My 9 month old just had her check up and we found out that she dropped from 90% to 10% for height and 50% to 5% for weight. She is also anemic. She is meeting/exceeding all of her milestones and is basically a happy baby. She was an extremely fussy newborn, but is more or less happy now.
We just found out that DH's grandfather had Celiac disease and I'm wondering if this could be what is going on.
Has anyone else shared this experience? Anyone else have kids that dropped off both charts like that, but still acted healthy? I'd love to hear your experiences, as I'm completely freaking out.
TIA!!
ttachuk
07-30-2008, 08:23 PM
As far as I know Celiac's takes time to develop and is quite rare in kids. You would also notice a big trend in symptoms in relation to gluten eaten. Gluten is like a poison to a person with Celiac's.
squintz22
07-30-2008, 08:25 PM
My almost 5 year old has (we think) Celiac's. Since we don't want to put her through a biopsy, we do not have an actual diagnosis.
When she was 3, she was down to the 2nd percentile for weight, and lower for height. She was actually smaller at 3 than our older daughter was at 1.
She had a serious intolerance for dairy. She got horrible horrible rashes and eczema whenever she had dairy. (My sister is allergic to milk in all forms.)
After a lot of thought, we decided to attempt a gluten-free and dairy-free diet for her. We started December 1st, 2006. She had a March 2007 appointment with the ped to see if she'd started to grow yet. In just 4 months, she had grown nearly 3 inches, put on 6 pounds....and best of all - she was just happier overall. Although she was a 'happy' kid...she was so much HAPPIER off the wheat. The personality change was phenomenal. We didn't really think she was 'bad' before, but it was a very pronounced change in her.
About 6 month after we took her off wheat, we tried dairy...turns out her stomach was very tore up from the wheat, or she had outgrown that or something. BUT - now she can handle dairy again.
She is now holding steady in the 30th percentile for both height and weight.
It's a PITA diet to start with. But after a while, it's just second nature to us. If we're having pasta - I make some rice for her. She uses corn tortillas in place of bread and pizza crust. And she asks. Always asks if something has wheat in it before she eats it. (My older daughter also asks FOR her!)
But we were told the only accurate way to get a diagnosis is to let her eat something with wheat in it, and then do a biopsy of her intestines......and we have no desire to put her through that, when just stopping the wheat has done so much for her.
And about a month ago, we found out that my uncle is also wheat free. So perhaps it is genetic too. :dunno:
Leininger27
07-30-2008, 08:36 PM
My 2 yr old was diagnosed with celiacs when he was 15 months old. We went through a lot of testing prior to a diagnosis.
He was doing fine until 7 months. Then he started losing weight instead of gaining. We have never had a problem with height, but definitely with weight. At 15 months when finally diagnosed after have months of extreme diarrhea (like 20 diapers a day) he weighed 13 lbs. He just turned 2 and now weighs 20 lbs. He has made great improvements, but he is still very tiny.
The diet change was really hard for us. All the things he wanted to eat he no longer could. The kid LOVED bread and that was a huge no no... Gluten free bread on the other hand is horrid!!! Even homemade GF bread he will not touch...
I still have a really hard time at the grocery store. I go down isles and see food his brothers and sister can eat that he can't and it just makes me cry...
ttachuk
07-30-2008, 08:42 PM
My almost 5 year old has (we think) Celiac's. Since we don't want to put her through a biopsy, we do not have an actual diagnosis.
I have a friend who is testing her kids for celiacs (she has it). But they are just doing a blood test. Not sure if this is available to you or not?
willismom2
07-30-2008, 08:49 PM
My little guy had a drastic change in weight gain and growth lengthwise from his 6 mo to his 9 mo checkup. he was growing great but at his 9 mo checkup he had slowed way down and was only in the 10th and 25th percentiles for weight and height. He was very anemic as well so now that we have that fixed we are hoping his growth picks back up. I will be taking him back in September to see where he is at. it could just be the iron deficiency as that does slow growth. I REALLY hope it is not Celiac's for yours or mine. If you wouldnt mind keeping in touch it would be great to know what comes of it and i'll let you know what comes of my little guy's growth issues as well!
HadassahSukkot
07-31-2008, 01:08 AM
Celiac sometimes just 'is'. They say it has to take time to develop, but in reality we always had it, it just took years to diagnose.
Everyone in my immediate family has it, self incl. My son I am pretty sure has it. We had definite reactions to disposables which do have gluten in them. I do not eat gluten, and will not be introducing it into his diet, and we have informed our pediatrician as such. I have topical as well as intestinal and neurological reactions to gluten, and I am finding I have respiratory reactions when the bakery downstairs has a delivery of flour (I have to shut all my windows when they do), or if I am in a store with a bakery as they are pouring and measuring flour.
He at first had a great drop in weight and was 'slow to grow' in his first 3 weeks of life. My milk supply didn't come in until his 2nd week, so I was having to suppliment with GF hypoallergenic corn based formula. After that, the supply came in and we began weaning him off the formula entirely. We're attempting to EBF, but I do have to pump occasionally to keep up my supply, and for Oma and Opa to have time with him on the weekends. (they take two 8oz bottles with them each visit)
Once the milk came in and he began to get exclusively breast milk, water and fennel tea (for his bowel to 'wake up' and stay well as mixing the formula and BM was bothering his belly) his weight increased from 9.75 pounds to 11. He's a big 'little' guy at 2 months. Developmentally, he's ranging between 2 and 4 months of age... he's trying desperately to crawl, but his arms are just not developed enough for him to, and he gets so frustrated. He's also trying hard to communicate, and very often. He's a talkative bugger!
As far as my diet, I don't eat tons of breads, but I have found lots of pasta and other items I can have, and now that I have moved to Germany I have found a lot of gluten free bread that is better than "passable" or "tree bark"... but there are "tree bark" ones out here too. (blech!)
I make nearly 99% of everything we have at home, including pies, cakes, brownies, cookies and breads.
DH has to stay gluten free so I don't have reactions to him (...... discharge or saliva, or touch of his hands).
We have to read lables of everything that comes into the house.
When I was pregnant, in the last few months I became iron deficient and needed some help, and we got me supplimented and I did ok. I'm feeling a little towards that direction again, so I am heading it off with lots of red meat and veggies with natural iron in them (Lots of spinach and brussel sprouts at the moment.. lol).
Before I was dx'd I had problems with milk, and now I can have it again. It was the homogenization process that was doing it. I can have whole milk now, so long as it is not homogenized. I can have some cheeses, but I am allergic to those that have naturally occuring penicillin or "sulfa" (no blue cheese for me!).
You may want to keep a food diary and list reactions to the said food items, change in bowel movement, attitude/emotions, stamina and that kind of thing.
I found our LO reacts to onions and garlic already... so I had to remove that from my own diet. Peanut butter, he had a reaction to, but that was a week I had it straight. I'm watching to see if perhaps he can have it but in limited amounts.
Thus far no reactions to citrus or nuts... which is great, as I use that to suppliment protein and fiber where I can't get it otherwise in the diet.
I sincerely hope you are able to figure it out, and if you need any help with recipes, just holler!
BTW, if a child has no other issues other than being slow to grow in accordance with charts (is otherwise healthy, bonding, interacting with individuals and eating well), it is possible that they are just slow to grow but healthy.
