Possible Allergy to Cows Milk? What Do You Know About Soy Milk?

Updated on August 07, 2009
A.B. asks from Montgomery, TX
16 answers

Hi there! My 12.5 month old daughter has developed a rash on her upper left arm, inside left elbow, left trunk area and her bottom...and she always wants to scratch her hiney during diaper changes. It looks similar to eczema but am not sure. I have not made an appt with the MD. The rash really doesn't seem to 'bother' her...just me. lol. We made the switch to cows milk at a year...For the past week, I've been giving her soy milk to see if this alleviates some of her symptoms. QUESTION: Have your children experienced anything like this? What is your experience with soy milk? Which soy milk do you purchase for your little one? Thanks in advance!!

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Thanks for all of the helpful information. You have given me plenty of things to research and follow up on. I appreciate all of your first hand knowledge! Take care!

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J.F.

answers from Killeen on

Soy milk can mess with hormones in the body. I would recommend Rice Milk, it is called Rice Dream and is in nearly all stores, it is on a shelf, not in cooler. Just ask someone who works there to show you.

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L.S.

answers from Houston on

My son is 'sensitive to dairy' We use rice and almond milk. Both can be found everywhere, Kroger HEB and WalMart. I personally don't feel that there is enough research done on Soy, or how they are growing it here, so I have not used it.

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K.N.

answers from Austin on

My daughter is allergic to cows milk proteins. I did not like the research that shows how the human body interprets soy as the hormone estrogen. (My daughter gets enough soy just in foods made with vegetable oil... I don't want to be giving her 16oz of it each day!) So she eats goat milk, goat milk yogurt, goat butter, sheep/goat cheese.

I was not going to be a militant mom about reading labels... I'm a FT working mom... I didn't want to be home cooking everything... (Ha!) My thought was simply to cut out (cow) diary... But she kept getting sick. (In fact, she got progressively more sensitive to cows milk starting around 11-12 months, which I thought was worth mentioning since your daughter is around the same age). So I had to start reading labels in *all* the other food that she was eating... bread/bagels, crackers, cookies & cupcakes, waffles/pancakes, processed foods, etc. Once I cut those items from her diet, she no longer was sick. You have to look not only for 'milk' in the ingredient list, but also 'butter', 'whey' and 'cassein'.

And yes, I have read that eczema is a symptom of a (cows) milk allergy. One other thought: Are you using a baby soap or lotion made with buttermilk, etc? This could cause a skin reaction if you already know she's sensitive to bovine diary products.

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K.P.

answers from Houston on

I have a soy baby!

Diaper rash, really gassy, eczema. Signs that my son was allergic to cows milk. You have to give eczema time to leave after a breakout and might need to get some cream from the doctor if it last longer than 3-4 days. Gassy left 24 hours after we stopped cows milk.

I buy Silk Soy. If he is having a bad day or week I break down and give him the Silk Soy with Vanilla. I have found canned soy at Kroger on Hwy 6 and West Little York. I get this for travel b/c most restaurants do not carry soy milk.

He is happy and healthy. Good luck.

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S.T.

answers from Houston on

My fourth child had a rash when I nursed her after drinking milk so I had to cut dairy from my diet. I don't like the newest research on soy so I stopped drinking soy (which has added sugar BTW) and chose rice and nut milks instead. Because of nut allergies it's recommended to not give nut products to a child under two. There are several brands of rice milk, which are naturally sweet (no added sugar.) You can find them in the health food section of Kroger, HEB and possibly some other stores.

I know that some people can drink goat milk when they can't have cow. I also know that some find their allergy isn't to the milk, it's to the chemicals in the milk. You might try organic milk and see if that helps!

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H.J.

answers from Houston on

My 2 year old has this problem and has had it since birth. I had to stop all dairy products while breastfeeding. My son also had it but it resolved shortly after he turned 2 1/2 years, only we didn't know it was due to dairy products at the time. My 2 year old is on vanilla soy milk and we limit her dairy products to almost none unless a family member inadvertently gives her something containing dairy. We have found vegan cheese that she will eat. We were recently at the dentist and he recommended that plain soy milk is better for the teeth than vanilla due to the sugar in the soy milk. We are hoping that her dairy issue will resolve as my son's did, it can take until 3 years of age if it is going to go away. As one of the other moms said it is the proteins in the milk that cause the problem. Also it can take up to two weeks for the rash to disappear and the body to rid itself of the milk proteins.

Good luck,
H.

