Cow's Milk Protein Allergy

I am a little late in checking email so also late in responding. Don't know how much info you have gotten on this yet, but my son has a definite milk protien allergy. His was discovered at around three months old. I also breastfed until he was one so I had to completely change my diet. My son had different symptoms from your daughter but I have heard that can be common as food allergies present themselves in different ways in different individuals. Myles had bad eczema and severe constipation - essentially he could not use the bathroom without a suppository. It is always good to get a second opinion and you should ask if she is too young to have a skin or blood test administered by an allergist to be certain. We did not do this until last month (at 15 months) to confirm what we had previously determined, but it was reassuring to know we were doing the right thing. You definitely don't want to cut out important dairy products if your child is not allergic. If she is allergic you may not be seeing an improvement because you have not completely eliminated all dairy. It took me months to realize how many things had dairy from breads to spices to lunch meats. You just don't realize how many foods you would never suspect actually contain dairy. If your daughter is highly allergic she can be sensitive to the smallest amounts of milk protien. Once you get used to it, it becomes second nature but it is tough at first. I have done literally hours of research on this subject so I wouldn't mind discussing with you any questions you may have. My email address is ____@____.com a Mom it is so important to have all the information you need to keep your baby healthy and happy. Good luck!

Athough I was allergic to cow's milk as a child, it was mild and didn't present itself while my mother was nursing me. However, I would suggest that you get "Is This Your Child" by Dr. Doris Rapp. She is a noted allergist whose book goes into detail with food and other often undiagnosed allegries. Personally, I would be suspect of any doctor that would advice you to stop breastfeeding because of an allegry. Have you tried to avoid wheat, eggs and other common problem foods as well to see if it helps your child? Hope this helps and I am sorry you are having so much trouble with such a young baby! I am sure you are worried. Good luck.

J.,

My 11-month old had very small amounts of blood in her stool early on, and they told me the same thing. I never really believed it, but hers was not that bad. I'm still nursing, and she now eats cheese and other dairy and soy products without problems. My daughter only had very small amounts of blood, and it wasn't always visible. Your daugther's problem sounds much worse.

BUT not to scare you...My older daugehtr had a horrible problem with blood in her stool that turned out to be C. Difficile. I doubt your daughter has that. My daughter got it from being on many antibiotics for ear infections. Too many good bacteria were killed off, and a bad one was able to flourish. It took months to get a proper diagnosis and it took months to treat. And she is now at increased risk of getting it again if she goes on antibiotics (she has not been on them since.)...From what I have read, C. Diff is an unlikely diagnosis if the individual is not made susceptible by being on antibiotics. It's not impossible though. But there are other symptoms: mucus in the stool, yeasty diaper rash, obvious abdominal discomfort...

Hopefully, your baby just has a tear...But I'm sure they checked for that, right?

Good luck.

Was she seen by a GI doctor?

So sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I know it leaves you feeling very anxious. Our first daughter (now 2 1/2) was diagnosed with a milk allergy at around 6 weeks. Her symptoms were very loose stools with lots of mucus and patches of eczema. Pre-diagnosis, I was breast feeding (and consuming lots of dairy products) and giving her one bottle of formula every night. I swore off all dairy (even switched to soy latt�s) and switched her to a soy formula. As I recall it took about a week to see results but her stools improved and her spitting up was reduced. Her eczema didn�t improve much at all. At a year we tried her on regular milk and had no problems so either she never had an allergy or she outgrew it.

One tip for helping her adjust to her new formula is to introduce it slowly by cutting it with your breast milk. My daughter hated the soy formula at first so we mixed it with my breast milk over about a three day period, each time adding more formula and less breast milk until she accepted the straight formula.

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

A.

J., I've found a couple articles for you to read. Hope this helps! Did you doctor tell you to stay away from anything made w/ whey? That is a milk by-product according to one of these articles.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bloodystool.html

http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/helpme_asklc_ans49.html

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_allerg...

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bbreastfeed/0,,3qcf,00...

Both my kids have milk/soy/legume protein allergies. My 2 year old had it so badly they put him on a prescription formula. It is called Neocate. After he was on the Neocate for a month his symptoms subsided. Our Pediatric GI is Suszanne Nelson in Glenview. If you have more questions, please feel free to email me at ____@____.com

J., I am so sorry to hear that little Emma is having difficulties. We had a similiar situation with our son who is now 3 and drinking cows milk. I am not trying to give you false hope, but a second opinion is absolutely necessary. Call Dr. Andrea Rentea. She is an MD and an holistic doctor. She is located on Peterson in Chicago. Her information is;
Paulina Medical Group
###-###-####
She is an exceptional doctor.
We were told my son would need surgury to place tubes in his ears. Our second opinion agreed. My instincts said no. I just knew it wasn't a correct diagnosis. We went to Dr. Rentea and she was able to build up my son's immune system without any surgury or drugs. It was all done with healthy alternative medicine. Nothing with harmful side effects. It took several long months to see the improvement, but he is now three and he has never had another ear infection or allergic skin reaction, nothing more than a minor cold.
My husband was very skeptical about all of the drops and little pellets, but when we saw our little baby improve so drastically without any drugs, he knew she was the real deal. A word of warning: she is expensive. Her initial visit is a lot but her office visits are covered by most insurance plans. You need to send in the claim yourself.
I am telling you to see her, for Emma's sake. She'll find out what is wrong and she will help. She is worth every dime.
God Bless You!