Help! My One Year Old Is Allergic to Milk!!!

Jamie, first you need o calmn down honey! Take a deep breath, count to ten and let it ut slowly. As far as her doctor is concerned if he/she doesn't belive you CHANGE DOCTOR'S NOW!!!!!!!! You are the mother and if something doesn't feel right the doctor needs to listen to you, explain why or why not they feel the way they do. #2) I know WIC won't change unless they get a Doctor's statement saying that there had to be a change, so once again CHANGE DOCTOR'S!!!!!!!!!! #3.) as far as "on the go" problems, fill her cup up with juice or water instead of buying a big bottle of soy. #4) Go online, ask.com and punch in "Soy milk recipies for infants/toddlers" there should pop up a lot of different sites to go to. If you are still having trouble finding recipies you can go to ask.com type in "vegetarian diet recipies", or go to your local health food all natural food store ( more pricey than PandC, but if that's the only place to go that's where to go). Good Luck let me know how things turn out, you never know, my daughter was allergic to milk too, but by the time she turned 2year's old she was fine,your child might just out grow it!!

It sounds like you are no longer nursing, and it is important that she get sufficient calories and calcium. For calories, look to other food types - goat cheeses, grains like quinoa and rice, corn breads etc., and veggies like potatoes, corn, carrots, pumpkin, squashes, and fruits! Apples and apricots, bananas (which have loads of calories), plums, pineapple...you know it all. For calcium you can try supplements (liquid) but those won't be WIC - I don't think, but broccoli has loads of calcium, as do lots of other veggies. http://earthsave.org/news/whatdary.htm] Here's a good site for some ideas, and reassurance!

http://www.milksucks.com/mucus.asp kinda funny ... I just googles milk problems and a whole whack came in.

There's a HUGE percentage of people in the US who have reactions to milk and milk products. NOT unusual. I was looking for the statistic, but can't find it specifically.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June05/lactase.herdin... This one has some numbers in it (and is a local NY source from Cornell :D)...good luck mama. Be your baby's advocate, and KNOW that you are doing right by listening to HER, not the Dr. (who can easily be wrong!). **HUG** It's not going to be easy, so go in prepared to fight for what you know is right!

If you Dr. doesn't believe you, save her diapers. Save her spit up. Show the Dr. You can also keep a food journal - date and time of all ingested items, liquid and solid.

My son is also dairy intolerant (lactose free doesn't cut it). We use rice milk for milk in recipes and about once a day he drinks a cup full. It's sweeter, and a bit thinner than cow milk. I buy him almond chocolate milk, and he drinks about a cup of that a day too. Loves the stuff!

Anyway, there are loads of options. Cooking dairy free is pretty easy, but NOT cheap. There are dairy free margerines that taste just wonderful, and bake/cook perfectly. Goat cheddar is excellent, and I even make dairy free lasagne! there are loads of recipes online, and books galore. See if your library has any, or can interlibrary loan some, or will even buy some!? I'd appeal to WIC and see if you can't get them to expand for health related stuff. And GET YOUR DOCTOR ON BOARD! Switch doctors if you NEED to - but you MUST have one that really understands that you are aware, and making GOOD decisions about your baby.

there is blodwork you can have done to see for certain if your child has a milk allergy...you should ask your pedi about it

I think it is time to find a new doctor. Although some dr's would have us think we are over-reacting, only YOU know your child best! Go to your appointment and if he blows you off again, find a new one. Ask friends about their doctors, go on WebMD and look up pediatricians in your area, or look up gastrointestinal doctors as a specialist. You may have to get a referral for your insurance, but tell your doctor you want a second opinion. I know all this sounds harsh, but you have to be the advocate for your child! Good luck!
S.

I'm not much help, but my niece too was on soy formula and she wasn't able to handle regular milk until 14 months old. My sisters doc said most kids do grow out of it by 12 months but some are older. I am lactose intolerant myself and I drink lactaid milk. I hope your dr. can have some suggetions for you and you can find something that will work (((HUGS)))

A., SAHM to Mikey (3 on 10/26) & Emily 7 months old

My 18 month old was on soy formula....he now drinks 1% milk....whole milk had him also spitting up cottage cheese textured clumps.....The 1% works great for him...Get a second opinion with the doctor .

i agree if the dr won't listen to you change drs and also my daughter was the same way if she drank whole milk she would get diarrea really bad and a bad rash from having so much diarrea but she could drink 2% with no problem but with wic i couldn't get 2% so what i did was water down the whole milk like half water half milk and what it was is that she couldn't handle all the fat and stuff in the whole milk then i slowly started adding more milk than water and by the time she was like 14 months old she drank the whole milk with no problem its something you could try

Jamie,
WIC WILL give you Soy formula if your doctor says that your child needs it!!! There are lots of ways to get rid of the allergies. But yes you need a different doctor. Remember to trust your OWN instincts!! You are the mother and your doctor sees your daughter for five whole minutes and believes that they know KNOW your daughter.
(Also you CAN buy small soy milks to go... and there is hope)

The very first thing you should do is go to an Allergy specialist and get you daughter tested! You need to know EXACTLY what she is allergic to...you don't want to take any chances with your children, especially when they are that small! Secondly, make another trip to your doctor and demand that he explore the possibility of a milk allergy. If he refuses, ask for your records right there and find a new doctor! I highly recommend gettin her tested though. There may be something more than just dairy!! Good luck!!

Hi J.-
First off, I would definitely change pediatricians right away. If your doctor doesn't believe you, there is something wrong there. You could try the lactose free milk and see if that helps her. If not, maybe a new doctor would be willing to write some sort of letter, etc. to WIC explaining your daughters situation and once you have exhausted all of WIC's choices (lactose free, etc.), maybe the doctor's note would help with a decision to help pay for the soy milk-they also sell vanilla soy milk which my son loved. He does not like regular milk unless flavored. Even then, he doesn't drink all that much. I supplement with a lot of yogurt and cheese and calcium fortified foods. Can your daughter keep yogurt down? Maybe that could supplement for some of her calcium needs. When my son was about your daughters age, he saw a nutritionist. She suggested the drinkable yogurts, not sure if WIC would pay for any of those if she can eat yogurt. Maybe if you switch doctors, he can set her up with a nutritionist to give you ideas. It really was helpful. Good luck.