12 Month Old Allergic to Milk?

Updated on October 22, 2011
L.H. asks from Albuquerque, NM
17 answers

Hello moms!
My 12 month old recently made the switch to organic whole milk. He has been having a major problem with constipation and then diarrhea. Then, after his milk this morning, he threw up. He's been on regular milk for about a week now and before he was doing fine on regular formula. (He was on Enfamil since i had to stop breastfeeding at 6 months.) I was wondering if anyone has heard of a baby being allergic to milk when they did fine on normal formula. Could his tummy upset just be coincidence? He has no other symptoms of illness. Thanks for any ideas. :)

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L.C.

answers from Phoenix on

You can be free of allergies! See www.naet.com. My son was allergic to so much, it was ridiculous! Now he is not allergic to anything, and it was all non-invasive!

Good luck and let me know if you want any more information.

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D.J.

answers from Santa Fe on

Hello.
My son was allergic to cow's milk when I weaned him at 9 months. I had heard that babies who had problems with the extremely large fat molecule of cow's milk did much better on goat's milk, since the fat molecule in goat's milk is nearly the same size as the one in human milk. However, there was a drought that year and goat's milk was next to impossible to find. Finally, from three different sources in the same week, I got a recipe for fresh nutmilk (yes nutmilk!), for children who were allergic to cow's milk. Once I put Kai on that, all of his diaper rashes cleared up, his continuous congestion disappeared, and he never had another childhood illness! He didn't get the rolypoly baby fat either, so my mother kept sending me to his pediatrician to make sure he wasn't anemic or otherwise deficient in something. After interviewing me about Kai's diet for the fourth time and checking Kai out thoroughly, Dr. Herbert said that Kai was his healthiest patient, getting more live and assimilable calcium, protein and other nutrients than any of his other patients. He also offered to call my mother so she would stop worrying.

You can make it yourself with just an ordinary blender. The recipe is as follows:
1/2 cup raw organic almonds
1/4 cup unhulled organic sesame seeds
1/4 cup raw organic sunflower seeds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
optional sweetening with Agave nectar or honey

Soak the 1 cup (total) of nuts overnight in a cup of spring water. In the morning add another 3 cups water and blend in the blender. Strain through cheesecloth and it's ready to drink.

My son drank about a quart a day for the first three years of his life. He's had excellent health.

D. D. James
____@____.com

2 moms found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Tucson on

I had that problem with my first son. We had to put him on soy milk and Rice milk for a while. We then tried the lactose free milk once he was doing really well again and he was fine. He was just really sensitive to the lactose in the regular milk. I will say that Rice Milk and Soy Milk are expensive, but it worked to clear up the diarrhea and other symptoms of the milk related allergy, and he did not throw up on it. We kept him on that for about a year before trying the Lactose free milk, and when we did that switch there were no reactions.

D.

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M.E.

answers from Houston on

Just yesterday I started giving my 16 month old raw milk - tonight while sleeping she threw up everything in her stomach - including what looked like clumps of undigested milk. Before now she's been on organic formula and never had any issues. I don't want to give up on the raw milk but I don't think it could be anything else that caused her to throw up.

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K.F.

answers from Albuquerque on

My son did organic milk at first, after being breast fed. Of course he would spit up a lot of the breast milk too. Now, we have him on lactate...he was having diarrhea and complaining of stomach aches and since going on the lactate, he has been fine.
Milk sensitivity runs in my husbands family.

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S.L.

answers from Tucson on

Never force dairy products - or soy products - on anyone - especially your baby or child. If they are not already tolerant to it don't force them to become so. The human body is not designed to drink cow's milk - no matter what the American Dairy Association tries to make you believe. Cow's milk creates a mucoid (mucus) barrier in the intestines that prevents proper absorption of nutrition. This mucus hardens over time into plaque (like on your teeth) which causes extra weight gain and other degenerative health problems by passing undigested food through the colon - more accurately clogging the colon with it. So my advice is to feed your child natural and safe sources of vitamins and minerals (such as the calcium you are trying to get from milk). If you want more information on safe, all-natural, non-chemically treated botanical sources of these feel free to contact me.

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T.S.

answers from Phoenix on

My son also had problems digesting whole milk. He would get diarrreha and sometimes he would get real fussy then throw up. I switched to 2% and he has been fine ever since. He has always had a sensitivity to dairy products. He even got sick while I was breastfeeding him and I had to cut all dairy products out of my diet while I was nursing. U can develop an alleregy to something at any time. Maybe he didn't have a milk allergy while he was on formula. My sister is 23 yrs. old and just recently developed a severe alleregy to dairy products.

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A.S.

answers from Flagstaff on

We switched our daughter over to regular milk at about 13 months old (she's now 4). After about 2 weeks of regular milk we saw that she was either constipated or had bad diarreha, and would also throw up, and when she threw up it was like coddled milk, it sort of looked like cottage cheese. We switched her over to organic Soy Milk and stopped giving her things like cheese and icecream. She improved greatly. It was hard since our family eats alot of cheese, but I would just scoop out part of a casserole into a seperate dish for her before I put cheese in, and then later I started buying her those soy cheeses or veggie cheeses so she could have that. I gave her fruit sorbet instead of ice cream too. Now after 3 years she can eat some cheese and can handle a tiny scoop of ice cream. Her DR's say we can try to switch her back to regular milk if we'd like but she enjoys the Soy milk and I don't really want to battle the throwing up and diarreha again if I don't have too. You can buy Soy Milk in the dairy section of the store, or you can also buy it in those vacumed sealed foil boxes. Sam's Club and Costco both sell them in cases of 12 for around $12. I reccomend the later as it is a bit cheaper and you don't have to keep them in the fridge untill you open them. But before you go buy a big case buy just one box from the dairy case at your local store to see if your baby can tolerate it. They come in regular, vanilla, and chocolate. I used to buy both Vanilla and Regular and mix them, but now we just buy Vanilla. Regular flavor is good for adding to things when you are cooking, you can substitute it for regular milk and usually noone notices the difference. Chocolate is good for a treat. Our daughter also did fine on regular formula, but she always seemed colicky and had more colds than our other kids, and looking back I wonder if she did have a minor allergy to the formula that made her seem collicky and have more colds. Good Luck!

