I also have borderline blood results for the disease but have not yet had the biopsy to determine if we are affected (we show no real symptoms). I am expecting our second child in November. What are her chances of having celiac disease? Should we test her? Should we just keep her gluten-free? Or should she be given gluten?"
I reply: Thanks. What a great question. It does not have an easy answer You have a number of choices: 1 - Keep your new child gluten free for the first 4 or 5 years. That is easy because you have a gluten-free family and there is no need to deliberately gluten your new baby. Many people opt for this hoping that the later that gluten is offered, the less chance that they will be affected by gluten. There is a little bit of evidence for this. 2 – Or introduce gluten between 6-9 months of age whilst breastfeeding which might help develop tolerance. There is one study that supports this. But no information on much later introduction of gluten. 3- Anyway, in the future get your new baby tested for the HLA genetic marker measured to see if she/he is carries the genetic predisposition for coeliac disease. Family studies show about a 10% chance of first degree relatives getting coeliac disease. I currently recommend very delayed introduction of gluten (after several years), but I do not have solid evidence to back this opinion up. Most mums feel that they are poisoning their children when they deliberately give them gluten. I hope that this helps. Cheers, Dr Rodney Ford |
