Do You Have Experience Of Milk Allergies In Babies?
Posted by: Alan in Milk Allergies, tags: Allergies, Babies, Experience, Have, Milk
Hi,
My son is just over 4 weeks old and cries all day when awake; its very rare that he has anytime awake when he isn’t crying and seeming in pain. Our GP thinks he may be colicky so suggested we try infacol which didn’t seem to make much difference (we’ve also tried all the anti-colick bottles going!). We changed his formula from cow and gate comfort to aptimal at the beginning of last week which seemed to calm his belly a little but didn’t stop the crying! We saw a paeditrician on friday about a seperate matter and he suggested he may have reflux so prescribed infant gaviscon; and guess what? the belly ache has returned with a vengence and hes now constipated too! So we are going to stop using it as its made him worse rather than better.
I was wondering though if anyone knows what symptoms come with a milk allergy? He’s not a very sicky baby (he might throw up a mouthful after a feed but thats it) and he’s putting on weight well so far. However, he does get a lot of diarrhoea, belly ache (like colick, with a red face, pulling legs up, etc) and he also has a rash all over his face, shoulders and chest which the doc says is milk spots but look quite severe to me. As i say, he also cries constantly whenever hes awake. Do you think he might have a milk allergy? What symptoms should I look for?
Thanks for your help!
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February 13th, 2010 at 6:53 am
I know of an one year old baby boy who doesn’t react well with milk. He vomits minutes after starting a bottle (everything that he took in comes back out), and fusses as though he has a belly ache. Now I think they have him on a soy milk and soy formula mix, which he is doing well with.
February 13th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
i think you should swich to neotranogen milk its a powder milk that has soya in it my sisters baby had the same problem when she swiched her baby was better within the first few days
it is a smelly milk but if he is alergic then change milk to soya
February 13th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
My daughter had a cow milk allergy at first and all she did was throw up. It then turned into being lactose intolerant. She never did any of the things you are describing so I don’t think that is what your son has.
February 13th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
You could try Nutramigen milk, it’s for lactose intolerant babies.
If you live in the U.K. then you can get it on prescription as it’s pretty expensive.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Yes, diarrhea, colic, and a rash are classic signs of an allergy. He could have a milk allergy and need to be on a milk-free formula or you could build back your milk supply and breastfeed him. Sadly, many babies cannot tolerate formula, despite all the advertising and cultural ideas about how great formula is for all babies. You might be in for a miserable time trying to figure out which formula, if any, your baby can eat and feel better with.
If you went to a lactation consultant, working with her to build up your milk supply, you could probably build up your milk supply pretty well over a few months. It might help even if you just did it a little. Most breastfed babies don’t have these problems unless they have an allergy to something Mom is eating. It’s a lot easier to cut a food out of your diet than it is to find a different formula than the average ones, however.
Good luck! It might be worth asking for a second or third opinion from other pediatricians as well. Yours might not have as much experience with things like this, and if you feel like your concerns aren’t being adequately addressed, getting a second opinion can either verify your worries and make things better or solidify that some parts of the problem aren’t a big deal.
February 14th, 2010 at 3:28 am
Babies do have soft poo; they only have milk so it is normal. It may not be diarrhoea. But if you are worried show your heath visitor a sample.
Babies tend to pull up their legs, for one reason they are used to that position as they had to have their legs up in the womb. Another reason is when they poo there isn’t much to push on to get it out – same goes with the red face.
Most babies’ skin looks imperfect once they are in the big wide world. The environment is rough on their skin. They have gone from being submerged in water (which is very drying in itself) to dealing with heat and cold, a rough material and soft material and viruses and soap… If the spots stay the same and they have already been checked out then I wouldn’t worry.
Most formula milk is pretty much the same. It is chemically enhanced cows milk and missing all the magical ingredients. The medical advice is do not switch to formal soy milk unless you have spoken to a doctor as it has a high sugar level which can damage teeth inside the gums.
Babies cry because it is there only way of communicating and it is relentless so as to make us do something – anything. It is the survival instinct. If the parent could ignore the cry then the need would not get met.
Perhaps it is another cause? It took four long months with my eldest to realise that most of the problem times he was tired and had not learnt to go to send himself to sleep. When he was tired he would cry and I would be keeping him awake with trying to feed him, changing his nappy, removing layers of clothing, taking them away, waving a rattle at him etc. The day I established a sleeping routine with him was bliss.
