Wondering If My 11 Month Old Has a Milk Allergy

I didn't think you are supposed to give a baby under one year cow's milk - and I thought it was because it's harder on their system / doesn't provide enough of the important ingredients for adequate growth, etc. for a baby that young. I don't know for sure the reasoning behind waiting until after a year, but that could be why when given too much, your 11 month old can't handle it.

Also, if there is a true milk allergy, there would be blood in the stool (sometimes too small to detect with the naked eye - so they'd have to test it in the lab). Maybe your doctor could order that test to be sure. Does your baby cry after eating (as if belly pains)?

I have a similar problem if I try to drink whole milk on a regular basis. The doc told me it isn't an allergy because I can eat stuff like yogurt, cheeses, etc without the same problems. My doc has told me it is likely a sensativity to the fat content in whole milk. I would talk with the pediatrician first and see about trying her on 2% milk. It still has fat in it, just not as much as the whole milk. Hopefully that will work better for her at higher percentages of milk to breast milk or formula.

Hi J....My son (who is now 5 yrs old) had a similar issue. He was 12 months when I started transitioning him from breast milk to whole cows milk. He got diarrhea every time...really terrible diarrhea. He ended up having a sensitivity to casein which is the milk protein. He could handle a little cheese or yogurt but that was it. We started him on silk soy milk...the plain calcium enriched kind...and he has no problems with it. We were also told he may grow out of his sensivity. He is now 5 and has never totally grown out of it. He has less of a reaction but it still doesn't quite sit right with him. He can have ice cream, yogurt or cheese without trouble though. At his 5 year ped appt the doctor said he may never completely grow out of it since he hasn't at this point. He reminded me that it was no big deal though. He still gets his calcium from the enriched soy milk, yogurt and cheese. I just have to be sure to take soy milk along when needed. Good luck!

Hi J.. Its probably that she can digest it properly you shouldn't be trying milk until at least 1 and its because they can't digest it. Believe me if she had a dairy allergy you'd know she wouldn't be able to tolerate the cheese and other dairy w/o a problem.

There's no magic to cow's milk - it's a perfect food for calves but that's about it. Switch to all formula or some other milk substitute. Or you could add a children's supplement called Now for Kids which has no dairy in it but tons of great nutrition - the scientist who formulated it was on the team who developed ProSoBee infant formula and was also the nutritional consultant for Weight Watchers foods. Totally safe, no warning labels, and fantastic absorption rate, so your little one will gain weight safely. Let me know if you want more info. Good luck!

The general rule of thumb is that babies do not start milk until they are 12 month old. They should be getting full amounts of formula or breast milk up until that point for brain and bone development.

Hi J.. I had a similar problem with my oldest son, who couldn't tolerate anything but breast milk. He, however, would put his tongue in the way or getting the breast in his mouth, so he never breast fed. I expressed milk for about 9 months. When we tried formulas, they all seemed to bother his stomach; bad bowel movements. What we did, just before trying goats milk (the doctor objected to that) was to put him on the acidophilus milk and he was fine. He was lactase intolerant until just a few years ago. He is now 32-years old. So you may want to look for the acidophilus milk with the live bacteria culture.

Lots of luck. AND remind all friends and family, he can not tolerate the homogenized milk. So if he is visiting, they will know.