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K.K.

answers from Portland on

I used to alway use Silk Soy Milk, but when I moved here we tried 8th Continent...My oldest says she likes the taste better and I like that it is typically about .50 less per half gallon and since I purchase 8 gallons per month this is a SIGNIFICANT savings!!!.. ;-)

As for the rash you are describing, I did not have this experience...my daughter oldest get constipated when she has too much milk products, and my twins were allergic as babies...we found out when we had to rush my son to the hospital because he was curled into a fetal position and screaming and could not be soothed...

Good Luck... ;-)

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J.T.

answers from College Station on

Both soy and milk protein are highly allergenic. It is very possible that she is allergic to both. Try rice milk. It is a little sweeter or almond milk.

I would go back to the beginning with her and eliminate all things that she eats and introduce one thing back at a time at a time. Watch for reactions.

Good Luck!

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C.S.

answers from Austin on

You might want to do some more research before choosing soy milk. Soy is in EVERYTHING these days. However, from what I have read recently, it is not really good for us, and can even block our bodies from absorbing calcium and other important nutrients. There is a very comprehensive article at www.mercola.com. My mom loves the Silk stuff, believes the isoflavones help give her relief from hot flashes, but I choose not to buy it for myself or my kids.

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N.M.

answers from Austin on

My daughter and I are both allergic to cow's milk. She's been drinking soy milk since she stopped nursing when she was 15 months old. We use unsweetened Silk soy milk and haven't had any problems. I've heard media concerns about the effects of soy on the body due to it's estrogen like qualities, but have yet to see anything beyond speculation. If there is research out there that shows the negative effects, I'd love to see it.

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R.

answers from San Antonio on

This definitely sounds like a food allergy. My daughter is allergic to milk, wheat and eggs and if she gets any of them she breaks out from head to foot in terrible eczema. She was allergy tested when she was 2, but has suffered for as long as I can remember. Also, she hates soy (Soy also happens to be a common allergen, so you may want to avoid until you know for sure the problem). There is also rice milk and almond milk. Good luck.

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S.L.

answers from Austin on

An actual allergy to cows milk would probably involve runny green and possibly bloody poop. She may have some sort of intollerance, but if her poop is fine then it most likely isn't a true milk allergy. You dr. should be able to help. Good luck!

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H.A.

answers from Houston on

I agree with others' concerns on soy milk, stay away from it. BAD BAD stuff, in my opinion. If you're going to do boxed milks, rice is probably going to be your safest, though still wouldn't be my first choice overall. Organic milk might be better, but if you're open-minded, your best bet may be raw milk (goat or cow). For more info and where to find local sources, go to www.realmilk.com. They have some excellent articles and will certainly give you something to think about. The pasturization process totally changes the molecular structure of the milk which makes it very difficult for our bodies to process.

Good luck. I hope you get it figured out, I know dealing with allergies and rashes is a pain.

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L.B.

answers from Corpus Christi on

With our temp. lately have you thought about heat rash, a simple way to find out is next time you bath her put a small amount of house hold bleach (clorine)in her bath, remember we already have this in our water. Put about 2-3 Table spoons in. If this is heat rash it will go way in a few days very quickly. If you do not want to try this go to a public pool they also have the clorine. I did use the soy milk for my daughter and as she got older she did outgrow the milk problem. Good luck.

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D.D.

answers from San Antonio on

Lots of great information provided about pasteurization, etc. All true, if you decide to go the milk-less route I think Rice Milk is safer than soy milk. Soy is controversial (esp. for boys) because it has estrogen like properties. I have recently switched to rice milk because it is believed that the hormones in milk can cause acne. Anyway, I think rice milk tastes pretty good. Tried almond milk and didn't like the weird after taste. You can find rice milk at Costco for a lot cheaper, about $1 cheaper per quart than in the store. I think it was $16 for 12 of them. Good luck!

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C.A.

answers from San Antonio on

Checkout: www.notmilk.com for all the scoop on milk, cows milk was designed for calfs.
They now make plenty of milk substitutes, including oatmilk. If you go the soy route make sure you are buying organic soy to avoid GMOs (genetically modified), our fav is Soy Dream. Silk is not a good option because they changed to non-organic. There is much controversie about phyto-estrogen in soy, and that it could affect males, but I believe it is much better for anyone & far superior to milk with the cows natural female hormones and added growth hormones(rBGH). My nephew is 9 and has been drinking soy for several years with no problem. Another plus is that it does not have cholesterol like milk does. I hope this helps.

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