Should We Quit Giving Milk Products?

After 4 rounds of antibiotics last year, I went to a different pediatrician to find out that 95% of ear infections are due to a food intolerance. Many times this is milk and wheat. We had our children tested through Immuno Laboratories and they were intolerant to quite a bit due to the antibiotic use...now we have reset their systems and currently only eliminate wheat and milk....not one ear infection since I removed the reactive foods in February. It is infuriating to me that doctors don't tell us this and keep the antibiotics coming. I love Dr. Bain in Frisco and respect her willingness to go against the grain of most pediatricians. What a difference she has made in our family.

Yes, remove milk for sure. Hopefully that will help. If not, have him tested by Immuno Labs---(call Dr. Bain to set up). They guarantee the results for ear infections specifically so if your child continues to have them, they refund all your money. Let me know if you have questions.

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I just took a nutrition class with my main objective to lose weight healthfully but this class blew me away in a positive way. So to not make this too long I will just recommend the book he quoted from:
"Eat To Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
Not only does it go into the harm dairy does to us, and especially children but also the relationship with fats we eat and disease. It is very eye opening.

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I'm going to add my two cents as well! When my son was one yr. old in May, I started him on organic whole milk as suggested by the doctor. He immediately got congested and had a stopped up nose. I took him to the doctor at the end of the week and he had the start of an ear infection. My husband and I both had chronic ear infections as children and I had heard that cow's milk might be the culprit. I researched on the internet (YAY for the internet) and came to the conclusion that it probably was what was causing it. I switched to Rice Milk (which my son loved) and the ear infection promptly cleared up! I have a healthy, happy 16 month old son who has never had another ear infection. I do give him cheese every once in a while and yogurt maybe once a week and he is fine on that. Good luck!

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Yes, all of this is true. You can go to www.dumpdairy.com to learn more. I used to drink tons of milk and I would have severe ear infections (I had 6 in 2006). I finally did some research, decided to quit the dairy, and I haven't had ONE ear infection since. My husband, daughter, son, and I hardly ever get sick. Also, a lot of processed chemicals can cause these problems. Regarding the "ask your doctor" comment: Just so you know, doctors aren't required to take more than 3 hours of nutrition so they may not be the one to rely on for that information. Most doctors are very pro cow's milk and that's why we stay away from them. :) We use rice milk, earth's balance butter, soy/almond cheese, etc. Walmart has a good variety but Sprouts/Central market has everything you will need. Good luck!

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When my kids turned one our pediatrician told me that he wouldn't care if I never gave milk to my kids--he says milk is for baby cows. There are better sources of calcium including juice with calcium and esp. broccoli. As far as the ear infections, please do not put in tubes--there is no evidence that they help. For ear infections try an osteopathic massage--a video on this can be purchased on Dr. Block's website www.blockcenter.com. She is an awesome Dr. in Hurst. Since using her technique we have been absolutely antiobiotic free! If you can avoid antibiotics it is great since they really tear up your guts.

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Yes. I have heard of this. Stop the milk! It does more harm than good. I think that other dairy products like cheese and yogurt may not be a problem, but you may need to look more into that. Try soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk. Just add a little to the regular milk and slowly increase until no more regular milk. I have heard that ear infections are liked to cow's milk.

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You have nothing to loose by taking him off of all dairy products to see what happens before doing something drastic like putting tubes in his ears. People talk like getting tubes in your ears is normal these days, but it isn't. Dairy allergies are becoming more and more common. I would also limit his sugar intake and make certain he gets enough vitamin C. If you are concerned about calcium intake, find ways to get dark green leafy veggies in his diet and add sesame seeds to baked goods (1/4 c of sesame seeds has 35% of your daily required intake of calcium). Most rice, soy, and nut milks are also fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Trust your heart--right now you suspect something with dairy and it's probably for a good reason. God inspires us for a reason.

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Do you have the baby's crib up on one end and down on the other? He may benefit by sleeping at an angle, if he is having drainage.
I do not have experience, as neither of my kids have had ear infections (one of my kids may have had one.) But, there may be reason to why my kiddos didn't suffer from them.
Do you give quality probiotics to your baby? I would start this asap. You won't see an overnight miracle, but it could very well keep you from putting him on antibiotics so often. You can get them at Whole Foods, just ask someone in that department to assist you...they are always so helpful and knowledgable.
I would not eliminate dairy; maybe limit it, as it can cause mucus to thicken, even if there is not a milk allergy. Babies need the good cholestrol that is in whole milk for a few young years of their life.
You could just be dealing with genetics...
BTW~let me know if you want me to hook you up with a company called Shaklee, they have a quality infant multivitamin, and they have probiotics too.

