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The response to my question about whether or not to use an oameal bath with 
my celiac 5-year old, even though he would mot be ingesting the oatmeal, was 
mixed.

In the end we opted for baking soda baths.  We treated his sores, he had a 
pretty bad breakout, with calamine lotion.  We also gave him liquid Benedryl.

Here are the responses that I received (Thank you all!!!!!) . . . 

I would say YES! Your 5-year old will feel so much better.  If my celiac
child had chicken pox I would give them an oatmeal bath.  Maybe just don't
injest the water....


No! No baths, creams, shampoo, etc. Just to be fair, I went through the same
thing with my son. He also tends towards dry skin in the winter but ...
Get out the calamine!


I wouldn't as he is likely to be super sensitive and poorly.  There are lots
of alternatives but I would stick to plain water.


As long as he doesn't drink the water (and he doesn't have DH), he should be 
fine.  My GI said that gluten is not absorbed though the skin like it is 
through the gut.


I wouldn't do it, because the sores are an opening into the body and you can 
pretty sure that gluten will actually get inside his system.  I know it's 
awful to see our kids
uncomfortable and you want to do everything you can to provide relief, but I 
would stop short of the oatmeal bath. 


I did, and my did showed no ill effects.  In fact she felt much better!


I don't see why not, he's not injesting the oatmeal, and as far as I can
tell gluten can't cross the skin barrier, just make sure you wash his hands
well and make sure he doesn't lick them while in the tub.  If you have any
problems with the oatmeal you can use baking soda, it works good, and you
can make a paste out of it and apply it to the spots.  Aveeno makes an
awesome anti itch cream, and you can give benedrill to him every 4-6 hours
it really helps with the itch too. 

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