Home Kids with milk allergies

[NovemberBride]

My DD has just been diagnosed with a milk protein allergy and I wanted to see what other PSer''s experiences were with milk allergies. Did you kids grow out of the allergy and at what age? Also, did you have to eliminate dairy from your diet if you were breastfeeding? DD has not been bothered at all by dairy in my diet (the allergy only showed up when we started supplementing with formula), so the allergist said I did not need to eliminate dairy from my diet while breastfeeding. This seemed strange to me because everything I have read online says to eliminate dairy, but if it hasn''t bothered her up till now I don''t see any reason to do it.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Is he allergic to milk or casein? And is it really an allergy or is it an intolerance?

I think the allergy breast milk connection is compound specific. Some proteins do pass through but others do not. I know my cousin was diagnosed with a milk allergy as a small infant and was given goats milk instead of cows milk. She must have been on solids by then though because I don''t recall there being an issue with BM. I''m assuming she would have had issues with formula though. But yes, she did grow out of it once her digestive system matured and she started producing the enzyme that breaks down the milk.

 

[NovemberBride]

HH, thanks for your response. She is allergic to the milk protein, rather than being lactose intolerant (which is apparently quite rare in babies). She has a swift and immediate reaction upon ingesting milk-based formula - projectile vomiting and breaking out in hives. Apparently there may not be much casein in breastmilk, which is the main protein in formula and that may be why she doesn''t have a problem with breastfeeding. Also, I don''t have that much dairy in my diet so maybe not enough is making it through to affect her. Thanks also for the info on goats milk, I will look into that for when she weans.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

It sounds like it could be the casein then. I know people who are allergic to casein as adults. It''s not something to mess with, they react like someone with a bee allergy.

 

[Burk]

Tayva had a milk protein intolerance/allergy. Our doctor says babies have a very good chance to outgrow these intolerances, as their systems are still developing. Tayva had a severe intolerance to both dairy and corn. She was very sensitive to my BM and we ended up using Similac Alimentum formula. She saw an allergist as well as a pedi GI. When she turned one the pedi GI doc wanted us to test her system to see if she had outgrown the intolerance and introduce whole milk. That went horribly. But, by about 15 months when we tried again it went really well and she has done perfectly fine with dairy every since (she''s now 2). Have you tried to supplement with a hypoallergenic formula when you have to supplement? Now, with K, I have cut out dairy and corn since T was so sensitive but I am able to do some minimal dairy (never milk, ice cream or cheese) with success.

 

[NovemberBride]

Burk,
Thanks for your response. Yes, I have been supplementing with the Alimentum since the allergy was suspected and that is going well. I suspect that she is ok with my breastmilk because I have so little straight dairy in my diet (bad I know). I don''t drink milk other than in my coffee and rarely have more than a slice of cheese on a sandwich. Glad to know that T has grown out of the milk allergy, I was worried about bone strength without milk or other dairy as a child since my family has a history of osteoporosis.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,
Even if she''s not showing an actual visable reaction, it may be better for you to eliminate all dairy while BFing because the bit of dairy she is consuming may lower her general immunity to things: colds or similar. I''m not an allergist of course, but that idea just popped into my head as something you may check into. I have a bunch of allergies/intollerances and find each causes a different reaction and not all happen at once (some foods I have problems with won''t show reaction for hours!)

 

[vizsla]

YES!! november!! charlie has MSPI too!

i am meeting with a dietitian who specializes in MSPI this weekend and will report back.

i had to give up all soy and dairy when BF.. that was hard.. milk is in EVERYTHING and i spent soooo much time reading labels. luckily i have experience with reading labels b/c of DH and his gluten intolerance but once you figure out what you can eat it does get easier. now c is on nutramigen and has been doing really well on it. i hate that it is so $$ and you can't get it in a larger can, but that's neither here nor there

do you have any specific questions?? i know MSPI made him a total fuss bucket for the first 2 months of his life until it got under control. NOT FUN.

