Is My Daughter Allergic to Milk or Did I Introduce It the Wrong Way?

Eliminate all dairy first for a week. Then introduce the milk again. If she reacts go to soy or a rice milk.

S.

The same thing happened with my son when we tried to switch him to whole milk at 1 year. We tried soy milk, but he didn't like the taste. He was formula fed, so we switched him to the 12-24 month formula and kept trying a little bit of milk every few weeks. By the time he was around 15 months, he was drinking milk without a reaction. Sometimes at 12 months, they are still just sensitive to cow's milk.

My twins also had trouble switching to milk at the 12 month mark - lots of fussyness and diaper rash. I think it is likely that your baby's system just isnt ready yet. She just needs more time to make the right enzymes and enough of them to fully digest the milk without it bothering the rest of her body.

After talking to lots of other moms about this it seems like other people had the same experience when they first tried milk. Some people go extreme and assume that thier kids cant have milk. This probably isn't true and wasn't true in the experience of my other friends(also I seem to remember Lactose is a use or lose type system - if you always give your child lactose free products when he's not intollerant the body will make less lactase enzyme which is why cats shouldnt have milk). Human, Cow, and Goats milk is good for your body and is an efficient way of delivering protien, calcium, and healthy saturated fats(needed for brain development) especially for children. I don't believe that the anti-milk camp has any real conclusive research on thier side (also if you look hard you can find horomone free milk that is not organic and is very affordable - our Walmart has it and therefore they get our milk buying business).

What they did and I am now doing is to go back to formula or breastmilk for a month or two and try again very slowly - say one ounce in each 8 ounce bottle for two days and then two ounces for a couple days until you are done with the formula. We are doing this now and it is working great - we had diaper rash for a day, I took the milk out for a day and then went back. We are now up to half milk and half formula and progressing well.

I would relax and not worry about introducing milk again anytime soon. She has other foods that she takes so you could still drop the midday feeding and just replace it with more of the solids she likes and some water to drink. I would suggest just relaxing this summer while you are home and nurse her on demand. she will continue to find more yummy foods over the next few months and she should have enough to choose from so that you can easily drop that feeding as you get closer to the fall. They are only little once and whether you nurse for months or years it goes very quickly and you will miss this time so enjoy every minute.

Hi - I wouldn't think milk allergy yet. I think some kids' systems aren't ready for milk until about 13-14 months. My daughter had a skin reaction when I first gave her milk at just before 1 year and was fine after I waited. Best of luck.

S.,
You are right about the broken down proteins in cheese and yogurt. Both my sons had problems with milk as babies. You may want to try mixing breast milk with soy formula or soy milk. It does sound like she is sensitive to milk. I found that with food allergies (my first son had them all!) it is best to back off the food in question completely and reintroduce in very small amounts at least a month or two after the reaction instead of forcing it in small amounts too soon. It may not be a true allergy, but a sensitivity that will fade with a little time.

S.,
An allergy can develop at any time. And some kids can tolerate the allergen in different forms. For example, some people can have an egg if it's baked into a cake, but can't eat it if it's scrambled. I don't quite understand this!

My son has a lot of food allergies--milk included. We completely avoid all foods he's allergic to in any form. When he was first born, he threw up whenever I drank milk. I made my own diagnosis and began avoiding it. At 10 months the doctors told me that I needed to introduce dairy because he was so small. So, I gave him yogurt and bananas nearly every day. Against my better judgement, at about 11 months, I started him on cow's milk. He tolerated it OK for about a month. Then, one day we went to breakfast. He had milk, eggs, wheat toast, and some fruit. He had an anaphylactic reaction. So, they finally did allergy testing. And the results...allergy to peanuts, wheat, eggs, milk and bananas.

My best advice is to just watch your daughter and see how she reacts. The first time could have just been a reaction to something else. Also, keep in mind that you have to watch your child. My friend hs had her daugther tested for a milk allergy--and it's been negative (twice), but the poor thing breaks out everytime she drinks milk (or eats anything with milk in it). So, despite the negative test results, she avoids all milk products.

