Milk Allergy Symptoms?

Just be aware that there is a difference between an allergy and an intolerance. Another important distinction is between sensitivity to lactose (sugars) in milk vs. casein (protein) in milk. Casein is in goat's milk as well, so if casein is the culprit goat's milk won't help. Also, kids sensitive to casein are often sensitive to soy as well. I have to avoid both in my diet--I'm still breastfeeding my 19 month old because I worry otherwise whether she'll get enough protein (she's not keen on meat and I can't give her dairy or soy).

So I would follow others' advice to get your child tested. Know what you're dealing with so you don't have to experiment on your baby.

1 mom found this helpful

J., If your formula wasn't a soy based formula, odds are there is no milk allergy. My daughter had an allergy and we didn't know until I stopped nursing and switched to formula, she instantly got a diaper rash all the way down her leg. The doctor put her on the soy formula, and said that because cow babies grow so much faster then human babies, a lot of children have sensitivity to milk, its too rich, so he said to try again after she turned 2 as these things tend to go away by themselves, I did, it did, and she is 21 now and drinks it by the gallon!! Good luck, R.

Hi, try to drink soymilk or rice milk that good for who have colic or stomachache. it might allergic. Some kids drink soymilk or rice milk, it helps better then cow milk. you can try to explore if any improve for your daughter.

K.

I have an 11 month old with milk allergies, and his showed up in extreme eczema, colic from 3 months on, sleep issues, constipation. We eliminated all dairy, and the rash got 90% better, then eliminated wheat, and it's almost gone. Now we're on a homeopathic program, and he's almost back to normal. He drinks whole goat milk (it's easier to digest than cows) and I drink goat/rice/almond milk, as I'm still breastfeeding and he gets reactions if I have any dairy. I wouldn't recommend soy milk, as it has quite a bit of estrogen in it (my mom uses 1/2 cup a day for hot flashes and it works well for that). Ironically 1 week after I found out I was pregnant with baby #2, milk didn't agree with me, and I had to force myself to drink milk throughout the whole pregnancy (I'm a huge milk drinker, and didn't have that problem with my other baby 2 years ago, who does fine with milk) Hope this helps. It took 3 weeks of no dairy for us to notice any difference, so be prepared not to notice anything overnight.

My son, now 2, has milk allergies. At his worst before we knew it was milk, he had a diaper rash that was blister-like and bled. It was like he was burned! Although he will occasionally get rashy if he gets into something (sneaks out of his brother's lunch), I have recently noticed his dry, mild ecema seems to get much worse (redder and more raised). I thought that he may be able to have milk after he is potty trained but now I am thinking not. But his symptoms seem to have changed over the last year a little and thought that may help to know.

Well, she definately has an allergy...at least it sounds like it to me. Constipation is a big one. We gave our son only rice milk (not soy because it causes serious gas) for about two years until he overcame the issue. He is six, turning 7 next month and he is just now getting over the hard stool issue. Sometimes he would be sitting on the potty crying because it hurt so much (poor little baby - I felt so bad...). I would just sit there with him holding his hand, like he was going through labor...bless his heart. Almost brings tears to my eyes. I think your best bet is to take her from cows milk to rice...find fortified rice milk. You don't want anything low fat, because she doesn't need that, she needs the fat. Also, try to incorporate fiber into the diet in ANY way possible to help with the stools. I don't know if you can add the fiber powder to a youngsters milk or not, but, if you can...for her sake, try it! It is extremely hard to see a young one going through the pain of the gas and constipation. As for the skin, she may also have a slight case of dermatitis. It is very common. I have it and have patches all over that are dry. They come and go. I hope this information has helped. And if you talk to your doctor, don't let them tell you that it is not the milk. So many that we went to tried that with me. Cows milk is extremely hard for some babies, it is a fact. Let us know how she is doing...

Try soymilk and see if there is a difference. My daughter was on formula and didn't drink cow's milk until 2 years old. I started with the cow's formula, but had to use strictly soy formula. She is five and still likes soy milk, but does drink more cow's milk. There tummies still take some adjusting at an early age. Try cow's milk when she's a little older and if you have the same results she just may be allergic. I have friends who 5 and 9 year old are allergic. They get angry, irritable and then have stomach aches followed by diarrah(sp) when they even have small amounts.

my daughter's stol stayed in the form of diarriah and she was very colicky.