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BE CAREFUL WITH VACCINES!!!!!!!!! Read The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. Or What Doctors May Not Tell You About Vaccines by Stephanie Cave. Find a homeopath in your area.
L.

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I didn't read all of the answers to your question, so this may be a repeat, but milk allergies are actually pretty common and have been talked about since I was a baby. I had a lot of ear infections as a child and then when my sister came along my mother decided to try cow milk free, which made all the difference. With my own kids, when I started them on milk, I used soy and goat milk instead. The goat milk, especially, has comparable nutrients without as many side effects. Vanilla soy milk works great in all sorts of recipes for the family, too.

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Try rice or almond milk. Also get your ped to do an IgE testing for food allergies. He/she probably won't do an IgG for food sensitivies but those food can cause problems too. Cow's milk is the most common allergen, followed by wheat products.

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You might want to try goat milk. It is the closest thing to mother's milk and it's much easier for humans to digest it than cow's milk. We used that for our daughter and she loves it. You might want to try half goat milk, half water and adjust according to your child's likes. But that should help. And most stores carry it now. It comes in a purple carton.

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Yep, my son gets all congested and they can become ear infections with his milk allergy.

Also he gets ear infections from peanut. My doctor was so skeptical. He said peanuts don't give that sort of allergy symptom. Shows what he knows. I took my son off peanuts and no more infections. Every time he eats them he's congested for days.

Good for you for being so aware of your son's diet in regards to his illnesses. Repetitive illness is one of the most commonly missed symptoms of food allergies.

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It would be a good idea to try a dairy elimination diet. My oldest 2 kids had chronic ear infections as infants - strictly breastfed and at home with me - they were genetically predisposed per the ENT with short, straight eustachian tubes. They both had to get tubes. My youngest did not have trouble with her ears - just one or 2 in her nearly 6 years of life. You can do everything "right" and some kids are just more prone...

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When my son turned one, I put him on whole milk like I heard you were supposed to. He was breastfed until 10.5 months and then did the next step Infamil until he was 1. He was VERY congested all the time and just had a "rattle" in his throat. No other symptoms, but it was irritating enough for me to take him in at 13.5 months to just check his chest and ears. My pediatrician (who is rather holistic and not big on antibiotics, alt vaccinations, etc) said that kids under 2 don't need cow milk at all. I was shocked at some of the stuff she said, but was skeptical. I did however pull him off milk and he cleared up within 2 days and hasn't shown any symptoms since. That was enough proof for me. I was concerned about calcium, she said if he eats enough of the right veggies and foods he will get all he needs from that. It seems very against the norm, but I have bought in lock, stock and barrell to it. I do give him cheeses still (just not a ton) and yogurts probably every other day (mainly because I still don't know how he can be getting enough calcium!) and he has not had any problems. She did say to pull him off all milk dairy for 2 weeks to see if we saw improvements...we did. She also said that Rice milk and after 18 months Almond milk would be good subs...I didn't want to raise a kid that didn't "like" milk, so I asked about that and WHAT can I give him. I have friends who have always ONLY done almond milk with kids younger than 18 months, so I did. He did fine with it...it just doesn't seem like milk to me. Also, goats milk, I have heard, has more and easier tolerated proteins.
Good Luck.
I know how frustrating it is.

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Milk allergies do happen. My oldest son had a pretty bad allergy to milk we discovered when we took him off the formula. He was skin tested at age 14 months and placed on allergy shots because the allery was so severe. We had to give him soy milk to drink and he drank that until he was 8 or 9. Go to your Pedi and be sure that is really what is happening.

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I had the problem you describe with my son. Yo Baby was ok because of the good bacteria, but any other kind of dairy gave him ear infections. As soon as he turned 18 months, he could have milk without any problems. My chiropractor said that is when their little bodies are able to properly digest it. We used goat milk in the meantime. He liked it fine.

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Hi, I wouldn't give him any store bought milk,they strip it of EVERYTHING. Maybe Horizon Milk. It is organic. No pestisides, antibiotics etc.. I would recommend buying real raw milk from a farmer. It still has the enzymes to break down the protein (lack of makes people intolerant to it). You could even try goat's milk too. Hope that helps.

