Any Mom's Out There with Babies That Have a Milk or Wheat Allergy?

I discovered a milk allergy when my first born was 3 months old. He started having bloody and mucousy stools. He was strictly breastfed and they told me to stop BFing immediately. I was so upset because I really wanted to be successful at BFing. I spoke with my nutritionist and she said that I just needed to stop eating dairy while BFing. I confirmed this with his pediatrician who said "Most moms won't cut dairy out which is why I just told you to quit BFing..." UGH!! He ended up having a milk allergy for 16 years. It turned out that all FIVE of my children couldn't tolerate dairy while I BF nor did they out grow it, ever. They were all also allergic to corn, wheat and gluten. (Except my youngest who is exclusively BF and only 5 months old, he just has the dairy allergy confirmed...) I was able to figure it out because they all had the same symptoms that would go away when I cut those things out of their diets. Their symptoms were rash, hives, swollen eyes, dark circles under their eyes, eczema, diahria, and personality changes (neurological problems.) I had my oldest tested but they didn't do gluten tests back then so I cut everything out except gluten, I did not even know what gluten was 16 years ago. So he was better but still had symptoms which was frustrating. Once I discovered gluten, I had completely different children. It turned out that all four of mine had the same allergies. Just recently, I discovered a chiropractor that would check for food allergies and clear them. I had all four of mine checked and sure enough, all of those allergies showed up plus some fruits and nuts that I didn't even know about. He cleared them all through acupuncture and it worked for everything except for the wheat and gluten. He'll just keep clearing and keep working with their immune systems and he's confident that they will clear, it will take time. I just haven't taken them back. They've been cleared twice but becoming allergic again after about a week. My oldest cleared okay but the others won't clear the wheat. There are more testing, wheat and dairy-free foods and treatments available now than there were when I first discovered the allergy in 1994. Back then my pediatrician just said to give him benedryl because they don't test until they're 10. I ended up taking him to a homeopathic doctor for testing and there wasn't such a thing as a gluten test back then. I rambled a lot, sorry! I hope all this information helped!! There are many different ways to test and treat now. You will know by taking foods out of her diet and she should get better. You may need to cut a couple of foods out and then introduce them one at a time. An allergy test is the best way to test. I've heard that blood tests are more accurate so ask your doctor. Good luck to you!!

2 moms found this helpful

IgE testing will show if your child has a true allergy. IgG testing (Alletess Lab, or Great Plains or Metametrix) will show food sensitivities. Both are blood tests. Your ped will or can do the IgE testing but you'll need a specialty lab for the IgG testing.

my oldest is allergic to milk and peanuts. We did a blood test at 10 months and 2yrs. I Breast fed him excluviely til 8 months and then mixed in some formula 'til 12 months. We had to use nutramigin and then transitioned to soy. He had eczema until about 12 months. He can eat most dairy. He can not drink milk or have ice cream and some brands of yogart. He eats cottage cheese and most hard cheeses with no problems.

My son had a milk/soy protein intolerance. We didn't need any tests. His symptoms were enough for the gastro to diagnose. His symptoms: Green mucousy poop, a red ring around his anus, ridiculously fussy after feedings, throwing up (not spitting up) after bottles, eczema patches behind ears and on face, no weight gain. He was put on a prescription amino acid based formula. At 12 months he went on rice milk, by 15-16 months he was able to have regular whole milk.

Good luck! I hope your find some answers.

Hi.

My son has had a milk-protein intolerance/sensitivity since birth. Until it was diagnosed (when he was 10 weeks), he arched his whole back and sort of roared a lot. He also nursed *constantly,* as a way to sooth his tummy. I got all dairy, nuts, egg, and soy out of my diet, and presto -- calm, happy baby. No, this wasn't an easy diet for me, but my son's health issues were a great motivator, and I lost the baby weight, and then some, like *that.*

When N. was nine months old, I tried reintroducing these things, one by one, back into my diet. The only thing that caused a problem was dairy. When N. was 2, I tried reintroducing small amounts of dairy to his diet, only to have him develop chronic diarrhea, chronic ear infections, and a speech delay as a result.

End of story (more or less), he's a happy, super-smart, healthy, dairy-free little boy. He's four now, and for the first time, there are some clear signs he's outgrowing his dairy allergy, but I'm honestly scared to really test him on milk.

I don't have any experience with wheat, but I can give you more info on symptoms to look out for, dairy-free diets, etc. Just send me a message.

Oh, and one important thing: A dairy sensitivity/intolerance will NOT show up on an allergist's "prick test." Follow up with a pediatric gastroenterologist or naturopath instead.