If it is reflux then sitting upright after the feed will help and won’t cause any side affects.
February 14th, 2010 at 4:10 am
I had to change my daughters formula after just one week because of a milk allergy. Her symptoms were frequent mucusy stools, a red ring around her rectum that wouldn’t go away with any ointment, and gastric pains ( I could literally hear her stomach digesting). Anti-gas medications didn’t help. I changed her over to a soy formula and noticed changes in just a couple of days.
She is much better now (2 weeks later) except for some mild constipation which we are working on by giving her small amounts of pedialyte everyday to help “lube” her up.
Milk allergies run in my family, so I wasn’t suprised to find that my daughter has one too. You might consider family history. You might also try changing her formula. If it doesn’t help, at least you know. And if it does, everyone benefits.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:41 am
http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Foo…
Milk Protein Allergy
What is Milk Protein Allergy?
A food allergy exists when a body has an abnormal reaction to food. A person who is allergic to dairy is normally reacting to one or more proteins found in cow’s milk. Typical reactions to milk protein(s) allergy involve problems associated with the skin, the stomach/intestines and or breathing.
Allergies to milk protein are more common in infants and children, and are usually to casein. Generally, adults milk reactions are caused by lactose but adults have been known to be allergic to milk protein. Milk protein allergy in infants can be detected as early as 9 days.
Milk Protein Allergy Reactions: -
· Skin reactions:
Itchy red rash
Eczema
Hives (urticaria)
Swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, face or throat
Allergic “Shiners”
· Stomach and intestinal reactions
Abdominal pain
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Gas
Cramping
· Nose, throat and lung reactions:
Watery and/or itchy eyes or itchy nose
Runny nose (rhinorrhea: heavy discharge from nose)
Sneezing
Coughing
Wheezing
Shortness of breath
· Other more long-term symptoms can include:
Depression
Anxiety
Lethargy and fatigue
Migraine
Sleeplessness
Irritability
Inattentiveness
Children may have a ‘glazed’ look
Hyperactivity in children
Bed-wetting in children
[...]
Dietary Therapy for Milk Protein Allergy in Infants
If weaned, usually soy based formula, although 25% of infants allergic to milk are also allergic to soy. These babies are put on pre-digested formula eg. Pregestimil or Nutramigen, which have all the properties and carbohydrates hydrolysed (broken down).
If breastfed, the mother may need to go on a dairy free diet herself to eliminate the possibility of milk products reaching the baby through her breast milk.
February 14th, 2010 at 11:16 am
O dear….we have tried every brand of Similac that there is!!! Along with Rice Dream milk, and Neocare milk…All of which to find out…She was allergic to the MILK! So from about…9 months of age till she was 18 months old she was on Similac Isomil Soy formula. Then we re-introduced cows milk. ANd she’s ok with it. But she really doesn’t care for it plain. So I normally add a little bit of strawberry syrup.
Some things that helped us/her dr determine the allergy was… her bottom was ALWAYS broke out, no matter what cream we used, or what diaper we used. After every feeding she would throw up (milk), she started getting a rash/dots around her mouth, cheeks, and neck…then eventually were all over her body (hives). When on regular formula she had a very very loose stool the majority of the time.
When we switched her to SOY milk…everything cleared up, and she was fine. She had even lost weight within a 2 month period because of having such a loose stool, and because of throwing up soo much. To this day she is still underweight.
As for the reflux…it is common to have reflux and be allergic to the milk. The was one of the first things her DR said she had…but because we were giving her medicine, it wasn’t helping with the milk, so he sent us to Akron Children’s Hosital to have a ‘Upper G.I.’ done. Which they give the child barium to drink, and have them lay on a table and have a x-ray type machine over them to watch how many refluxes they have while drinking the barium. My daughter had like 12 within a 3 minute period. So we were given a antibiotic for the reflux, then changed her formula to soy and everythng was fine. She is now 21 months old and can drink regluar cows milk. And doesn’t have to take the antibiotic anymore. So I would definatly think about trying Soy formula. And if that seems to help, when you do interoduce solids (not for awhile though) I would read ALL LABELS and anything that said it had milk in it…don’t give him. It’s a pain…but well worth it. If it means having a happy baby.
If you need more info…contact me Cugini2006@yahoo.com or you can im me.
Good luck