ETA: i ditto and would try and eliminate all dairy from your diet.... it sucks but is totally doable... the butter was a toughie when going out to eat since so many places cook with it... but you just have to get really creative... i'm sure you always wanted to go vegan

 

[vizsla]

sorry.. i can also give you a lot of things to buy at the grocery store that are a really good supplement for dairy items.

i really enjoyed rice milk in lieu of ''real'' milk.. and earth balance ''butter'' (it''s dairy and soy free)

whole foods is awesome and will take you on a tour of the store and point out things you can and can''t eat.. you just need to call ahead....

boy, i have lots of things for you... just tell me how nuts-o you want me to get

 

[qtiekiki]

When we first introduced dairy (cheese and yogurt), she would get red rashes around her mouth and on her face. No vomiting or diarrhea. Dairy in my diet didn''t bother M, but like you, I don''t eat a large amount of dairy on a regular basis. When we were transitioning her to whole milk, we did it gradually with mixture of BM and whole milk. We got to half and half mixture when she started to get the red rashes and refuse to drink. We never gave her that much dairy to know if she is truly allergic or if she is just sensitive. But our pedi told us to stop giving her dairy period because that will give a better chance of her outgrowing the allergy. The reasoning he gave us was that once you stop giving dairy, the body can forget the reaction to dairy since their body is still developing. Pedi says most people who are allergy to dairy are also allergic to soy, but we can try soymilk first if we want. Luckily, she isn''t allergic to soy. Pedi told us to not give any dairy until she is 2, but we started giving her dairy again around 18 months and she is no longer getting the rashes.

 

[NovemberBride]

MC and Viz - Thanks for the suggestion on cutting out dairy, I was thinking of doing it for the reasons you stated - that it may be affecting her just in a less obvious way than the formula does.

Viz - thanks so much for the offer - this is why I love PS, I feel like someone here is a resource for everything. I would welcome any and all suggestions, get as nutso as you want, as I am really lost when it comes to this kind of stuff. A Whole Foods just opened up the street, so I will definitely look into the tour. Is Charlie also allergic to soy protein? I know there is a lot of cross over, but Olivia refused to drink the soy formula so we don''t know if she is. The allergist wants me to try again because obviously if she can have soy that opens up the possibility of soy milk, soy cheeses, etc. I know you are a coffee addict like me, do you drink it black, use soy milk or something else?

 

[vizsla]

i gave up soy just to be double safe. c had bloody stools so i was extra freaked out. in the beginning my thought process was that i didn''t want to eliminate dairy, wait the 2 weeks to see if he got any better only to find out he was intolerant to soy as well and go thru the whole process over.

however, it''s only a 20% chance that she will be intolerant to soy, so you may just eliminate both for a few weeks.. give her body a couple of weeks to heal and then introduce soy in some capacity - either YOU eat something with soy in it and see how she reacts to it OR give her soy formula.

but a word of caution about soy formula - my pedi is very against it b/c in the body it turns into a plant based estrogen and can do loads of bad things to babies. even in adults it should be eaten in moderation. there are some studies out recently about breast buds forming on boys and other "issues" in babies who have been given soy formula. i don''t want to freak you out, but i might just stick with the alimentum or nutramigen.

whole foods is going to be your best bet for shopping for awhile.. until you get the hang of it. they have amazing resources/print-offs (typically near the door) that will list foods that are soy and dairy free. OR you can ask someone to walk you thru the store to point out products.

check out mspikids.info and http://mspikids.info/Eating_Out.html for links to restaurants. i found that most Mediterranean restaurants were OK - and italian foods (b/c most pasta is not made with dairy or soy). soy is a tricky one .. it''s hidden in a lot of pre-packaged foods.

as for coffee.. yep.. learned to like it black OR i would just bring a little rice milk with me to ''lighten'' it up. if you are going to buy rice dream make sure you get the organic one. seriously, i love it and drink it even now.

also, make sure if you do get rice cheese you get one without casein - which is what they are intollerant too.. for some reason most rice cheese has casein in it.. weird.

although cheese wasn''t as hard to give up as i thought it was going to be. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

basically you just have to eat non processed foods - of which we should all be doing anyway, right??

also check out: http://mspimama.blogspot.com/