Newly Diagnosed Milk Allergy

No worries J.!!!
Your "all dairy" little guy can still eat all the "dairy" he likes now, just switch to soy. I am lactose intolerant and my little guy has a mild lactose allergy (and a severe nut allergy, sigh). We drink Lactaid "milk", eat lactose free cheese on burgers, in sandwiches and on crackers. As for "yogurt" the brand I buy is called "Oh-Soy". Lactaid and Breyer's make great lactose free ice creams too! I buy all of our lactose free products at regular grocery stores (like Market Basket, Shaw's & Stop & Shop) and they don't cost much more than what you've probably been buying up until now.
Two big switches we had to make is making our our desserts with lactaid, keep an eye out for milk products in ready made cookies, puddings and other sweets.
It's not so bad, and CAN be done! :)

1 mom found this helpful

Hello J.,

There a lot of Soy alternatives and also rice milk alternatives. My daughter was allergic to dairy when she was younger too. I used soy with her. If you have a Whole Foods market near you they have a lot of non dairy foods. My Mom has a recipe for Tomato Soup cake which has no dairy in it and despite the name it is delicious. In fact we made it for my daughters first birthday cake and what a hit. I will get it and send it to you at a later time. I wish you luck. Take care and God Bless.

I don't think it is actually that hard to go dairy free in this culture. There are tons of alternatives for everything. Once you get used to it, they are all good, except I haven't found a good cheese alternative. Silk soy milk is what my son drinks (it is fortified) and there are even ice cream alternatives (I think "cuties" are awesome) that are decent. You need to find out how intensively you need to follow a no dairy diet - many foods have ingredients such as whey in them - a dairy product. Do all of these foods need to be eliminated as well? Also, some people with diary sensitivities can eat hard cheeses (parm/ romano etc) and/ or goat milk products. If these are ok, you get a bit more variety. Good luck!

A few kids in my daughter's preschool and elementary school had milk, nut, and peanut allergies, so the parents got together and made a list of allergy-free brand name food suggestions for snacktime and parties. Here's the list:

http://www.kidsplaybedford.com/allergy_safe_list.doc

You may want to check out Trader Joe's grocery stores because they provide good information and allergy-free foods. http://www.traderjoes.com/

The same is probably true for Whole Foods markets also.

I know my cousin had a food allergy as a child, but it was something he eventually grew out of. Hopefully the same is true for your son. Good luck!

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is a great resource (FAAN.org). Soy milks are a great alternative to cow's milk. There are also soy cheeses on the market. Read labels carefully...milk is ubiquitous. Make sure your son has been seen by a board certified allergist (MD). You should also be carrying an epi-pen. There is a local organization, The Seacoast Food Allergy Group that meets monthly at the Portsmouth Regional Hospital. Contact Tamara at ____@____.com is manageable.

Good luck!

Hi,
My son is 18 months and has the same problem. It seems overwhelming at first, but you just have to learn to cook differently. The Green Grocer in Portsmouth has a lot of alternatives there. I have a whole cookbook in PDF format that is egg free, milk free, dairy free. If you would like me to email it to you, let me know. It has been a life saver for me and the food turns out great!
D.

My 4 year old son has a sensitivity to the milk protein, casein. He also was getting skin rashes and also terrible diarrhea. This all started when he was about 14 months old. The doctor had us switch to soy milk....the type fortified with calcium. It has worked very well with him. There are soy yogurts on the market but some of them are "enhanced" with casein...basically they are soy yogurts with a component of milk added back in for taste I guess. If casein is the problem, you would have to read the labels on the soy yogurts to be sure you are getting the right ones. I can't remember which brand doesn't have it b/c it has been awhile since we used it. My son is now able to have a yogurt each day or a grilled cheese sandwich. If he drinks regular milk or has more than one other milk product he we start to see his symptoms coming back. I have never used them but I believe there are cheese products made of soy as well. Good Luck!

