Could Baby Be Allergeric to Barley Cereal???

Dear A.:

My son went through this as well. Barley can cause a lot of gas. My son would cry and pass a lot of gas. I would stop the barley and move on to antoher cereal.

In order to get my son past this we made a mixed cereal of the oatmeal, rice and added a small amount of barley. Over time we added a little more barley.

Hope it helps.

Happy Easter.

Jenn

yes! any grain is going to be hard to digest at this age, be careful and go slowly. Have you mixed in breastmilk with the grains? Barley has a protein called gluten which is highly intolerable, especially to babies. Be weary of wheat and oats also, these contain gluten as well. I would stay away from these grains completely right now. Quinoa or brown rice are much more gentle and easy to digest. Start slowly with foods at this age. Stick to foods like avocado, bananas and sweet potato. My daughter is almost eight months and I'm only now just starting to introduce these foods. Every baby develops and responds differently to foods as well, watch closely and listen to your baby. Good Luck!

Hi A.,

Your little one could certainly be allergic to the barley cereal. In fact barley contains gluten, which is a protein that a lot of people are allergic to...currently 1 out of every 133 people to be more precise. One of the major symptoms of gluten intolerance is stomach upset along with loose stools, bloating etc. Check out the list of possible symptoms on the National Foundation For Celiac Awareness website: http://www.celiaccentral.org/About-Celiac-Disease/Symptom...
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me. My husband, son, and myself are all gluten intolerant, and live a gluten-free lifestyle. And although I am not an expert, I would be happy to share with you what I have learned. You can also read my story at www.flournut.com in the about us section.
Hope she is feeling better soon,
A.~

I'm not a doctor, so please consult your family practitioner- websites are not the place to make decisions concerning your baby. Seriously. Several of my relatives are nurses and hospital staff, so I will tell you something I know, but since I'm not an expert, (and nobody hear can diagnose your baby, obviously), ask your physician and he/she will tell you what you need to know.

First, of all, celiac disease and gluten intolerance (not an allergy!) are two different disorders. Barley is a grain, like wheat, oats, or rice. There is nothing unusual about it- it is long favorite in America and other countries. Our dependence on processed foods and a handful of food items has allowed us to forget that real food is natural, not stuff that comes packaged and ready to microwave. For some reason, people think foods like barley, greens, chick peas, or whatever are suspicious, because they are not common or no longer common at dinnertime in the US. Barley water, in fact, continues to be a popular drink, flavored with fruit juice, in England even today.
If your baby has a sensitivity to oats or rice, then surely, she may have a similar reaction to barley. Barley is a distinct grain, but as a cereal grain, it's proteins are similar to those proteins in other cereal grains like oats and rice.
Many different things can cause digestive problems, not necessarily the cereal. It could have been prepared incorrectly at home, someone could have given the baby a food and you were unaware of it (father, other children?). And 6 months may be a bit young for cereal, but it does depend on the development of the child.
Many people claim to be 'allergic,' but a sensitivity or intolerance is not an allergy- allergy means a reaction in the immune system- a person can stop breathing, have skin rashes, swelling, stomach pains, etc. Only your doctor can test and find out.
The people answering your question are not doctors or nurses, they have never met you or examined your child, and they don't seem to know what they are talking about, in some cases. Gluten allergy is the 'new thing'- everyone claims to have it. Gluten is what makes bread 'bready.' People have eaten bread and oatmeal their whole lives, get one stomach ache after watching Dr Oz or the Doctors, then they self-diagnose that they have a 'gluten allergy.' Just ask your doctor, and forget these people who don't know what they are talking about.
Hope your baby feels better soon.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/wheat-allergy/DS01002/ME...
http://www.foodreactions.org/gluten/

hi A.,
barley contains gluten. if your child is indeed intolerant to glulen, then barley will certainly without a doubt cause problems far beyond bad gas and different bm. look up celiac disease for some info. if you want to vary the foods you feed the baby and avoid gluten in the mean time, stick with rice, hold off on cereal for a while, or try other grains like millet, quinoa, or buckwheat. giving a probiotic is always good too. she may just be too young for the barley or it could be more serious than that. no sense in forcing her body to work out the barley when it's so unecessary. at some point it is worth having her screened for gluten intolerance, but that would be a blood draw. it is way easier for a little baby to just avoid those foods for a while. good luck.

Yes, you should switch cereals. Sounds like it doesn't agree with your baby. I am allergic to wheat, rye and barley and those symptoms sound familiar. Actually it is an intolerance to gluten. If the problem continues see the doctor. The problem is easily treated by removing those items from your diet. Good luck!

W.

I doubt it's an allergy. Barley is just a different type of grain and will cause her bowel movements to look different. Just like oatmeal- barley will cause constipation in large amounts. It's a great food for when diarrhea is a problem.
I would just make sure you counteract the barley cereal with peaches or pears and you shouldn't have those problems anymore.
The allergies that the previous posters mention are to gluten- not to barley. If your daughter is fine with other cereals- it's just the nature of the barley. Not a gluten allergy.
-S.

Yes my nephew is and he is also allergic to wheat. Barley has gluten in it she could also have celiacs disease. stick to rice and oatmeal cereals.

the easiest thing to do is to stop the barley and see if things improved. I never fed my son barley until he was almost two. Some kids just can't digest it that well (this early). I would stick with rice cereal for now unless it starts to get constipating, but if it does, just add some fruit to the diet. but I would mostly stick with formula or BM since she is still so young.

I didn't have time to read the other responses but I just wanted to mention that rice cereal is very binding. I skipped rice cereal all together when my daughter was an infant because of it. Her pedi said it was fine...and agreed it was binding. I would stick to just one cereal at a time to see which is really bothering your little one. If you keep feeding her all the cereals at the same time you will never know which is really causing the problem.

Both my children have many food allergies. Barley is a grain. My youngest can not eat Barley. My allergist and pediatrician sugget start with rice cereal. That is what they both started as a solid food. I would switch to rice cereal and see if the condition improves. If so, then you know if was the barely and not use it again.

I don't know if that is a sign of a food allergy, but I would keep her on the rice cereal for at least 2 weeks, then, assuming the bowel issue is cleared up, you can try barley again.
When you do try it again, make sure that you do not introduce any other new foods a few days before or after the barley. Then you will know if it is the barley that was the problem.