Hi all
Some of you know from other threads and PMs that I have been keeping DS gluten free. My original aim was until he was one year old, but as he is milk and soy intolerant I am finding it SOOOOO incredibly hard to cook for him. He really doesn't get much by way of finger foods that have a good enough texture for him to chew AND that are things he will actually eat.
My reason for keeping him gluten free is because my mother had celiac disease and I watched her go through so much suffering from being so ill her entire life that I am just paranoid that my DS will also have celiac. I guess I just have it in my head that if I hold off until he's one, it will minimize the chance of him having it, although the dietician he has seen for his MSPI has told me that this is incorrect. I just can't decide if I believe her or not.
My sister has 3 children, none of whom she kept gluten free, ever, and they are all fine. Two of her LOs were dairy intolerant but not were soy intolerant also. So, she thinks I am being ridiculous and just making more work and misery for myself and son.
I have tried him on oats and he went INSTANTLY constipated, but it was Ready Brek and only after 3 days did I notice on the side of the box that it is calcium fortified and clearly, right in front of my nose says on the box "May contain traces of milk." I was so angry with myself, but decided that was likely the problem. I tried him again on oats this week, twice, and he's been fine - pure, plain, natural oats, nothing added, in a factory that does not contain any milk or soy so no cross contamination. Oats always used to be on the list of gluten-containing grains, but recent years have discovered that it is not the oat that contains gluten but likely cross-contamination from fields and factories where wheat is grown/produced. Hence trying oats first.
LO can't eat rice or potatoes, either. Rice **INSTANTLY** constipates him so badly that he ends up taking three or four days of crying to get a tiny bit of poop out. Rice cakes are fine, must be because they are mostly air, but any other form of rice is a no-no. Potatoes are the same. So it limits us even further!
I was looking at getting him some gluten free bread this weekend, but here is the ingredient list:
Water, Tapioca Starch, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sunflower Oil, Yeast, Dextrose, Psyllium Husk Powder, Humectant (Glycerine), Dried Egg White, Stabilisers (Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose, Xanthan Gum), Calcium Carbonate, Maize Flour, Salt, Citric Acid, Emulsifiers (Polyglycerol Esters of Fatty Acids, Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids).
Compared to regular white bread:
Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Vegetable Oil, Soya Flour, Emulsifiers E481, E472e, Preservative Calcium Propionate (Added To Inhibit Mould Growth), Flour Treatment Agents Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), E920
And I just think that by keeping him gluten free, I am chucking him full of other junk. Is it really worth it.
My DH is really of little help when bouncing ideas off because he really leaves this stuff up to me, because he doesn't ever want me to feel that he pressured me into choosing to change DS's diet when he knows so little about food allergies. So, he is comfortable with whatever I choose. But I still need to hear some opinions on whether you all think I am being ridiculously cautious to a fault, or if I should just go on and give the poor little guy a piece of toast!
And if I do give him some toast looking at the ingredients list, should I give him the additive-filled gluten free bread, or some normal bread?