You could try goat milk and cheese although they are close some ppl have a problem with it. My little guy is allergic to dairy and soy but in recipes you can substitute other milks for dairy milk and they come out fine. You should find out which protein in milk he is allergic to because that determines which if any cheeese he can eat and lots of things have whey in it. Go to webmd and type in milk allergy and you will get info.

Hi J.,
My son was allergic to milk too. After a year, he is no longer allergic. I gave him soy milk. He really liked it and they have different flavors. I hope this helps.

My daughter also seems to have a reaction to dairy and wheat as well, so we had to go through the same thing. She used to eat yogurt for breakfast every morning and since I am such a huge fan of cheese, she also ate quite a bit. We learned to adapt though. She drinks rice milk. Other than that, we just keep her away from dairy. We don't really try substitutes. If we're eating ice cream, she eats sorbet.
I have also heard that some people do better with goats milk. It's worth talking to your doctor about when you get a chance.
Good luck!

I just wanted to add that the good news is... he may not always be allergic to dairy. If you can completely eliminate it for about 6 months, you can talk to your doctor about trying to add it in gradually again, and seeing how he reacts. Sometimes, a sensitivity or allergy can start from over exposure to a food, in people who have the tendency to be sensitive to that food. Egg and bean dishes can be a great and easy alternative for the protein, and veggies like cooked broccoli, dark green leafy veggies (sesame seed spread) are high in calcium.

Hi J.,
My son (now 20 months) got the rash while I was just BFing him when he was 4months old. So I have learned alot.
He drinks hemp milk( soy has something in it that mimics estrogen). I get it at Wholefoods.
For bfast he has cereal with banana. a bagel or toast Lunch is sweet pot. with a litle soy yogurt( This is the only soy he has). some pear or apple with some green veggie& some toast or rice cakes. Dinner is cereal with avocado & tahini( I was told the biggest thing they need from Milk is the fat content so I ry to add Flax seed oil, Avocado, tahini, ect).
I hope this helps- I was lucky because he was so young he has never tasted milk or cheese so he doesn't know what he is missing. Good luck. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I did go & see a nutrionlist but that was because he was really small too.

My whole family is lactose intolerant, So I can give you some ideas for alternatives....but if it's casien that he's allergic to, you'd have to read the labels because I'm not sure if the products we use have it or not.

We use Galaxy foods Cheese slices for our Grilled Cheese, and their shreds for our Mac & Cheese...there's a chunk/block cheese called "Soya Kaas" at Stop & Shop that is fantastic, my daughter goes through a block in a week. There is Soy yogurt in the cold case at most stores now, and you might just try going to Whole Foods or Trader Joes to find some alternatives.

Good Luck!

My response is going to be a little different. I second the posters who suggested goat's milk (make sure it is raw) and many people who cannot tolerate what our society calls "dairy" do fine when they drink raw cow's milk. Unpasteurized milk has all the wonderful enzymes to help our bodies digest it. We drink raw milk and love it. Our health has improved. You can read about it here: http://www.realmilk.com/ .

Soy seems like a good idea, but in reality it is not. Read about the dangers of soy here: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
Here's a cut and paste summary, but there is more info on the link:

-High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.

-Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

-Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

-Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.

-Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

-Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

-Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

Good luck with your little guy. Be well.

Many people responded with some great alternatives you can try. I just want to share the reason why this could be happening. Read this article, it should clear up some things:

http://allergykids.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/got-milk-alle...

Basically, most allergies are the result of a reaction of rBGH (an artificial drug) injected into cows with vaccines that children are injected with. My sister's three kids are all vaccinated and are allergic to milk, eggs, nuts, etc... I've never heard of that happening in unvaccinated children though.

It is surprising to me that people are surprised (or worse ignorant) about this. This is chemistry, what else would happen when you mix so many natural and artificial drugs/compounds in one body? Especially that of a child. I don't want to upset you, just want shed some light on the problem, the rest is up to you. Good luck with trying the alternatives to milk, I sincerely hope you find something that works for your little son.

We never did the test to determine if it was an intolerance or an allergy, however, I switched cow milk for soy and cook fairly normally but with soy milk instead. As for cheeses - mozzarella seems to be ok with my daughter. And she has yogurt in minimal amounts once every few months. They have a ton of great cook books for milk allergies.