When you mention the transition from formula to milk, was the formula soy based? If it is, was there a problem when younger? I'd ask my pediatrician to run an allergy test for milk products. Avoid the second guessing and just ask for the test. There is something going on, and you need to look at all the foods that your daughter is eating. Have you added anything new? Take good care.

Hi J.,

We just went through this transition with our daughter. When we transitioned her from formula to cow's milk she stopped sleeping through the night and would just cry and cry, very unusual behavior. It turned out the cow's milk caused severe gas issues in her system. We switched to soy milk for 2 months and then slowly transitioned her to cow's milk. She is now on cow's milk with no problems.

Good luck.

M.

When I was a baby I was allergic to milk. My folks say that my symptoms were bloated belly, diarrhea, fever sometimes, stomach cramps... everything that is normally associated with the stomach flu. I grew out of it, but I had to be put on Pregesterol in the meantime. I guess there is better stuff out there now. That was 1981.

J.,
Since I was a baby, I had cow milk allergies. My pediatrician had my mom give me powdered milk. (I believe Tigers milk was the brand.)I have always had problems with milk like diarrhea, loose stools, congestion and mysterious rashes that even the dermatologist couldn't figure out.
In our home, all of us have cow milk problems including my husband. It gives him diarrhea as well as digestive upset. We give our boys soy milk or rice milk. Our youngest is cow dairy intolerent. He gets severely congested and sometimes can't breathe at night. He also gets rashes and dry patches on his upper thighs that look like eczema. Our oldest gets eczema and rashes on all over his body.
To me, it sounds like cow milk is causing issues with your child. It also sounds like she has eczema.
My suggestion is to stop with the cow milk and find an alternative like soy, rice or goat. Soy and rice dream are good ones to try. My oldest went straight from the breast to Vanilla enriched Soy Dream and he loved it. The sweetness and tastes were similar for him.
Our oldest doesn't drink cow milk and has cow cheese rarely. He also doesn't have digestive upset or eczema outbreaks anymore.
Good luck.

Hi, yes- this definitely sounds like the reactions both my kids get when they drink or eat dairy. My son has eczema, which is dry patches on his arms, face and legs. He gets really itchy if he drinks milk, or has a lot of cheese or icecream. He also gets diarrhea and can't sleep. My daughter gets very constipated, and has night terrors if she drinks or eats anything with dairy. I did an elimination diet (took dairy out for a month) to see if their issues improved. We had immediate results, within 2 weeks their problems were mostly gone. My son still has skin problems, but he is also allergic to pollen and this is the time of year for that. Hope this helps, good luck!
edited to add: Soy milk is a good alternative for some kids, but it is a common allergy food also. If she seems sensitive to soy, try rice milk. My kids didn't do well with soy, so we are happy with Rice Dream products.

Try goat's milk and see if there are any changes. I had a baby that was allergic to cow's milk and I used almond milk with good results.
-S.

My sons are both allergic to milk. Their strongest symptoms are their skin and rashiness on their cheeks. They don't get constipated and sleep has never been an issue, but it never has, thank God.

First off, get away from store milk. It's horribly nasty for you. Look for goat's milk (raw) or rice milk. If she is not happy on any food, get her off of it. Make sure every food is pure and organic. There are so many toxins on today's produce and food.

Try also less baths and body oils to moisturize.

We are currently going to a clinical nutritionist and we found they are missing vital vitamins just from MY diet and health when I was pregnant.

You might also try a naturpathic.
We are still working our allergies out. We are off milk and will switch to goat milk when I can find a source nearby. We eat as much organic as we can and I make everything from scratch. We eat alot of grass-fed meat and veggies. Gosh, I totally feel for you!

It does sound to me that she has a milk allergy, and that it began way back with her formula if she's had these problems previously, even though they weren't as much.

Even formula, unless specified otherwise, is of cow milk derivative. I'd take her off of cow milk, and any diary products, and see how she does, it can't hurt, and might help.

There are all kinds of cow milk substitutes for babies now days, unlike when our milk sensitive child was a baby (35 years ago), our only choice was goats milk.

Her first daughter was also cow milk sensitive, and they used soy milk until she was 4, and then weaned her to cow milk slowly, and now she does fine with it.

