Question:
I have a suspicion that my little one has developed a dairy allergy. So
I have a bunch of questions about this.
When does this kind of allergy usually develop? I thought 11 weeks to be
a strange time for it to develop.
Does the child outgrow it and if so, when?
How do I know for sure if it's a dairy allergy?
I'm a dairy fiend, so is there anything I can take (herbal) to keep
enjoying some dairy and yet not have it affect the baby?
Anyone have any tips?
Answer:
If you suspect a dairy allergy, (and yes, it can start to manifest at
2-3 months of age), then here's what you can do:
Start a diary. On days one and two, maintain your usual diet and ALSO
log your baby's symptoms. Then look over the diary. Do you still think
it could be a dairy allergy? If so, ruthlessly, 100% eliminate dairy
protein from your diet for one full week, while CONTINUING the diary of
your food consumption (including medications and vitamins) and baby's
health and happiness. At the end of the week, see if your baby is
improving. If not, continue the elimination for another week. (Figure
about a week for all cow's milk protein to leave your body and milk,
another week to leave your baby's body and milk, and then a little
further time to heal any damange that may have happened to your baby's
gut.)
If there HAS been improvement, drink ONE glass of milk and then log your
baby's symptoms for 48 hours. If your baby reacts badly, you eliminate
dairy. If your baby is okay, then eat LOTS of milk and see how he
progresses. If he remains okay, the the problem may have been a passing
bug or something. If he gets worse, strictly limit your own milk
intake.
If there *never* was improvement, then look over your diary carefully.
See if there's another food that might be a problem. (Eggs, soy, nuts
and wheat are common foods that bear looking at, although they are less
likely to be allergenic to infants than cow's milk protein.)
During the elimination period, by the way, you're best off cooking your
own food from scratch and eating "simple" foods with few ingredients.
Processed foods, in particular, often contain hidden dairy components
and can throw off your assessment of what you're eating.
Most babies who react badly to cow's milk protein outgrow it between 6-9
months of age. A few continue to have trouble with dairy through their
toddler years, and a very few continue to have trouble lifelong.
My web page can help you with some practical aspects of dealing with
life without milk. (Raspberry sorbet with hershey's syrup was one of my
no-milk fallbacks.)
What's going on that makes you suspect that it's a dairy allergy over
something more common such as overactive letdown or oversupply? Or even
normal infant fussiness? Sometimes, and it varies from child to child. Your baby might be fine with
dairy in six months, or a year, or three years, or never. What are the symptoms? I guess the most definitive way would be to eliminate
ALL dairy from your diet for a week or two and see what happens. Nope, if your baby is reacting to dairy, there's no way of preventing the
milk proteins from getting into your milk. You simply have to eliminate it
from your diet. When I eat something with a lot of dairy in it (such as cheese tortelini
or pizza with extra cheese) he's always unhappy at the first feed after
the consumption of the dairy product. For subsequent feeds he's fine. I
have overactive let down (not as bad as it used to be) but it doesn't
bother him at all anymore, he's learned how to control the flow. I used to drink a hot chocolate every day and Thea had the most
incredible runny pooh. I stopped drinking hot chocolate - pooh became
more solid. This was when she was around 4 months old. At 1 yo she had
had about 4 ear infections and the GP suggested we remove dairy from
her diet (cheese, yogurt etc). At almost 5 she has not had another ear
infection (& still has no significant dairy). It was only in
retrospect that I realised those incredible poohs were a message. So
try the elimination & see what happens.