Hi J.,
I have a 12 year old who was diagosed with dairy allergies at 5 months. Between changing formulas and finally ending up using Nutrimingen (sp) he was ok. But then after the allergy test we found out that it is whole milk allergies. But since he has never had dairy (except accidently, which was not good for either of us) we have substituted with other things. You should try soy milk, or 1% milk which he may not like but will get accustomed to drinking. Soy ,low fat or non-dairy cheeses which they sell at Whole Foods if one is in your town. Don't worry it gets easier with time.

I would call the doctor and ask about soy based dairy products. Maybe the doctor can even refer you to an allergy specialist to help you figure out a good way to replace the regular dairy foods your son loves with something that will not bother his allergies. I would also request seeing an allergy specialist anyway to make sure he's not allergic to any other foods. Good luck.

My now 3.5 year old son was diagnosed with a milk allergy when he was 1 and we were trying to get him off formula to regular milk. However, he had been eating yogurt, cottage cheese and regular cheese forever! He had a severe reaction to regular milk (both with eczema and intestinal cramping and diahhrea).

Have you seen an allergist? I would definitely recommend that. My allergist told me that the more something is pasteurized, the easier it is to digest.

It may very well be that your son may still be able to eat cheese and yogurt, but have to avoid milk. My son still drinks soy milk, but eats all other dairy. In a pinch, I have given him regular milk without issue.

In terms of it lasting forever, milk allergies are common and kids usually grow out of them. My son can drink regular milk, but he likes the soy milk, and since it's good for him, he keeps drinking it.

Good luck!
C.

Hi J.,
The first thing to do is to check to see if your son has a soy allergy, since so many milk replacements involve soy. Soy cheese has casein in it, which is a milk protein, so be sure to read the ingredients. If your son is allergic to milk, he will probably react to beef also, in other words, hamburgers. While he is young, get him used to turkey burgers, no beef stock in his food, etc. Check the Internet for milk-free sites and Jewish Kosher sites for recipes and advice. Your public library probably has good cookbooks and advice books also. Products are much better than they used to be and more readily available. Your son will enjoy soy yogurt and soy chocolate milk and you can use soy powdered milk for many items. Your hardest task will be teaching him what he can eat away from home. Plan on baking all the preschool class treats for awhile. And watch for milk proteins in over the counter medications; it shows up in the oddest places.

HI J., both my children can not drink whole milk or whole milk products because it gives them cramps and diahrrea, I switched them to Lactaid brand milk and ice cream and they are happy as can be. You can try to see if maybe he is allergic to the Lactose... since they aren't being too specific about what to do or avoid.

Good Luck!
G.

My son has a dairy allergy (GI issues) and he does just fine without any dairy. There is rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, soy milk (although I would stay away from soy...it masks estrogen, and a lot of people who have issues with dairy, also have issues with soy). You just have to be a bit more creative.

I currently am dairy, soy, egg, wheat, beef, fish free...along with some other foods, but I eat a lot. It isn't always easy, but it is manageable once you get the hang of it. Start reading about dairy allergies, and you will find all sorts of info out there on what to do!

Good luck!

p.s. My opinion (and also my pediatricians) is that cows milk is for cows!

hi J., my son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies and one of them being Milk so. Rice milk is really yummy, i have made pretty much everything that calls for cow milk with rice milk and its yummy, especially shepards pie. As for cheese there is soy cheese as well as soy milk. There's Rice dream ice cream which is really yummy too. There are different flavors with the rice milk, chocolet, vanilla, and regular and you can find them at most grocery stores. Hannafords and whole foods have a great selection of pretty much every thing for milk allergies. You can get cake mixes, cookies, a bunch of things. Also regarding his eczema rash, the trick with that is after bathing lather aquaphor all over him massage it all over and do it at least a few times a day especially during winter months. Your very lucky that he is only allergic to milk, my son is allergic to over 40 foods and just outgrew chicken, beef and rice so we are very happy that he can eat those things now. Well good luck and if you ever need to talk or have questions about food allergies dont hesitate to ask I have been dealing with this for 3 1/2 years now.