Her symptoms were continuous vomiting, and colic. Because her mother had been cow milk intolerant as an infant, we didn't wait long enough before changing to have any other symptoms that might take longer to develop, like some of your daughters.

Some babies systems are more sensitive than others, and take a while to adjust to some food types such as cows milk. Good luck, don't despair, things will work out, if this is the worst you have to deal with in her growing years, you'll count yourself very luck!

This all sounds like Milk allergy to me. why parents are advised to introduce cow's milk is still a mystery to me. contrary to the dairy associations marketing, milk is NOT a good source of calcium. dark leafy greens are much better! other signs of milk allergy or sensitivity are dark circles under her eyes, ear infections, stuffy nose, any type of rash or even minor changes in behavior. you could try goats milk which is usually better tolerated. were you using a dairy based formula? if yes then she could have a sensitivity to the milk protein, not just the lactose. if you were breastfeeding and eating dairy yourself that can also cause these symptoms. check out milksucks.com. they promote as vegan diet, which i don't fully agree with, but they do present good research on why milk and dairy should be avoided.

I would definitely have her checked out. It's usually a blood draw for the allergy test, but at least then you'll know. What you described sounds like they could be symptoms of an allergy. And if she had the same symptoms only more mild before the milk...it could have been the dairy in the formula. My own children aren't allergic but my sister's son is and then my brother's daughter was just diagnosed with a dairy allergy. So I hear a bit about it from them.

Hi J.,
You are on the right track. It may be a sensitivity to more than one food, though, since you say it has been going on for a while. Get an IGG antibody test done. They will screen for wheat, soy, eggs, milk. The sooner you do, the quicker your beautiful girl will feel better.
Good luck.
N.

Hi J., It sounds like your litle one has overall allergy issues. Milk is difficult for a lot of people. My oldest son had chronic problems with milk and when I took him off it he got much better but some children also have problems with formula. Besides being allergic to soy read the list of ingredients in the formula you have been using.
Many of our young children are born with chronic health issues large and small that rarely existed 50 years ago do to the toxins we are exposed to every day in the consumable products we use in household cleaners, personal care products, health aids, and our food chain. Studies across the nation are showing that the average imbillical cord of a newborn has over 300 toxic poisions in it at birth. So many of our newborns come to this planet allergic with skin, respitory and digestive issues.
The skin issues often can be cleared up by the change in use of laundry detergent to a natural product and avoiding what you put on your babies skin. Most grocery store baby products including Johnson and Johnson have Formaldahyde and other harsh chemicals in them. Best wishes, N.

Goats milk has been a life saver for us - my daughter (13 months) drinks gaots milk & loves it! We have been very lucky to belong to a farm where we can purchase raw milk so I know it is always fresh, organic and the very best I can be giving her. Good Luck!

J., my little girl is allergic to milk and when she was drinking milk she had projectile vomiting and diarrhea that smelled like rotten milk. The milk would curdle in her stomach and she would immediately throw up as well as fill her diaper. I hope this helps! H., mom to Ethan(4) and Emma(3).

Allergies and things can be different for each person from what I have noticed. My husband and his two girls are lactose intolerant. They get bad stomach cramps and diarhea. My youngest son Is allergic to milk. The dr said the difference is that he is allergic to the protien. My son gets the smae stomach issues but he also gets hives. When he was a baby I figured out the allergy this way- he was about 11 months old and sitting in his high chair while I was making dinner. As I walked past him I would give him little bits of things to try. Mostly he just played with it but that was fine. I gave him a couple pieces of grated cheese. He was really interested in that.He had a little trouble getting it straight to his mouth so he kind of dragged it around his mouth before it went in. Almost immedietly i noticed wels around his mouth where the cheese had touched. they were the shape of the cheese. Then within about 10 minutes he was vomiting. Not baby spit up, vomiting. Scared me to death, of course this is a fairly severe allergy and we had to get him tested for others. turns out he is allergic to dairy eggs and peanuts. But there are different levels of an allergy. My friends little girl got really red cheeks and a runny nose. But I realized that the food allergies had to be why he was such a fussy baby. I was eating all of those foods and then breast feeding him. he is doing great now and we are going to the Allergist at the end of the month to have his allergies re- evaluated because he is 8 now.

