My baby vomits after he eats grains

[drs0410]

Is that normal? He's 8 months old now and his body seems to be fine with everything else. However, when he has the smallest amount of grains, he starts vomiting about an hour or two after he has eaten. It lasts a couple of hours, maybe, and he's lethargic when this happens.

I'm hoping that someone here has a logical explanation for this. Thanks!

[Knitting Mama]

What grains specifically? I just wouldn't offer him any, it's not like his body needs them, anyway.

[drs0410]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

What grains specifically? I just wouldn't offer him any, it's not like his body needs them, anyway.
 

oatmeal and brown rice baby cereal (tried both), Gerber Graduates puffs, chicken noodle dinner baby food

I know he doesn't need them at the moment, but eventually he's going to be eating a bigger variety of foods and I want to know why his body isn't reacting very well to grains. Plus, grains are easier to store in my bag than fruits and veggies, so it would be nice if he was able to have them.

[leighi123]

Could be an allergy, my ds is super allergic to oats. 

Have you tried unprocessed, organic grains?    My son can only have wheat if its organic and processed as little as possible, otherwise he has issues. 

[Knitting Mama]

I would definitely guess allergy. A lot of childhood allergies are outgrown with time, but there is no way to tell when or if it happens. If you have a pediatrician, I would definitely mention it to him/her, as they may have knowledge of other things that could cause sensitivities like that. For the time being, I wouldn't give grains at all, until you know what is going on.

On the go, cut up fruit is a great snack. You can also get things like the dried snap peas at Trader Joe's or natural foods stores; they're crunchy and easy to eat but not grain.

[Caittune]

oht nak  Have you heard of FPIES?  It could be that.  DD has nasty reactions to rice and oats (among others)  it is like an allergy but not.  characterised by delayed vomiting two or so hours after ingestion.  can be serious.  Good luck!

[Mosaic]

Originally Posted by drs0410 

he starts vomiting about an hour or two after he has eaten. It lasts a couple of hours, maybe, and he's lethargic when this happens.

Ohmigosh, that's exactly what happened to my DD. She gobbled up some rice cereal and 2-3 hours later vomited it all back up, asleep or half-asleep, for the next couple of hours. It scared the bejeezies out of us because she was so out of it and loopy... I was terrified she was going to choke on her own vomit, and I'm not easy to freak out. We haven't touched the stuff since, though sweet potato, squash, and banana have gone well fwiw (DD is almost 9.5 months old now).

Thanks to the pp about fpies... DD is dairy sensitive as well. I'll be watching this thread.

[Eco Ima]

Ok, now this has been happening to me and I am totally freaked out by it. My son never had these problems. It has happened three times that she has vomited the grains up, a few hours after been fed them. I use Healthy Times, Organic brown rice cereal. She is fine with all the veggies I have given her. I am very worried about it. I am going to my pediatrician on Tues. Will see what they say.

What is FPIES? I'll look it up.

[Mosaic]

My DD had this issue before and I'm coming back to update. She had very severe reactions to rice cereal the few times we tried it in her first year, and we had her tested for celiac's and a rice allergy at about 13 months. Both came back negative, and she has since eaten things with rice and rice cereal in them without any problem. Go fig!

[Eco Ima]

Hi Mosaic,

thanks so much for posting that.  My intuition tells me that she does not have an allergy or sensitivity, but rather a sensitivity to the iron, mineral and vitamins added to the cereals. I have a hard time with iron myself - so I'm sure it is worse for her.  I am supposed to go to an allergist mid July, but not sure if I will keep the appointment. Can you tell me what type of test they do to test for celiac and rice allergies? I would rather not do anything too invasive if I don't need too. My daughter is 8 mnths old.

I was thinking that maybe I would hold off the cereals and next month try to make my own by mushing up rice, giving oatmeal and mushing up barley vs. the store bought one. Though the one I bought is brown and organic it is still more processed and has added iron etc, which makes it hard to digest.