Good luck!

Mira

Ok so my experience is not near as bad as the first two moms but i will tell you anyway. My 2 year old has a milk intolerance. He gets a belly ache and throws up when given milk. I give him lactose free milk and soy milk. He also gets sick when he eats anything with to much sugar in it, like candy,and baked goods (yeah birthdat cake is out for him). So that is my experience.

My daughter has lactose and oat intolerance. I say intolerance because I was told the only way to know for sure if it's an allergy is the poking tests and I won't do that to her until she's older because we have so many allergies in our family that they will want to run a full test. Our daughter's symptoms include eczema, digestive issues (extreme gassiness, constipation and pain) and threw up/spit up pretty much constantly(I was told by the dr that it was normal spit up, but grandma-who is a pediatric nurse-was saying it was not normal!). Hers were noticable from very early. We kept begging to switch formula and the pediatrician kept saying no. I finally did it on my own and it helped. We changed to gentlease. I think we could have found another one to help more, but the dr kept saying that wasn't the problem. Finally, when she turned a year and they couldn't tell me what milk to buy I tried lactaid. It was an amazing difference within a week. The oats were a little harder to figure out. I noticed it was worse after certain foods, but she wouldn't eat oatmeal or the oatmeal baby cereal at all. I had to start watching labels and just stopped anything with oats in it for two weeks. (This was a separate time from the milk.) It helped too. The pediatrician still acted like she didn't believe it, but it helped and so I have stuck with it. She is far better now and rarely has digestive issues. We try these foods in small amounts every six months or so because the pediatrician thinks she will outgrow it. So far, she still can't do them. FYI...they say that lactose intolerant people can have yogurt. That is not the case with our girl. She loves it so that is sad, but she gets gassy and will wake up at night in pain because of it. You may also want to check your family history-lactose intolerance can run in families (especially with babies-my family has it on my mothers side and I never knew because they outgrew it by school age) and my grandma can't eat oats (cheerios) without having problems (I never knew this either). Anyway, I hope this helps. You know what your baby needs and you should try what your hunches are. It can't hurt to try and find out. Good luck!

Ok. I started to breastfeed my daughter when she was born. At one month she started to get blood in her stool and really bad eczema. We put her on Soy Formula and everything was great!!!! Then, when she was 6 months old we tried Yo Baby Yogurt with Whole Milk (my doctors suggestion). By the 4th time she had it she had a rash all over her face in minutes. At 13 months we got her off formula and she went straight to Whole Milk. She is doing great and no allergies. My doctor said it was just an allergy she had as a baby. Now, she loves milk and she is 15 months old.

My daughter had this. One doctor told me to keep the patches moist and wait for her to outgrow it. My current doctor made a list of all the possible culprits. Turns out she was allergic also to soy, citrus, corn, strawberries, and eggs (baked in food was okay). When I was nursing, I couldn't eat any of these foods. It was not easy but I did it because eczema is not pleasant. My mother used a goat's milk formula. It is the only animal milk close to our milk. It's better than soy which can also cause eczema. I suggest keeping a food journal. Best of luck.

My little one has milk, egg and sesame allergies. There is a huge difference between allergies and an intolerance. Allergies are life threatening and generally have symptoms of swelling, hives, tough time breathing and can lead to anaphylaxis. Check out the FAAN website (http://www.foodallergy.org/).

The symptoms with my daughter started early on, probably because I was eating everything that she was having problems with. She was breast fed and eventually supplemented with a corn based formula as my supply dwindled around 10 months. She had horrible cradle cap in the beginning and then eczema behind her knees. Though eczema does not indicate a food allergy it is one of the symptoms that is associated later in life with asthma and many kids who have food allergies have asthma so it's all inter-related (that's what my allergist told us). So many things can cause and irritate eczema and many are environmental (like pets, dust, etc.)

The big things we always noticed is that after she ate yogurt, cheese had any baked good with dairy that her face would break out in horrible hives around her mouth and cheeks. I thought it might be dairy but the pediatrician said that the irritated skin is common with kids who are teething. On her 1st birthday I baked a diary free, egg free carrot cake and she did fine. My mom then gave her a cup cake and within minutes her face flamed up. With sesame, within minutes of eating about a tablespoon of home made baba ganouj (with tahini - sesame paste), my daughter's eyes started to get red and itchy, she started to break out in hives on her face and she started to get cranky (she was only 14 months old so not very verbal yet). She then started to projectile vomit. We didn't know it was the sesame until a few months later she had something else with tahini and the same reaction occurred. We then put two and two together.