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J.R.

answers from Phoenix on

My daughter couldn't handle the transition to whole milk either. She has always suffered from constipation but it made it worse and she threw up as well. I ended up buying an oat based toddler formula from Wild Oats and mixing it with PediaSure. We did this until she was two, then slowly transitioned her to organic lowfat milk and she did fine on it, but we have since decided to give her organic lactose free milk.

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L.B.

answers from Albuquerque on

Cow's milk (and goat's milk) is hard on toddlers stomachs and intestines and as a result can cause iron deficeincy anemia. His little body is probably just not ready to deal with milk. I'd go back to formula or just give him water and juice and get the calcium from another source (calcium fortified OJ, spinach, broccoli, salmon etc.). Hopefully, he will be able to drink milk later and won't have developed an allergy. Good luck.
ps someone further down mentions Dr. Sears. His books are very practical and helpful!

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R.S.

answers from Seattle on

Hello,

My daughter is now 15 months old. I too breast fed until 6 months, then switched her to formula.(it was milk based) Then when she turned 12 momths we switched her to whole milk. she broke out in a rash.. and diarrhea. I took her off the milk and put her on soy milk. The symptoms went away, I then took her to see an allergist, THey did a test, and she is allergic to milk and milk protein, The doctor said it is rare because she had breast milk and milk based formula. but it can happen. Good luck.

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A.P.

answers from Flagstaff on

This may be because he is having a problem digesting it because regular milk, even organic, if it is pasteurized doesn't have all in it he to help him digest it (the live cultures, this is why so many people are lactose intolerant). You may want to try raw milk, you should be able to find this at a natural food store or where you get your organic milk. Otherwise it is ok if your baby doesnt drink regular milk, as long as he gets plenty of his nourishments from other things he eats.
Another alternative that may work for you if milk does not work out in the end is rice milk.

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

My son was allergic to milk with similar symptoms..The doc always said to try again in 6 months but he still struggled. I never gave him formula, only breastfed... My sister in law gave her daughter formula, yogurt and dairy and all of a sudden she developed a very severe allergy to milk which would land her in the ER if she even touched any kind of dairy. She couldn't figure out what happened since she always did fine on dairy. The doctor said she was having small symptoms with dairy that she was over looking and then it just got worse...Your son may had some symptoms with the formula but you didn't put two and two together but then it got worse...Just a thought...

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E.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I do not have a high opinion of cow milk drinking for anyone...adults and kids...esp one do young. Fermented products are another matter...my daughter loves organic raw milk cheese.
"Organic" milk can be suspect as well...depending on the brand. It may be from regular cows....as the demand for organics has caused standards to loosen.
I'd go back to formula...or try goat milk...something else. Some people swear less allergies with raw milk...but I'd even be cautious with that, as your son is having problems right now.
Give the kid's insides a break! Try to re-introduce later..if you really feel you gotta do the milk-drinking thing.

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C.D.

answers from Phoenix on

My son was allergic to milk. There are two different allergies, though - an allergy to lactose and/or an allgergy to the milk protein. I went and bought my son lactose free milk (to see if that was the problem), and the vomiting and diapers didn't change. He also had the symptoms with any dairy. He was also allergic to soy milk, so we tried rice milk (horchata may be cheaper), and almond milk, etc - but he never liked them. Safeway has a good variety of different kinds of milk - they aren't in the refrigerated section, though. He is finally growing out of most of the issues - when he can actually eat pizza now - but still can't tolerate a straight cup of milk.
Good luck!! It was difficult at first - but we finally got used to it.

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S.F.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi Lori,
I just posted this yesterday to a Mom with a similar question. Don't feed your baby cow's milk! It is terrible for them and for us, organic or not!
From Dr. Garrett Smith Naturopathis Physician www.doctorasteacher.com
Dairy was not part of the human diet until very recently -- it is not a necessary part of the human diet.
Why not?
It increases bodyfat over time through a hyperinsulinemic (too much insulin in the blood) reaction and risks of certain diseases (including cancer and osteoporosis) are increased.
Most important for baby:
Digestive tract is not designed to handle dairy and can cause lactose maldigestion, aka lactose intolerantc, milk allergy, casein intolerance, villous atrophy: in these people the casein milk protein causes the instestinal villi to flatten, and they cannot absorb nutrients. If you notice your child is losing weight, sick, dark circles under eyes -- that is allergy to dairy or gluten!

for more information please see:
www.doctorasteacher.com
www.wellnessforum.com
www.askdrsears.com
www.fromheretolongevity.com
www.sherryfritz.com

I have Dr. Sears, DVD, "Nine Simple Steps", I would be glad to send it to you, please call me at 866-508-2910 and I have a childrens nutrition lecture with Nutritionist, Debby Pool in Scottsdale on Friday, June 20 at lunch and Sat morning at 11 am. I'll send you those invites as well!
S. Fritz
Educating Families on whole food nutrition
866-508-2910

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J.D.

answers from Albuquerque on

maybe try a differant brand of organic milk? I know for my husband and I Horizon Organic milk products are really hard for us to digest, but we do just fine with other brands.

For what it's worth though, my daughter was on Enfamil also for the same reason and we have ended up doing whole goats milk with her because she is just not able to digest the proteins in whole cow's milk or yogurt, cheese is no problem though.

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