I have been afraid to introduce yogurt and egg yolk because of her reactions to the grains. Any thoughts?

[Mosaic]

The allergy and celiac tests were blood tests. My DD had (has) feeding issues, and those were some of the things we thought might have been causing the difficulties. I also suspected dairy and soy (since our rice cereal had some soy additives, and her reflux got very bad with dairy), so I avoided yogurt at first, too. The allergy tests for those came back negative as well, so after 13 months I introduced yogurt, no problems. Haven't done egg yet because DD is way behind in the feeding department anyway.

If DD hadn't had other problems, I would have probably just skipped all cereals until a year, or maybe try single-ingredient oatmeal instead. FWIW, that was her only reaction; she did not have any other common allergy signs like skin problems, diaper issues, etc.

[Eco Ima]

hmmm....a lot to think about. My daughter doesn't have any feeding probs. as of yet. The only thing she has experienced has been throwing up after the rice, oats or barley. As I wrote, I'll probably try these again next month in a pure form.

Bought yogurt today, don't know if I'll give it to her. Also not sure whether I should keep my allergy specialist appointment. My hubbie is really against our daughter being tested.

It is so funny, though this is my second child, I can still get so riled up about food issues or problems.

Like you Mosaic, I'll keep checking this thread to see what people have to say.

[LaughingHyena]

We've been doing celiac tests recently, it seems there are a few blood tests around so  you may want to read up on the different ones before asking for them. Also we were told the test will only be accurate as long as the person is eating gluten. So if your LO is not having grains they will not be able to accurately test.

[scsigrl]

There is a Celiac panel that is the first test.  If that is +, they like to biopsy.  Some Dr's will do the genetic test before the biopsy but others don't.  We had the Celiac blood work done 3 times before we went with the biopsy.  The genetic test came after that for us (his ttG's were so high the chances of him NOT having the gene were pretty low).

It is true that the person MUST BE ON GLUTEN for the panel and biopsy.  The generic test doesn't require it but is also of limited use because it will only say "This person has a chance of developing Celiac." It does not indicate active Celiac or how soon/if the person would "get" Celiac.  

If you are going to do any Celiac testing, DO NOT REMOVE GLUTEN!!!!!!!  It is way easier to get accurate results if you test first as opposed to having to go back on gluten and hoping it was enough for long enough time wise.

[Eco Ima]

Thanks for the info. Still humming and hawing about what to do. Meanwhile I haven't given her any grains. But I do appreciate the heads up about the tests

[Eco Ima]

Just wanted to update and have this here for other mamas who are worried about their babes vomiting after eating "grain" cereals.  I have been reading a lot of sites about rice, oat, barley cereal. It seems that lots of people have probs with them.  I always felt weird about giving them to my first child. He never had probs. but didn't like it and I didn't blame him. It tastes yucky. I gave them to him for a little bit anyhow. Though I don't usual "tow the party line", I was neurotic because it was my first and because doctors tell you to give the cereals first. I felt that it was something processed, so why give it? I did it anyhow, and as I said my son was fine.

This time my daughter wasn't - even though the cereals were whole grain and organic.  But, like all cereals they are processed and fortified.  As I mentioned in my earlier posts,  I was going to try rice in it's pure form.  I used Cathy Olsen's recipe of half cup rice to three cups water for an hour. My daughter has passed the 3 day test. Tomorrow I'll try rolled oats, which I cooked the same way.  I'm sure she'll be fine with this too.

I held off from going to the allergist. I wanted to test grains in their pure form before getting her tested for anything.  In the meantime I also tried egg yolk and dairy and she was fine with this too.

I am so relieved. So hopefully when the next mother who searches desperately as I did for info. on why their child is vomiting a few hours after they have been given rice, oat or barley cereal, this will be here for you to read. While your child may have an allergy, she or he may just be reacting to the processed or heavily fortified cereal. Maybe your babies little tummy just wants food in it's pure form like mine did. I'll repost after I've  tried the oats and barley.