Talk with your pediatrician, but use your mom instinct too! Good luck. If you have more questions about food allergies, feel free to contact me! Best of luck! Traci

My daughter was just fine with a milk based formula, but later discovered she had a milk allergy. The difference here is that she could not eat yogurt and cheese. That's when the allergy became obvious. Allergies can show up in so many different ways. You may want to take your daughter to an allergist. They can run tests that will tell you for sure...and give you some helpful advice. If you are in the Richmond area, I highly recomend Dr. Call!

ok S., i didn't deal with this issue but i'll try to help you out.
firstly, she should switch to milk right about now. i know moms who have breastfed through 2 years of age but that is too much and the child needs to be introduced to milk by the age of one.
i would try real hard to get her drinking cows milk rather than soy milk. if i were you i'd wait until her symptoms clear and then try again. start slow, 1 oz milk 4 oz breastmilk, then increase 2 with 3 then 3 with 2 etc.
also, one point, my children did not go for regular milk. when i tried switching them gradually to regular milk, and they got a taste of it, they absolutely hated it, refused it and were willing to not drink a thing than drink regular milk. once i got them to taste organic milk, well, a whole different ball game. they love it still (almost 4). so try organic milk. it is a bit more expensive but truly even to me it tastes better than regular milk. maybe organic milk will be easier on her.
if she does show these symptoms again then switch her to whatever the pediatrician recommended.
good luck

Hi S.,
I tried to see if there were other responses, could not check. It might be possible your daughter coincidently came down with a virus that was unrelated to taking milk and there is no connection at all. That seems like a pretty severe reaction given she's had dairy before with no reaction. I'm not a doctor or familiar with the way the proteins are broken down in different types of dairy. I did give my kids soy milk at that age, when not on the breast and breastfed the younger one till he was 3, but he was eating everything and mostly just comfort nursing at night or when . Please consider going organic too to avoid the hormones and antibiotics, harris teeter has a good price - J.

Hi S.,

contact the La Leche League. They are a great resource on breast feeding and weening.

www.lllusa.org/VA/WebTidewaterVA or 1-800-525-3243

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

I disagree with the increasingly unpopular advice about giving kids milk after the age of 1. I don't personally know anyone babies, or adults who thrive on the ultra pasteurized AND homogenized milk that's available in our stores. After all that processing, what's left is something so undigestible, it's no wonder our bodies (big and small) reject it through allergies.

Allergic reactions of all kinds is the way your body gets rid of something threatening whether it comes from food or the environment, your body cannot deal with it.

There are many other foods that give us better nutrition than denatured milk. http://notmilk.com/a.html

~L.
www.bodyrules.com

S., my daughter had the same problem, she did fine with other dairy products, but had a huge problem with milk. I asked the doctor how long I should continue trying it and they said two weeks! She had a rash and I couldn't let her go through that for two weeks! I suplemented the dairy she was missing in the milk itself with other dairy products. To this day (she is 11 now)she doesn't drink much milk, but will drink it with ovaltine or something like that mixed in with it. I was later told that she didn't have a milk "allergy" per se. She still eats all other dairy foods with no problem!

that's a really good question, something I've never thought about. You could take your little one for a food allergy test, the results come back quick. Results may not always be reliable, but switching to soy if you fear she may have a milk allergy while waiting on the results is not a bad idea. Plus, vanilla soy milk tastes great and has the recommended percentage of calcium! yum.

S., the best way to test for a food allergy is exactly how the pediatrician told you. Try a little, and if there is a reaction, stop and see if the reaction goes away. Without doing this little test, you really can't tell if is a food allergy or something else that occurred at the same time.

Allergies can appear at any time, even if she has been exposed to the proteins before. The earlier exposures may have been during the sensitizing phase, it just happened that this exposure moved her reaction over the threshhold into where the symptoms are visible.

I would also check with your pediatrician about giving Benadryl to a child this young. That particular anti-histamine has some effects on another totally unrelated system, so it is important to check before you give children's strength medicines to infants, no matter what the package says.

Girl,sounds like she is allergic.......I have many friends who had the same thing happen to their babies(toddlers), most of them outgrew it by the time they were 2 though. Both of our boys were on formula, and at 11-12 months whe we were done with formula container we just gave them whole milk(organic), no mixing or anything....they had no reactions (nothing).If you're breasfeeding she is getting what she needs, and when time comes you can try soy milk, goats milk, rice milk. The reason whole cows milk is reccomended from ages 1-2 is for the fat for the brain.There are lots of other healthy sourses that she can get everything that whole milk has in it.My 2 cents

Hello S.,

Dairy products are funny. You have to look at two different variables: casein (protein found in dairy), and lactose (sugar found in dairy).

Casein is found in ALL dairy products, but lactose is not found in cheese and yogurt and other dairy products.

Hope this help,
M.

Hi S.,
It does sound like a reaction to the milk to me. Besure to keep some Children's Benedryl on hand for reactions like this. However if she's had cheese and yogurt, she doesn't have a milk allergy. Had she had any shots or new foods around the time of the milk attempt?
When I switched my daughter over, it was a few days after her 1 year shots. she got all congested, runny nose, etc. so I stopped. I was positive that she was allergic to milk, but she had had yogurt, cheese, etc. so I too was confused. I happen to see an allergist who saw her and ran a food test against milk, and said that my daughter tested neg for a milk allergy. Turns out she was having a reaction to the shot, not the milk. However, I have noticed that when she drinks 2% milk she is fine, but when she drinks whole milk she gets congested. This is a similar reaction to me. I make sure that I buy things made with 2%. Check the yogurt that she ate without a problem just to see what type of milk its made with and use that as a starting point.
Best of luck.
M.

