Milk challenge - how did you manage to make your LO gulp down so much milk?!

[eskimomama]

Hi there,

So we had our first milk challenge for our 20 mo DD last week in hospital. She was kind of ok with 5ml by the syringe, then very reluctant for 20ml, and extremely reluctant (ie screaming, kicking and fighting for her life) for 25ml...
After the 25ml she developed hives around her mouth/neck, not too badly though and they seemed to disappear on their own, so the doctor wanted to keep going with 50ml and later 70ml...

Unfortunately DD was having none of it - we tried with the cup, with a yoghurt (ie smaller amount of it as yoghurt is more concentrated in protein), yoghurt with sugar while watching Peppa Pig on daddy's lap.... nothing worked and she just screamed until she fell asleep...
After this she refused to have anything near her mouth, refused lunch, and almost refused the breast (I'm still breastfeeding her).

As a result the doctor and nurses said she must have been too small for the test and will reschedule it when she turns 2 (in October).... and said they'll probably go directly to the 50ml....

My question is - how on earth do you make your LO accept to swallow so much milk in one go???
She obviously hated the taste+the coldness, on top on the hospital settings and syringes...
I was thinking of introducing soy yoghurts (with jam/mashed fruit) to help her accept the dairy yoghurt when the next test comes... but 50ml and 70ml are a LOT... or warming it and adding chocolate powder to it?

I know I've got time but suggestions are MOST welcome, or we'll "fail" the test again...
thanks

[Weta]

Am pleased to hear your test went comparatively well despite "failing" at the end!

We are doing a very gradual desensitisation programme with DS1 - started at about a drop a year ago and he is now up to 80 ml a day in two separate doses (so 40 ml for each dose).

I don't know if our experience will be any help for your hospital challenge, but we have had a lot of trouble getting him to accept the milk as he hates the taste of it, plus it does sometimes cause a bit of itching etc. We mix it into a glass of rice milk (his normal milk as he doesn't like soy)... he also doesn't like it when it's cold from the fridge so I leave it out for 15 minutes or so. Chocolate rice milk seems to work best :) The only problem is that you then have to convince the child to drink the entire glass (we use a smallish one). Maybe you could experiment with getting her used to different types of rice/soy milk and try to find one she really likes.

Also consider the option of bribery if she has enough understanding for that by October :) maybe a toy of some sort? We were having a lot of trouble with getting my son to do it twice a day until my mum suggested a points system for downing the glass in less than a minute, in exchange for cash (he is 7).

But that is really great news that she managed the 25ml and that they think it is ok to go for 50 ml. Let us know how you get on in October!!

[eskimomama]

Thanks Weta - will def try the chocolate option (with oat milk maybe). She also hates it when it's fridge cold, no need to say yoghurt on a syringe didn't work too well :)
I think she'll be a bit young for bribery though ;)

[nellymoo]

Strawberry nesquick is your friend

[trixymalixy]

If she's so reluctant and coming out in hives, it could be making her uncomfortable surely? I think I would kick up an almighty fuss at being forced to drink something that was making my mouth feel funny At DS's milk challenge they stopped at the first hint of hives.

I don't think the problem here is the taste or the coldness or her age, it's the fact that she's allergic to milk!!!

[Weta]

trixymalixy does have a point... at our first one they continued till he vomited but for the second one, which I was much more comfortable with, they stopped at the first sign of tummyache etc and would definitely have stopped for hives.

I was thinking about this last night and thinking that October seemed quite soon to try again - may be worth considering whether you want to wait a bit longer to give her a better chance of growing out of it and also for her to be a bit older? I know I found our first one so traumatic that there was no way I would have done it again in less than a year :)

[eskimomama]

I know Trixy, I was also expecting them to stop the test and let us go home at 25ml, but they insisted that she takes more (not sure what for - maybe to see at what amount she'd have a "real" anaphylactic shock?!)...
Tired of contradicting medical guidelines...

[Weta]

eskimomama I know you are in France, and this does sound very like the approach they took in Montpellier with my DS. At age 2.5 he failed the challenge at 5 ml, by which time they had ignored all kinds of signs (can't remember exactly but definitely a rash and probably hives) and pushed it until he vomited and was essentially having a full-blown reaction.

The hospital then kept ringing us every 6 months to ask us to do another one but we just said no, especially as his blood tests didn't indicate any improvement. You do have rights :) and you could say you prefer to wait a year till the next one (if that's what you actually want).

[eskimomama]

that's great advice Weta - sounds like DD knew what they were planning behind our backs and made sure it wouldn't happen. What is the point of trying until the last limit??!