J., I know you have received many repsonses to this issue. I want to share my experience since these are issues in my house.
Yes, from what you have described, it sounds like your child is lactose intolerant. LactoseFree Milk has all the nutritiunal value of regular milk, but the natural sugars are extracted (that is the part of the milk that the body has a hard time breaking down). the skin irritation may be caused by this, or she may have eczema. Use a good moisturizer on her daily. After bathing , pat dry and apply the moisturizer. It does clear up!
If you have any questions please feel free to email me. I have a daughter with eczema, and two of my children have gone through the lactose intolerance ( I also am).

Could be milk? MY son had constipation so I took him off milk. It worked. When I try to let him back on milk. It gave him diarrhea. My peditrician said that they can't be allergic to milk unless you or your hubby is? They have a lactose free whole milk now. Wouldn't hurt to try.

A.

My son now two had the same issue. He had no problems when I was breast feeding or with formula, but as soon as we moved him to whole milk about 13 months he started vomitting, having runny diarehea, and sleeping horribly. He also had a red rash on his cheeks that was so itchy and dry that he would rub his face on whatever was close, carpet, couch, anything to the point it would bleed!! The doc discovered it was an allergy to milk and we changed him to soy and he has never had a problem since. He can occasionly eat foods with dairy (mac & cheese, pasta/rice-a-roni) but we are very careful. When I looked back at his baby pics, I think he had a small issue before 13 months, but never enough for me to notice, just a little bit of the rash! Good luck and I would go take your little one to an allergist for testing. I am doing so and looking forward to finding out more. We already know he is allergic to betakeratine (orange and yellow veggies) and some red dye. Good luck and hope you get everything figured out! Stay strong, I know it can be very difficult!

I read all the advice you were given! Wow! Many had great advice. Some was not so great....

1. Babies can continue on formula past a year with no problems, unless doctor thinks baby has weight issues. Cost can be a big reason people want to switch, since formula is more expensive.

2. Soy milk seems to be a popular alternative, however, Rice milk is actually the most mild of alternative milk sources. Either way it is recommended to make sure you use vitamin fortified and highest fat percentage available.

3. Medical advice from all of us is great, but your doctor will have the whole picture. So definitely talk with your baby's doctor about her issues!

good luck-
L. :)

My son is allergic to cow's milk and we noticed that he wasn't sleeping through the night anymore. He would arch his back and scream a lot. We were desperate to figure something out so we could all sleep again so we switched him to goat's milk and he's been fine ever since! Those were the only symptoms, no rashes or diarrhea or anything just the obvious stomach pain and lack of sleep. Hope this helps!!

My children had rashes from milk, which the ped's dr said was all in my head.
So I would suggest that you have her go to a homeopathic dr to get tested if your ped's dr does not do it.
You could switch her over to soy milk and see if anything changes.
hugz
Bev

Hi J. - When my daughter was about 2-3 weeks old, she was really collicky. I was consuming quite a bit of dairy for calcium, protien, etc. and nursing her. When she was about 4 months old she had red patches on her cheeks and we took her to the doctor. We were told that she might have a dairy allergy and to try an elimination diet on myself, because of nursing. I stopped eating all dairy (which was really hard!)and the redness in her cheeks went away, along with her irratibility.

When I stopped nursing her, we did not give her any dairy and when we had her tested for allergies at 3, she ended up reading positive for a dairy allergy. She is now 4 and a half and whenever she is given dairy at daycare or some other place, she gets red eczema patches on the inside of her arms and legs, red circles under her eyes, and has loose stools. She scratches like crazy and she doesn't seem to want any anti-itch creams because she says they sting.

Along with the physical symptoms, she also has behavioral issues. She gets very irratible, cries easily and sometimes acts like an animal(almost) - physically lashing out and grunting and screaming instead of using her words. Nothing seems to placate her when she is in this state.

You might want to talk to your daughter's pediatrician about a possible dairy allergy and see if they have a recommendation for substitutes. We started using fortified soy products after I stopped nursing, but they also have rice, oat and almond milk. If it turns out that your daughter is dairy allergic, you will probably become a very thorough food label reader! Watch out for other ingredients such as whey and casien, as they are dairy too.

Good luck and I hope you are able to find some relief and help for your daughter and yourselves!