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I took my son off all dairy and hs eczema is gone. Also, his allergies are less severe. It turns out, when we got tested he is allergic to grass.

Teyhave soy everything these days. Once you get used to it, it's easy. Whole Foods has a dairy free list at customer service of products without dairy.

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My adopted daughter had severe ear infections, lost 50% of her hearing by age nine, at which time I had allergy tests run on her. Milk casine & whey were the culprits. She regained 25% of her hearing and no more infections after eliminating dairy. Twenty years later her son had the same problems. Definitely hereditary.

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Based on the current research, I would say definitely cut out milk products and see how he responds. Many, many humans do not have the ability to make the enzyme needed to digest cow's milk. It is a myth to say that everyone needs to drink milk.

Just make sure your son gets a wide variety and plenty of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables and he should get all the nutrients he needs. For an easy way to accomplish this, check out my Mamasource profile.

Blessings,

M.

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I have read all of the answers, and not one mom asked if there is a smoker in your home. If there is, his infections could simply be due to second hand smoke. If this isn't the case, it seems that removing milk for 2 weeks will give you an answer. It doesn't seem like milk could be the root cause if he didn't start drinking it until last month and the infections have been going on for 3 or more months. I just wanted to bring attention to the smoke issue, as no one had mentioned it. Good luck!!

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Hi K.,

I know for a fact that the lack of dairy products reduce allergies and Asthma. I experienced it with myself and I have read on it from several medical books.

One of the books was in my dentists waiting room. It was compiled by a dozen or so medical doctors that tested all the alternative medicins and the one that they all agreed on was that when they left dairy out of the subjects diet that they almost eliminated allergies and asthma. Te findings were amazing to them and they said that that was the and only alternative practice they believe really works.

If you do want to test it...it takes about 3 to 6 months for all dairy to be out of your body. However it is worth the try.

Good luck,

M. D.

I just wanted to comment on the fact that so many moms just quickly tell you that YES its milk and to remove all dairy. I would check w/your doctor first to see if there even is an allergy, and if you have to remove dairy, I just wanted to stress the importance of MAKING SURE THEY GET THEIR CALCIUM FROM OTHER SOURCES!! Its easy to say no milk..but make sure you know all the alternative sources of calcium and include them in your childs diet every day! Best of luck!

I've never heard of such. Sounds kind of crazy to me. But maybe you should consult his doctor about it.

All kids are so different, but my son got his first ear infection after I stopped breastfeeding him. He was over 6 months old. Then he got one after the other for the next 3 months. Finally after 5 our doctor sent us to an ENT. He got tubes put in his hears at 10 months and was fine. I was so worried it was because I stopped breastfeeding felt like a horrible mom, but it had nothing to do with it. The doctor told us that children who get lots of ear infections are usually because one of the parents did as well. Of course my husband had constant ear infections as a child and I had none. That made a lot of sense he has my husbands ears :). My daughter has mine and has only had two ear infections in 3 years. It is genetic for some children. You never know when they will start getting them. Basically the tube that drains the ears just is not big enough to get the job done. So when he was smaller it was probably working just enough now that he has gotten bigger and allergies are so bad this year his tube is not draining enough. Now that you know he is getting them don't wait take him to see an ENT. After my son got his tubes he would cry at noise that he heard all the time. When I asked the doctor he told me this is the first time he is hearing them clearly. Wow talk about feeling horrible I had no idea he heard everything muffled (like when your ears need pop). Best of luck.

Some kids are just prone to these things... I would talk to my ped and possibly have him tested before depriving him of something so great for his growth.

Wow! I am so glad that you are learning about food allergies while your son is still so young. I have my children on goats milk. They didn't notice the difference with the skim milk but the whole milk was a bit strong. They do not have stomach upsets or congestion due to the milk any longer. Good Luck!

I would take him to an ENT and they would be able to tell you better. My twins had a ton of ear infections, but they werent on milk (soy) so it had nothing to do with that...It was their teething. Unfortunately every time they got a tooth, they got an ear infection. Same thing happened to my older daughter. Ear tubes worked for us...Never got another one after they were put in. Unfortunately this is not the best time of year because of the major allergy season.. tons of congestion and infections. Also, when he is drinking make sure he is tilted upright, lying flat can also cause them. Good luck and if it continues to be an issue definitely get him checked out.

