Mar
22
2010
Looking for information on a gluten-free diet for a 2 year old with soy/milk allergies – please advise!?
Posted by: Alan in Milk Allergies, tags: advise, Allergies, Diet, glutenfree, information, Looking, Please, soy/milk, Year
My 2yr. old son was diagnosed last year with allergies to soy and dairy after I complained to his doctor that he has chronic loose stool/diarrhea, and a rash around his mouth.
We have eliminated milk/soy, and he is quite happy drinking rice milk. He still has loose stool, however, and it gets worse from time to time. He almost never has a formed stool.
The last day or so it has been bad, the only new food he’s eaten is Natural Ovens Brainy Bagels.
He tested negative to wheat, eggs and rice on a skin prick test, but I’m wondering if he has developed some type of intolerance to something?
What is the best way to eliminate gluten for a toddler? Remember he is already avoiding dairy, soy, all nuts and peanuts (siblings have allergies).
Help!
Entries (RSS)
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Food intolerances don’t show up as allergies, because they aren’t. Gluten intolerance, like other food intolerances, is a problem with digesting gluten – it gets partially digested, turns into opiate-like substances in the gut, and can leak into the blood stream and cause all sorts of nasty symptoms, from diarrhoea on through to autism spectrum disorders.
But on the other hand, if all he has is softish stools, that’s not really a big problem, and if he has always had that, and there are no other symptoms, I’m not sure if it’s worth cutting out gluten on top of all the other things. It’s not easy to replace the carbs and protein, plus all the vitamins and other nutrients which wheat products are usually fortified with.
Doctors usually want to know if there is a major change in the bowel habit. You haven’t seen a major change. This may just be natural for your son. The bowel habit does differ from one person to another, and it may be that the diet he is on is just fibrous enough to make this happen.
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:49 pm
The doctor needs to do a blood test for celiac sprue which is an intolerance to wheat,rye,barley,malt.I have celiac which i thought was an intolerance to dairy but it wasnt.I have been gluten free for 5 months and the diarrhea is gone.They need to test him before you put him on a gluten free diet so that the test will come back right.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:07 pm
The skin prick test is checking for allergies and is not necessarily going to pick up a food allergy. Testing for celiac disease or gluten intolerance is done first with a blood test and then with an endoscopy to check the small intestine. Check with the references for a local doctor. It is very hard with a little one to get accurate test results. The other option is a genetic test to see if he has the markers for celiac disease and that might help too. If you end up eliminating gluten from his diet, some of the other food problems may take care of themselves as his small intestine heals. My son was a mess until he started eating solid foods and went to water and some juices. Try vegetables, some fruit, gluten free hot dogs and gluten free bread. I remember soy was a problem for him as well as milk. Try to get him on some foods that don’t cause a reaction and then add one thing at a time so you know what he can handle. Stay away from processed foods with multiple ingredients as that just complicates everything. Keep a food/drink diary as you do it so you can keep things straight.
Just remember, don’t try to go gluten free before testing as it will invalidate the test. But tough call, if he goes gluten free and symptoms go away then you have solved the problem but not know for sure.
Also, if he tests positive for celiac consider checking his siblings since it is heriditary.
Good luck!!
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:25 pm
What is he drinking?? If he is allergic to both soy and milk, I would probably guess he is drinking a lot of juice. All of the sugars and acids from juice can cause diarrhea in kids and adults.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:37 pm
If you are looking for foods to replace those with gluten, I have raised both my boys on a gluten-free diet and have a website full of simple, delicious gluten-free recipes:
http://elanaspantry.com
Hope this helps and good luck.
Elana