Wheat allergy in baby??

[jazzfan]

Hi guys, I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about this: I of course do not eat wheat products on a regular basis, and I am breastfeeding a seven-month-old. I recently introduced a multi-grain cereal to him which had oat (which he tolerates), rice (which he tolerates), and wheat. About the same time, he developed a rash of some kind on his stomach, which went away a day or so after he'd eaten the cereal. (I didn't give it to him again.) Then today, just for the heck of it, I ate a slice of low-carb toast. It was the first time I've eaten bread since giving birth, although I did eat bread frequently while I was pregnant. By tonight, my baby's rash was coming back on his stomach! Do you suppose he has a wheat allergy? And do you think I may have made him more sensitive by not eating wheat while breastfeeding??

Gonna check with my pediatrician tomorrow a.m. but I feel quite guilty about any role I may be playing here. Plus, my DH is strongly suggesting I eat more wheat products to help baby's tolerance develop. I of course do NOT want to do this, but I am being made to feel a bit guilty for not wanting to stray from low-carb. Any advice or thoughts?

[Meg_S]

Grain, especially wheat allergies or intolerances are VERY common. It's a difficult substance for babies to digest... many sources recommend introducing it as the very last food to a baby. Veggies, meat and fruit all come first. If you DO feel the need to feed your baby grains (bad idea in general at such a young age) try oats first, and soak them for at least 24 hours in water with a few tbs. of lemon juice or applecider vinegar. You would NOT have made him more sensitive by not eating wheat. Trying to build up a tolerance to a food one is sensitive to by eating more is a terrible idea and very unhealthy, as food intolerances show up in more ways than rashes - in brain activity/behaviour/emotions/physical ailments etc. PLEASE respect your baby's body and individual needs.

[foxgluvs]

Also, maybe this trick would help to see if he's truly alergic....get a small ball of oats and rub it on his skin, if after a few hours he has a rash then you might just have your answer there.
I'll be interested to see what the DR says.
Good luck!

[jazzfan]

Well, he does tolerate oatmeal and rice cereal very well, so I had gone ahead and tried the mixed grain cereal which contains some wheat. Main reason I went that way was because the Stage 3 baby foods start to contain pasta and he's on Stage 2 foods already.

This morning his rash was nearly gone again and he was much less gassy. I've called in to the ped's office and am waiting for a call back.

[danarobin5]

Your baby could also have Celiac disease, which is intolerance to wheat. This can cause a rash. People with this disease can normally tolerate oats. If this is something your baby has, it is very serious because it disrupts the small intestines and vitamins cannot be absorbed. They have recently discovered that more people are effected by this disease, 1 out of 133 rather than 1 out of 3000. And, there is no tolerance level of wheat.

[Meg_S]

just a note: even though oats can be tolerated better than wheat they're not actually very easy to digest, soaking them in an acid medium ie; water with a little applecider vinegar or lemon juice or whey for 24 hours+ will make it MUCH easier.

[Karenemt]

He's still so little at this point anyway - all he needs is your breastmilk. I did not even begin solids until about 7 months until my son was literally grabbing for my food! Since you believe he has allergies, look up some common allergens and avoid those foods. For example, my son got nothing peanut/peanut products until he was 3 yrs old (and my mom gave him something by accident at that point). Since the peanut allergy is so prevalent and so severe, I wanted to avoid exposure for as long as possible.

Here are some links for you:
http://askdrsears.com/html/4/T041800.asp
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/04/food.allergies/
http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/allergies.html

Hope that helps and you get to the bottom of this!

[ElisaB]

The best way I found to spot intolerances/allergies it o get tested by a qualified and exeperiences kinesiologist. try going on www.crahealth.org and see if there's a listing for one near you, they can test your baby easily without using invasive methods.

I don't believe in forcing a food to "increase" intolerance. The fact that the body gets used to something doesn't mean it likes it better, just that it comes up with ways to deal with the toxins that are produced another way. This can result in additional mucus, dandruff, skin conditions, digestive problems, cradle cap in infants, and in serious cases and when the intolerance is serious and goes unnoticed for a long time, even tumors (you can find examples of this in "Lick the sugar habit").

