Should My Baby Be Gluten Free?

Since everyone knows I'm a gluten bigot, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is if Bricklet is also gluten free. To be honest, I had no idea how to proceed with introducing gluten. 

We spoke with our pediatrician about this when we started introducing solids at around 6 months (we are doing baby led weaning, that's a whole other story). Her advise for us was to introduce early and often all allergens in according with AAP recommendations and to watch for a reaction to the major ones.

And so the decision was made, for the first time in six years I have a loaf of real bread in my pantry. Well, it was in my freezer. So far Bricklet hasn't had any reaction to anything (yay)!

The practicality of this is a bit more complex; I cook almost all of his meals and don't have gluten containing anything in my cupboard otherwise. Also, he eats what we eat, and ain't nobody got time to make two separate meals. He doesn't necessarily get it daily. But I try to get it in, especially for his daycare meals where I don't have to worry about contaminating my kitchen. To get him gluten and keep it out of my kitchen, there are a few things I'm doing. First, Trader O's have become a breakfast staple. We have also taken advantage of the deli at Whole Foods. Neither my husband or I will eat fish or seafood, so this has been a great way to have Bricklet have it (we really want him to much less picky than us). It also provides the opportunity to have gluten containing items without messing up your GF kitchen to do it. 

The last strategy is when we go out to eat, which is typically once a week with Warren. My husband will share gluten with him (for example, toast) when he has it. When my husband has had time off of work for paternity leave, general PTO, or has just taken Warren on his own at the weekend so I can have me time, they have a tradition of going to a nearby diner for brunch. 

Do you feed your baby gluten? Do you make it on your own? How do you cope with contamination in your kitchen? Would love to hear in the comments!