Baby with Dairy Intolerance/allergy

Hi D. - my dd has a dairy allergy, not an intolerance. The best website out there to connect with other parents of food allergic kids (over 10,000 parents) is www.kidswithfoodallergies.org

Fantastic support, info, resources, recipes etc

I also love the book by Dr Scott Sicherer -- "Understanding and Managing Your Child's Food Allergies"
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Managing-Childs-Aller...

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My daughter was allergic to dairy not an intolaerance and she has finally out grown it at 16 years old. Our allergist told us it is usually by 10 they out grow it.

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Hi D.,

All four of my children had dairy intolerances and all of them outgrew it by their second birthdays and two by their first birthdays. We stuck to soy milk until an allergist confirmed that the intolerance was over. There is so much soy on the market these days that you should have no problem finding soy milk and cheeses. A few of my friends have been through this as well and their children also outgrew it. Hang in there and stick with soy. This will work itself out!
K.
Mother of 3 boys (11,9 and 6 and one girl 2.5) and married to the nicest guy in the world!

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Hi D.,

Both my sons had this when they were babies. They are 2 & 4 now and are completely fine with all dairy products. I put my youngest on soy formula when he was a few days old because he couldn't digest the milk based formula and it helped a lot. At 6 months, I switched him to back to the milk based formula and he did fine. Most children under the age of 1 will grow out of this.

I hope that helps!

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Hello D.,

My 4 year old daughter was tested for dairy allergies, among others when she was 2 years old and my son at age 1 year. My daughter came back positive for all dairy and soy products. It was very challenging for me to read labels and keep her away from products that didn't contain dairy/soy...especially since my son was not allergic to this. She could only have rice milk to drink and anything that I cooked that required dairy...I used the rice milk. My daughter was retested at age 4 (skin tested for allergies with 16 different allergens) and she came back negative for both dairy and soy. I still keep her on the rice milk because it's all she nows, plus it's healthier for her, but I have incorporated some dairy products into her diet slowly. She sees Dr. James Thompson in Flossmoor, Illinois.

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My younger brother was allergic to milk. My Mom breastfed him and then switched to goats milk which she was able to get from a local farm. He did eventually grow out of it...I don't remember the exact age but I do remember him drinking milk in his late grade school years

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My daughter was diagnosed with an allergy to the protein in cow's milk. After trying Infamil Nutramigin, we had to switch to Neocate Infant Formula. The pediatrician diagnosed her through testing her stool and finding traces of blood, indicating the allergy. She had (what we considered) cronic diarrhea for over a week. The Neocate has improved everything, but is $40/can. Well worth the happy baby, though!

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My son has the same problem. He has grown out of it for the most part, but I still only give him soy milk and soy yogurt. He likes it and it's good for him. I also try to get goat cheese and sheeps milk cheeses. He gets the occasional pizza if we are out at friends or family. It upsets him, but not horribly and he loves pizza so I let him have it. Occasionally he will also have a little mac and cheese once in a while. Again his reaction is not as dramatic as it once was so I let him have a little bit now and then. I think it helps too that I am an organic mom. I try to have mostly organic product especially with dairy.

I am soo looking forward to spring also. I think me and my son are ready to explode if we don't get to go play outside soon.

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My son just turned 1 and was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at 6 months (he developed hives after eating cereal mixed with cow's milk formula). He is allergic to egg as well. As the other mom's who responded indicated, there is a difference between intolerance and allergy. Has your pediatrician referred you to an allergist? Mary Tobin at Rush is who we see. Although the percentages are on your side as far as outgrowing the allergy (I think they say around 70% of kids outgrow by 5 years old),I have taken a proactive approach to give my son the best chance of outgrowing his allergies. What this means is that we also see a homeopathic physician (Tom Bayne in Glenview)and give him probiotics, digestive enzymes and other things to help heal his gut. If you google leaky gut syndrome you will find a lot of information on food allergies, possible causes, and ways to treat. There is also a very good book by Scott Sicherer -- "Understanding Your Child's Food Allergies" -- that I have found to be very helpful. This may all be too much information for you if your son is just intolerant, but thought I'd put it out there in case he is not.

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My brother had a problem with dairy when he was born. By the time he was weaned from the bottle (that was back in the 60's) he was able to drink milk. I don't believe he drinks much but he can handle most dairy okay.

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I have a son with food allergies. When he was 6 monts old he was diagnosed by an Allergist at Children's Hospital(using the scratch test) and tested positive for 7 food items. He is 5 now and is now only allergic to dairy. I agree with the prior post about intolerance VS. allergies. They are very differnt, yet many mistakenly interchange the terminology. You need to find out if it's an allergy or not. Most children do outgrow this though- usually by age 3. There are different formulas you can switch him to that do not contain dairy. There's soy-based, corn-based, and Ross (similac) makes a hypo-allergenic type called Alluminium. It's expensive and should be a last resort. I BF my son and then he went on soy milk. Most children do out grow this. If it's an intollerance, there's OTC drops you can add to the food which will help in digestion (please talk to your doctor first). Remember that an allergy is something you should not take lightly. Keep an eye on all food labels- dairy, milk solids, whey, lactose, cream, etc - they could all trigger a reaction. Keep your Benedryl and Epi-pen if available handy at all times. Think outside the box too. My son can not eat frosting, cookies, cream soup, doritos and many other chips, carmel, hard creamed candy, tootsie-rolls or anything that contains chocolate. Good luck.

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The only thing I would suggest is changing his diet to eat more like a vegan/vegetarian. There are many other milk and cheese options such as rice and almond. You will have to do more label reading now since so many things are made with dairy. But there are vegan options you can purhcase at stores such as WHole Foods.

Hope this helps...K.

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D., first of all, i need to know who decided it was an allergy or intolerance..Was it an MD? The reason i ask is, i have two children with food allergies and an allergy is much different than an intolerance. Allergy can cause hives, swelling, stooling changes, belly pain, etc. It can be LIFE THREATENING if people aren't careful. Food intolerance means more like it gives him gas or makes his poop a little funny-more subtle things like that. Typically if a child has an allergy it develops over time, but usually isnt something that is seen in newborns or kids that are little like yours. Sometimes i have seen mommies switch from powdered formula to ready to feed and have problems labeled allergy when it really was just the change in formula style that caused some discord. Give me some more details i might be able to help more..

C.- Pediatric RN and mom to three (two with food allergies)

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I was also lactose intolerant starting at 2 months old. It was extremely serious for the first 10 years of my life. I couldn't have any dairy products without breaking out in hives. It wasn't until I turned 16 that I started noticing a change for the better. I was able to eat small amounts of dairy. I still couldn't drink whole milk though. I had to drink soy. I am now 28 years old and still have a slight issue with it. I just need to watch how much dairy I intake on a daily basis. Some days are better than others. I still drink soy milk as I'm nervous to see what would happen if I drank whole milk. If I take in too much dairy I usually end up with really bad stomach cramps that last anywhere from 30-60 minutes a piece. Very painful!! So in my experience I've never really gotten over the allergy. But I know that every child is different.

Good luck and if you need any suggestions or extra feedback in this area I would be happy to try and help you out :)

Take care,
A.

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