We've since been to the allergist and had a prick test done where egg and dairy were tested and identified as highly allergic. The prick test tested about 20 allergens and she was about 13 months old at the time. It didn't bother her in the slightest. We go back for tests again to see if anything has changed and to now test the sesame allergy that has given her problems since this summer.

My little one drinks almond milk as I wanted to keep her away from soy (I have a soy allergy). She's done that or rice milk since 1 year and I've found ways to adapt almost all of my recipes with dairy free, soy free, egg free, sesame free solutions and there are tons of them out there. I really hope you don't have a child with food allergies as there are some ups and downs but it is totally manageable. My little one is almost 2 and we're hoping she will grow out of all of these within the next few years. I would just say that it's important to trust your gut. You know what your kid eats and how they react to it. Most reactions to foods happen within the first 2 hours and in my experience, it happens pretty quick for my daughter. Keep a journal of what you're feeding your little one and how they react. If you eliminate the food item and everything is fine, then maybe you're on to something. This medical field is imperfect and it takes parents paying attention and being proactive to get to the bottom of everything. Good luck and if you find yourself in the boat of food allergies, please feel free to contact me. I can pass on some great cook books, websites and resources for allergen replacements. Just like anything, you have to learn how to play the game and then it's easy!

Practice elimination - cut out one for a week, cut out the other for a week, cut out both for a week. See if there is a change.

my son is allergic to milk. He's getting better but it use to be that he would break out in hives all over and threw up. the hives were even if it touched his skin. it was bad. its been a year and it seems to be going away. he can even have a little bit of block cheese. it wasn't lactose intollerance because we tested that at home with some lactose free milk. We never had any tests done. our insurance wouldn't cover anything unless it was hundreds of miles away. Good luck its hard but it gets easier in time.

Dear Red head Brooklyn:

My kid had the same problems. It was very easy for me to resolve. Now he is rarely allergic to daily and occasional wheat if I over do it at one meal.

But the reactions are so minor he can live with it.

I used 3 items:

1) Dairy Antigens - 1 OZ: http://www.ndinutraceuticals.com/product176.html
2) Grain & Seed Antigens - 1 OZ: http://www.ndinutraceuticals.com/product214.html
3) Allertox-I - 1 OZ: http://www.ndinutraceuticals.com/product65.html

I was told to use 3 to 5 drops in his mouth 3 times a day. In one week there was great improvement. After 1 month he was almost entirely free of the milk and after 2 months free of both.

Also the eczema may go away.

My doctor would only offer me allergy shots or steroids. He would be on them for years so I passed.

Good Luck

Kim

My son (who is now 2 1/2) had/has an allergy to milk. He is outgrowing it but we still carry the epi pen with us everywhere we go! He was a fussy baby, eczema at a very young age..maybe 1 month old. I breastfeed exclusively. Looking back at pictures he usually had red patches around his mouth area. When he was 6 months old I brought home a Wendy's frosty(for me :). He was begging for a taste and I thought...well...fine..can't really hurt just for a taste right? Well....after that one taste...he developed more red area around his face almost immediately. That was really my first connection that maybe he was allergic to milk (or chocolate!?) Talked with pediatrician...did a blood test (IgE antibodies to milk..also screen for the "top 8 allergies"). Well, milk came back negative but peanuts positive. He hadn't had peanuts or peanut butter but probably had been exposed through my diet. Fast forward to 11 months old...he had a lunch of mac and cheese and some cheese sticks and some turkey. Within a half hour he started sneezing like crazy. I thought it was bizarre but he also had a cold so kinda didn't think a lot of it. He started rubbing his eyes and I thought he was probably tired (it was close to nap time). So I gave him some formula (I was weaning at the time) and put him in his crib. He cried for 10-15 min (which he did from time to time). When I checked on him he eyes were almost swollen shut. He was drooling profusely (because he couldn't swallow) and he vomited immediately after I picked him up...panic!!!!! Needless to say he had another blood test after that and the milk allergy came back positive. I should have trusted my gut instinct at 6 months old! He's been followed by an allergist since. His last blood work at 2 years old came back negative for milk and peanut (after strict withdrawl of all milk products, including things with milk products baked into them). After the blood test the allergist we see usually does a skin prick challenge with the allergens. If all turns out negative then the oral food challenge proceeds. It's been quite a learning experience for me. He currently drinks rice milk but we give him things with milk in them almost daily. He just doesn't seem to tolerate the straight cows milk yet and I'm fine with that. No peanuts until at least age 4 (which is the allergist recommendation)...at which time they do an in hospital food challenge. Hope this helps...sorry it's kinda long but the short of the story is, trust your gut mommy instinct! Good luck to you!