My daughter was a little over a year when she was diagnosed and it appears that she is slowly growing out of it. So there is hope at least for the future! She is almost three years old now.

What I want to warn you about is that milk allergy is not the same as lactose intolerence. If your son has a true allergy to milk than any lactose free items he may still have a reaction to. My daughters symptoms were the rash and severe constipation when she ate dairy.

We made the switch to soy products which thankfully our daughter could tolerate. She drinks Silk Soy milk. Since my daughter loved dairy as well (and just started on it) it was difficult and she has brothers without the allergy so it is unfiar for them to eat the things she could not in front of her...she was too young to understand. We bought any soy based products we could yogurt, milk, dairy free ice cream, vegan cheeses, they are all out there and are pricey. We could only find many of these items at a Health food store butnow I am noticing more of the brands at the Supermarket chains which is helpful. Be careful because even some of the soy products may contian some of the proteins or a small percentage of milk in it. You will learn as you shop and see the labels. There is even non dairy maceroni and creese (not cheese get it?). Once he doesn't have dairy for awhile he won't miss it and he can have the tofutti products (they make really great small ice cream sandwiches that taste just like the real thing). The hardest part is going to other people's houses when they have cheese and crackers laid out or b-day parties with ice cream and stuff. If it is family I will bring along a small continer or sherbert or Italian ice for my daughter or non dairy ice cream. I have even made her dip out of non dairy sour cream for parties when she wants to "dip" veggies or chips. My daughter feel in love with hummus so that replaced alot of the cheeses and dips because she likes to eat it with crackers or fresh veggies to dip. Those are some options I have come across. If your child cannot tolerate soy than try rice milk...but my pediatrician told me the only species that need cows milk are baby cows and they even stop at a point once they are old enough. Make sure you give your little guy the calcium enriched orange juice and get in the veggies that are calcium rich. I always thought that you could only get calcium from cows milk but I learned many other foods have calcium in them. It is just milk is the best source but it is in plenty of other foods so incorperate those foods in your son's diet and you should do great! I did find out early on that my daughter could handle butter...but never really figured out why (real butter not margerine) she could also have milk that had been boiled for five minuted or more or baked into a muffin baked good etc... If it is a lactose intolerance that your son has chedder cheese supposedly does not have lactose in it... I just recently heard this. For the record my daughter has not had any vaccinations to date so it is not the cause for every child ( I saw this in another postand wanted to clear that up).

Hello J., It must seem devistating right now to have everything turned upside down!
Have you seem an allergist? How was your son diagnosed? Skin test, bloodwork?? Usually both are down to get a complete picture.
I would recommend you see an allergist that specializes in children if you havent' already.
Please do not use goat milk. If he is allergic to the proteins in cow milk, they are the same in goat milk. And continued exposure can increase the allergy.
There are my options out there. You could use soy, if you are not comfortable with that there are other options, like rice, etc. There are yogurts made with coconut milk. If your son loves cow milk he may not love the taste of soy milk unless you use the very vanilla.
Our oldest son is severely allergic to dairy, egg, peanuts, and treenuts. He only has to have exposure to have a reaction and has to carry an epi-pen with him at all times.
I have learned to make just about anything, so if you'd like a recipe let me know. He eats cupcakes, cookies, fudge, just like all other kids his age. Granted I have to make them, but I don't mind. My children are a labor of love.
Surround yourself with caring, informative doctors and supportive family & friends. You and your little man will do great!
Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you and family!!!
M..

There are rice and soy milk products out there that are very good. My nephew is very picky and he eats them. I personally think the rice milk tastes better, but that's just an opinion. Tofuti ice cream is actually good...I like it and I LOVE real milk ice cream. There are a lot of alternatives out there you'll be surprised at what you will find that he will like...good luck!

you can try soy products or rice milk, and they make cheese out of soy and veggies. Usually the supermarket has a special section. They even make non dairy ice cream and chocolate.