Wheat is way overrated, and it isn'e the health food it's touted to be, particularly in the US. In Europe it's a bit better, because of dfferent cultivation methods (like crop rotation to replenish the soil), less toxic, waste etc.

I made a lot of my own baby food when my daughter was little - if you don't have time for it, try mixing the stage 2 foods with some whole-grain (corn, rice or spelt) pasta.

[jazzfan]

Well, the doc basically just said to delay any further exposure to wheat until 9 months, so I wonder if I just jumped the gun and introduced it too soon. He's baby #3 so I don't exactly follow the prescribed guidelines for some things - mostly because I can't remember them! So we'll wait another six weeks or so, then I'm going to talk with the doc at his 9 month visit before trying that mixed cereal again.

Meg_S, I just thought I'd mention that I'm not using straight oats here. I'm using the Gerber infant cereals, which are basically processed flakes. They are designed to be easier for babies to digest, and I couldn't actually soak them in anything even if I wanted to. They're just not produced that way.

This whole experience just solidifies my thinking that I should just stick to veggies and fruits, which he enjoys and tolerates very well. And if allergens can get passed through breastmilk, well, he obviously doesn't have any other problems because I eat eggs daily and peanuts frequently with no adverse side effects for my little guy. Thank goodness for that!

[Aetheana]

I wanted to second the idea of celiacs disease. its pretty scary and terrible. it can cause failure to thrive and a ton of other problems! thankfully, you are being very aware of what your baby is eating.

Check out this site for reading different peoples experiences with their children and celiacs disease. theyre really friendly!

http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/

[jazzfan]

Thanks to both you and Dana for mentioning this. I have lots to study thanks to all of you! I knew I'd have great support here.

[ReginaW]

Well, he does tolerate oatmeal and rice cereal very well, so I had gone ahead and tried the mixed grain cereal which contains some wheat. Main reason I went that way was because the Stage 3 baby foods start to contain pasta and he's on Stage 2 foods already.

This morning his rash was nearly gone again and he was much less gassy. I've called in to the ped's office and am waiting for a call back.

Seven months old seems a bit early for wheat products? I dunno - I didn't give my son any grains until he was over a year old (not even the baby rice cereal) since DH had a severe allergy to grains as a baby....that, and I don't see much nutritional value to grains compared with vegetables....so DS started with vegetables, egg yolks, some fruits and peas at about 7-months while still mostly breastfeeding.

Basically it was more a taste trial than any real "meal" type calorie load since he was nursing.....as he weaned we added more foods like poultry, meats, a larger variety of vegetables, yogurt, etc. and when we introduced things like pasta or bread or potato - he won't eat it (gotta love a natuarally controlled-carb baby!).....even now at 19-months, he won't touch potato, will suck whatever is on pasta off and hand back the pasta intact, won't touch rice, and only likes dark grainy bread - a bite or two at most and only the crust! Go figure?

Then again, I didn't eat any of those foods while pregnant, so maybe there is something to the notion that what you eat while pregnant affects baby's tastes later?

[jazzfan]

Then again, I didn't eat any of those foods while pregnant, so maybe there is something to the notion that what you eat while pregnant affects baby's tastes later?

That will be interesting to discover with this baby. He is the first where I've been eating LC while nursing (not as much while pregnant) so I'll be curious to discover how his tastes differ from those of his brothers.

[ReginaW]

That will be interesting to discover with this baby. He is the first where I've been eating LC while nursing (not as much while pregnant) so I'll be curious to discover how his tastes differ from those of his brothers.

There's some cool evidence to support the idea that exposure in the womb or early in life may have some influence:

The flavor of life: perinatal development of odor and taste preferences (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10081075&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum)

Human Foetuses Learn Odours from their Pregnant Mother’s Diet (http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/6/729)

Prenatal and Postnatal Flavor Learning by Human Infants (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/107/6/e88)