I'd breastfeed as long as you can. It's better for your daughter and cheaper than buying milk. ;-)

Hi S.,
I breastfed and supplemented with formula (which is milk based). My son was getting congested and it wouldn't go away and then he started to break out in little rashes in the creases of his extremities. I eventually took him to an allergist and they drew his blood and did an allergy profile. It turns out he is allergic to milk, soy, wheat and corn, but milk is what he is MOST allergic too. I don't feed him any of these items and there is no longer rashes or congestion. So you may want to get an allergy profile done.

S.-

I would just skip the milk for now. You can still wean her off of a feeding without turning to dairy. There are some really good Toddler drinks available. I use Baby's Only. It is organic and comes in Soy or Dairy based. It is available online or at most good health food stores. It is not that expensive. You can also try fortified rice milk.
You might want to consider not turning to milk as a regular drink. While it is wonderful for calcium and vitamin D, it is also full of saturated fat, and unless you are buying organic, is loaded with growth hormones. Dairy has been implicated in a lot of childhood ailments. Talk to your pediatrician, but go in with information on your side. Do some research and have a list of questions when you go in. For now your Daughter's body is telling you it is not tolerating the milk.

M. p.

S.,
You Dr. as many Dr.'s is not very educated about nutrition. They are only required to take one nutrition course in their education. I advise my doula clients to seek out a nutritionist or a holistic pediatrician. My son's Dr. was a nutritionist before going to med school.
Anyway, Yes, your daughter can have a dairy allergy. I would suggest trying goat's milk before cow's milk. It is the closest to human milk. Most people have some degree of lactose intolerance. No big deal if she is allergic to dairy. There is also rice milk, almond milk and hemp seed milk.
Lots of options.
Take your time. Please feel free to contact me if you want a referral to a pediatrician who is very knowledgabe about nutrition and will listen; or if you have other questions.
Peace,
L.

My daughter(s) had The same (rashes on skin and almost bloody rash in diaper area) reaction to rice and strawberries/ green beans. MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM IS NOT FULLY DEVELOPED UNTIL FOUR YEARS OF AGE, so some foods may be fine as she gets older. He told me to keep them off rice and straw/beans until they were four. My six year old can have rice and strawberries without any problems (she ate strawberries at age three, rice had to wait until four, based a few accidental tastes). My four year old has had no reaction to rice. The beans are o.k. except when she had to go back to pull-ups (totally different story).
The advise your doctor gave you is consistent with what my doctors say, and my experience.
About preparing to talk to a doctor; I try to find out the reasoning a doctor has behind a diagnostic conclusion they give me. This way, if something else happens, or I remember something later, I have a pretty good Idea if it is related to the same problem or a new situation. I can also notice, if the symptoms persist or change, if they don't match what the doctor told me.
Hope this helps.

I would recommend continuing to breastfeed your daughter to provide her the calcium she needs and whole milk yogurt and cheese to provide her the fat she needs for brain development. Breastmilk is superior to cow's milk or soy milk in all ways and as long as she's being fed in all other food groups, she doesn't NEED regular milk.
She doesn't seem to have a true milk allergy, since she can tolerate cheese and yogurt. If she's having problems with milk, she will most likely have issues with ice cream, since they're so similar in composition. However, since she's having some issues with milk, wait till September to introduce it again. If she still has a reaction, I would recommend allergy testing. Perhaps at her 15month appointment, if she's still having a reaction, you can push it then. Good luck!

Both my sons are allergic to milk. However, their reactions are immediate, hives on contact with milk protein, vomiting, facial swelling. This includes cheese, ice cream, yogurt and anything containing milk protein. I thought my youngest was tolerating yogurt and things containing milk until one day I took his shirt off about half hour after feeding him and found hives on his chest and back.

I would say your experience so far is inclusive which may be why your peditrician didn't have big response (though I also don't think many peditricians understand true food allergies.) However, if she does have an allergy and you continue to feed her dairy products her symptoms could get worse.

FAAN http://www.foodallergy.org/ is a great place to start your research. I also suggest you go see an allergist for testing. An allergist can help you determine if your child has a true allergy and you can go from there better educated and feeling confident in your next step.

K. Mother to two boys with food allergies to milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and sunflower seeds