Hi J.,

When my son was an infant, he had at the very least a sensitivity to rice, apples, and regular milk(formula. Not 100% sure it was a full-on allergy bc no doctor woud test him--said he'd outgrow it, but anyway). He would projectile vomit, cry constantly, and developed rashes, and watery diarrhea until we stopped each and every one of those foods and switched him to soy formula and made him his own baby food out of food we ate. After he turned a year old, he could eat all those foods, but he was miserable on them until we stopped them when he was an infant.

Has your daughter ever been tested for an ontilerance to lactose? Has she always been on regular formula, and not soy? If she's always been on regular formula, she may have always had an intolerance, and that's what her symptoms have always been about, and these new symptoms are more manifestations of her intolerance appearing now because she's going to milk.

Or, have you added any other new foods besides the milk? She could be having a reaction to that as well.

You could do a trial run of a soy milk like Lactaid or the Silk products, or something organic, and see how she does, if she improves. Or, visit the ped right away and see if they'll test her for lactose intolerance and/or acid reflux.

I hope it gets better for her. I always feel so bad when food makes the little ones sick or unhappy. Food shouldn't be scary, ya know?

Good luck, J. and baby.

K.

Hi J.

I wrongly started to give my one year old cows milk at 1 yr. She immediately reacted with a very itchy eczema-like rash on her 2 arms. I went to the pharmacist for advice who told me it is way too early, as at that age they have difficulty digesting cows milk. She recommended that I did not give her cows milk until 3 years of age. She also advised me to continue using formula or use soya milk - My daughter had no problem with either of these options and that's what I did.

Good Luck Y. :)

I am still breastfeeding our almost 16 month old because of his milk allergy. I am in the process of introducing soy/rice milk mixture as we would like to ween him soon. As far as his symptoms - when I drink milk or have anything with a lot of dairy in it he has the same symptoms that you are describing with your daughter. If he eats/drinks them directly it becomes very scary, very quickly. Hives, wheezing, etc. But we have only experienced that 2 times - once initially because we didn't know he was allergic (when he was 2 months old we had to supplement with formula for a few days) and then a couple of months ago I tested him with a couple of noodles from MacNCheese. Immediately turned red around his mouth, hives, swelling, etc. Administered Benadryl immediately and told him that even though the liked the noodles with cheese he could have anymore - he was not real happy. One suggestion is to make sure she is getting plenty of water to drink as well - also some fruit juice will help with the constipation. Is her formula milk based too? I would talk with her doctor about your concerns at her next check up. Or if her symptoms or too concerning check with the doc soon.

My kids and I (45) have severe dairy and environmental allerigies. FOOD/DAIRY allergies symptom SPECIFICALLY show up as a rash inside of elbows and on backside of knees (creases) (but can be on the face/other areas too). If the rash generally all over most areas then I would also look into environmental irritants. You may want to look at types of fabrics (cotton is almost always safe), a BIG skin irritant is lotion/shampoo/bodywash or anything with fragrance (try non-scented/hypo-allergenic), a BIG factor for us is laundry detergents/softners - we can ONLY use Arm-n-Hammer DRY formula (no fragrance, perfume, or dye), nope, the liquid formula doesn't work for us - itchy skin then rash everywhere. Back to DAIRY...(most common allergy) you may want to start with trying rice milk mixed in with the formula (if you didn't have problems w/the formula) instead of dairy milk for a week or so and see if that makes a difference; if good results then switch to full rice milk - see results. Note: Guy at health food store recently warned me to use caution if considering soy products (for my girl) which are high in estrogen (females in Asia only use soy/tofu products when going through menopause!). The best of luck to you!

Hey J.,

It sounds like a milk allergy to me. Another substitute milk would be almond milk - of course, you'd want to make sure she doesn't have allergies to almonds!! But it's higher in fat content and has a lot more natural vitamins than rice or soy does.

Some people do well on soy, but a lot of people are allergic to soy. There's also some controversy regarding how much soy is good for us on a daily basis. Cultures that use soy as part of their diet actually only consume a very small amount on a weekly basis. I'm not an expert on that; just read some articles on the internet and in some health books. I also lived in Japan and remember how very little soy was consumed there, although it is a traditional part of their diet.

Anyway, if you try soy, don't give up if she reacts to that, too. Two little boys (they're brothers) in my daughter's daycare are allergic to both milk and soy and it took the parents two years to figure it out! They are both doing well on almond and rice milks and now they hardly ever get sick.

Good luck, M.