<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Lynda wrote "Reduce the likelihood of developing Celiac"?  Not likely!
It only delays the symptoms and makes you suffer unending years of pain,
discomfort, and mental duress at the hands of incompetent medical
"professionals."

Soapboxes aside, when you consider the difficulties of diagnosing illness
in children, this doctor was very wise in recommending delayed
introduction of gluten.  As a parent of three children, all equally
likely to inherit my CD, I can't count how many times they had upset
stools, tummies, and cranky tempers.  Sound familiar?  However, my
children were GF until age 2.  Every baby/toddler will experience gastro
related symptoms, in all the uncertainties of parenting, do yourself a
favor and eliminate at least one variable in the equation.

Because my children were GF until age 2, I could be sure that whatever
they were experiencing was not related to CD.  That assurance was
priceless.

My children are 10, 6 and 4 now.  The youngest recently tested positive
on the whole range of blood tests and we chose to forego the biopsy based
on the high occurance in our family history.  Her first two years were
completely GF and healthy, and the last two years have been filled with
wheat and she still appears healthy.  We did not inflict pain or torture
her little body in any way, and yet we have enough medical evidence to
justify a GF diet for life.  Her transition to GF has been simplified by
the fact that all the children were educated about Mom's diet from the
moment they could see over the kitchen counter.

We cannot prevent CD in our children.  We CAN have them tested in the
most non-invasive ways possible, and we watch, and we wait.  We CAN
prevent the severity of undiagnosed and untreated CD.  We CAN prevent the
mental shock by living an example of healthy coping strategies.  We CAN
prevent the logistical frustrations associated with shopping and
preparing GF foods by taking our own diets seriously and by determining
to eat well ourselves.  Then we give our children gifts instead of
burdens.

Danelle Sorensen
Kansas City, KS, USA