I am not sure about the dairy causing ear infections, but I do know from experience that my daughter has had seasonal allergies since she was about 3 months old (she will be one this month) and she did get an ear infection from it. Her pediatrician said it was caused by the drainage in her sinuses. Now we give her allergy medicine (Zyrtec) whenever she is having allergy symptoms and have not had ANY problems since! I hope this helps and good luck!

I haven't heard of dairy causing ear infections. I am a pediatric nurse and would like to know more information if you are willing to share.... Does your child sleep with a cup or drink laying down, and is your child around second hand smoke? My daughter who is almost 3 just started getting ear infections when she was 2 and in July we decided to go ahead with the tubes. It has made a world of difference in our lives. She has also started a daily maintence inhaler for her asthma and since these things have happened we haven't had so much as a runny nose. The procedure was very easy she was fussy right after she woke up but we were only at the surgery center for a total of about 2 hrs. By the time we got home you would have never known she'd even seen a dr. that day.

I haven't read all the responses, so I'm unsure if it's been discussed before or not, but just in case it hasn't...

Watch out, too, for sensitivities to soy milk. My son cannot have any dairy, and he's sensitive to soy as well. It didn't really make much of a difference to me that he couldn't have soy, however. There are unanswerable questions as to its long-term safety; the soy we hear of as 'good for you' and associated with the Asian diet is fermented and used in much smaller quantities than that of a dietary base-beverage for babies. It's unfortunate the sources of many of the dangers of consuming unfermented soy products are often so 'out-there' and spacey - it makes a potentially valid concern seem paranoid and unfounded. In addition, several of my cousins, many friends, and, obviously, your family members raised on soy milk seem to have 'done just fine,' but the question remains: what long-term affects might have happened that we would never know to associate with soy? That's pretty much a question with almost everything we feed our children it seems, although the theoretical problems with soy in particular should not be ignored.
Raw goat milk was tolerated by my son "OK," but we just ended up doctoring up enriched rice drink with some extra calcium, magnesium, rice protein, and some other vitamins & minerals because of his restricted diet. Raw goat's milk is closer to human milk than any other milk, and soy milk, soy formula, etc. are not fermented soy products.
Additionally, I like to use sprouters and buy sprouting rice grains to make our own sprouted rice drink. I realize it might not make as much of a difference to some moms as the effort calls for, but I'm a crunchy geek, so it works for us!

HTH!

If your going to cut something out I'd try one thing at a time. I've never heard of ear infections being tied to milk allergies. My oldest had tubes and so did my youngest and neither had milk issues. My middle was on lactose free milks from about 6 months until 1 1/2 years and has had one ear infection in his 4 years. (knock on wood)

If your son has nasal allergies he might be more likely to have ear infections, but that is different from food allergies. A dairy allergy is not the same as lactose intolerance, so lactose free milk would still cause problems. I would talk to his doctor before cutting out dairy. He would probably have other symptoms than just ear infections, such as vomiting, diarrhea or a rash.

I hope this helps you! My little girl has a dairy allergy, so I've done my homework!

This is probably something you don't want to hear but be aware of the dangers of soy milk and other unfermented soy products. The Japanese are healthly b/c they eat mainly fermented soy - that process takes a lot of the toxins out. Soy can affect boys and girls in puberty even if they had it as a small child. See: http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/index.htm

Raw cow and goat milk are excellent choices for most people. Several people intolerant of pastuerized milk products can tolerate the raw just fine. See: http://www.realmilk.org/ for info and locations.
Hope this helps,
Jen (pharmacist)

K.,

I'd be careful about the soy, if I were you. No evidence this is a "health" food. On the contrary, there is good evidence it is not the health food people think it is. Here is a website with some good articles:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1...

FYI about your doctor's opinion on soy - your doctor likely doesn't have time to research nutrition controversies. Unfortunately, they don't learn much about it in med school and they get too busy in private practice to take it up as a side hobby.

To test for a casein (not lactose) problem, you might try www.enterolab.com. The ear infections are a major red flag for hidden food intolerance issues. This lab does reliable stool testing (not blood or skin which are less reliable) and stool is so easy for a baby.

Good luck.

I haven't heard of the milk connection with ear infections. My daughter has never been able to drink milk and she had tubes before she turned one yr old. If they are lactose intolerant, I don't think it will show up in the ears, but in the diaper or spit up. just my thoughts, good luck