Is Gluten Reaction Immediate?

[Papa Smurf]

Hello, Our son is 9 months old. About two month ago we fed him some Gerber rice cereal.  He had it a couple of times with no problems but the next two times he vomited about 2 hours later.  We thought it could be an issue with gluten, so stopped with the rice cereal.  Last Saturday we tried giving him a teething cookie that containted gluten.  He has had at least one every day since with no issues.  However, today he was eating one and my wife said he vomited.  If he had a problem with gluten would the reaction be that immediate and wouldn't we have noticed a problem over the last 4 days of him eating the cookies?  I've read that sometimes allergies show up the second time around though.  It is possible he may have gagged on the cookie which caused the vomiting, but my wife said he was a substantial amount.  He had just finished breast feeding so was full of liquid. I would appreciate any thoughts.  Thank you

[Lolly]

Not sure about the reaction timing but I have had times when my babies have gagged on something like a teething biscuit which has made them sick and they really emptied their stomachs everywhere! I would think if he had recently had a milk feed and he gagged then it would be a lot of mess.

Laura

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I've read that sometimes allergies show up the second time around though. 

My allergist says this too, but truthfully they can show up at any time...alot of my family are now developing anaphylactic allergies later in life to foods they have eaten all along.

As for reaction time, if it is an anaphylactic type allergy to gluten and not just an intolerance or celiac etc then the reaction time could be sudden, but I could also see where it could have just been him gagging on the cookie and his full tummy caused him to vomit. My youngest was an awful gagger with any food with texture for the longest time!

[abbysmomma]

The kind of gluten that people usually react to are only in wheat, barley and rye (and usually oats by cross contamination). So the rice cereal would be something other than gluten.  Have you tried it since? And it would be unusual for your lo to be ok with the biscuit for three days and not the fourth. I would be more inclined to chalk it up to gagging. Possibly a stomach bug? Does he have any other symptoms like hives, trouble breathing, swollen face, unusual lethargy, itchy eyes? Another thought.. was there any dairy in the rice cereal? Somecof them have dried milk powder. That's how i figured out my son was allergic to dairy. Maybe dairy in the biscuit too? Without more info, it's hard to tell. Anyways, i'd be happy to brainstorm!

[okinawamama]

My little guy has a gluten intolerance. I don't think there's gluten in rice cereal (rice in general is pretty much hypoallergenic, which is sometimes why it's recommended as a first food), and vomiting isn't usually a reaction with a gluten issue. If he did have a with gluten, the teething cookie would give you a reaction of some kind.

I hope you're able to get to thebottom of it!

[Papa Smurf]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I realized that I made a mistake in my original post.  It was baby oatmeal not rice cereal that caused him to vomit.  We have not tried it again.  That was at around 7 months and he is 9 months now. 

He hasn't had any other symptoms other than the vomiting today. Saturday through Tuesday he ate the cookie without any symptoms.  We were a little worried based on the vomiting in July, but figured everything was ok after he ate the teathing cookie for 3 days.  We are going out of town this weekend, but will try again when we get back and see if he has the same reaction. 

I'm completely out of my element, but if he had such a severe reaction that he vomited while eating gluten, I would have expected that it would have also impacted the past 3 days. That is my uneducated guess though!

[ENMS]

Hi!

my DS has FPIES - food protein induced enterocolitis syndrome. It is some sort of protein intolerance. Most frequent foods causing the intolerance are grains. a classic FPIES reaction is profuse vomiting, which luckily DS hasn't had yet - so he doesn't have full-blown FPIES, but something milder. He reacts to a new food around days 5-6. Never on the first or second try. I guess it is a type of intolerance that builds up.

So all to say... it could definitely just be the gagging - but I'd wouldn't say that a delayed reaction is impossible. I'd try it again, a small portion only. If you get more vomiting, then I'd stop, and consult a doctor before re-introducing these foods.

Has he had any other adverse reactions to foods?