To cut out dairy and eggs or not and for how long?

[Breadly]

DD (13months) is is allergic to cows milk and eggs. I breastfed from birth and am still feeding. When she was born she had explosive yellow poos, up to 12 a day. Very windy, poor sleeper - I remember asking the health visitor in despair if there was something wrong, she said it was normal. Another one said it was colic and suggested gripe water. Then she went through a period of green poos - different health visitor said I wasn't feeding her long enough before changing breast. I asked both if they thought it could be milk allergy (my cousin was allergic as a baby) and both brushed me off. She always had dry skin but by 4 months she had developed eczema, diagnosed by the Gp but never getting better despite all the creams she gave me. I asked her again about allergy and she said it was just eczema. I didn't feel she listened to me so read a bit on the internet and tried a milk free diet for 2 weeks. It didn't seem to make a difference (though now I'm not sure I did it properly - I didn't think to check food labels). When I started weaning her, she had came up in a rash when I gave her yogurt and egg. We've just been to the allergy clinic and again I don't feel listened to - her skin test was positive for milk and egg and I told them that I'd tried to go milk free myself but wasn't sure I'd done it properly and it hadn't made a difference. They didn't tell me to do it again or to stop breastfeeding but did give me formula to add into meals instead of cows milk and said to avoid eggs. I'm feeling guilty feeding her when her skin is so aeful, but I'm really confused as I font know whether I'm making it worse, or if changing my diet or stopping breastfeeding will help her. If I'm honest, I did feel a bit of negativity from the doctors about still breastfeeding but not sure if that's because of her age or because I'm poisoning her. Is it possible that she has a milk allergy thats NOT affected by breastfeeding (or is that impossible). The more I read, the more confused I get and I don't feel very supported by the hospital. Help!

[Breadly]

Anyone?

[lljkk]

How much hassle would it be for U to cut out milk products & eggs?
Why not give it a try for 3 weeks & see if anything seems to improve.
Best of Luck. x

[DontWannaBeObamasElf]

I've cut out dairy for the same reason. My HV told me that dieticians recommend trialling for 2-4 weeks to allow the dairy to leave both systems and give the diet a chance to take effect if it actually is an allergy. It's horrible seeing them suffer

[pringlecat]

If she's confirmed by a doctor as allergic to milk and eggs, stop eating milk and eggs yourself or switch to formula. If her eczema/general health is still bad, there may be another allergen/trigger that you haven't found yet - don't assume the changes have made no difference.

It can take a while to find and eliminate all triggers, because you can only really phase one out at time and keep a diary to confirm the effect. But do stick with it.

[user1493022461]

What formula did they give you?

[Breadly]

Thanks. I will cut both out and see. I'm not sure if they said milk was an allergy or an intolerance. Im not sure of the difference to be honest. We tried alimentum but she didn't like it and was losing weight so they gave us neocate.

[Stokey]

Instead of formula, you could try milk substitutes like almond milk, oat milk or soy. These are earlier for you to incorporate into your diet. If you can afford it, you could see a private nutritionist who would draw up a diet plan for you.

[Stokey]

*easier for you not earlier!

[user1493022461]

If she's either allergic to dairy or lactose intolerant you do need to cut dairy out while you are feeding her. Given them protections that extended breastfeeding will give her I would absolutely not stop

You're not actually suggesting that cutting out dairy would help if its lactose intolerance are you?

[Idontneedanotherhero]

My little boy is CMPA (allergic to the protein in cows milk) - he is 13 months and I am still breastfeeding him. He was a very unhappy, sicky baby with terrible skin and sniffly breathing but despite going back and forwards to the doctors he was not diagnosed until I weaned him at 6 months and he reacted to cows milk with swelling and hives. I gave up dairy immediately, its hard to do at the beginning, as it's in all sorts of things that you wouldn't think of, he improved almost immediately but it took about 4 weeks for all his symptoms to disappear. I'd be happy to help you with any questions you have etc, just message me :)

[Badbadbunny]

Eggs aren't dairy.

It is "possible" that your DD is alergic to both, but highly unlikely as they're completely different food groups. If allergic to both, it's a coincidence rather than anything else.

[evensmilingmakesmyfacehurt]

My DS has CMPA (cows milk protein allergy) and also wheat intolerance.

When breastfeeding I had to cut out all dairy, soya and wheat. My GP prescribed calcium supplements as well.

It takes around 4 weeks for all traces of dairy to leave your system so you should see an improvement after 4-6 weeks if you cut out dairy, sometimes worth cutting out soya as well because this has the same proteins as dairy.

It is a pain but once you're in the swing of things you really do find it easier. There are also websites and Facebook groups dedicated to people breastfeeding with Allergy babies. It's a good support network / sounding board.

With regards to eggs, you can use egg replacer in your diet if you continue to feed yourself. Also watch out for all ingredients on the packets, some sneak in there without you realising.

I have recently switched DS to Neocate formula as he will be going to nursery soon and I can't express enough for him. The Neocate is amino acid based so is suitable for babies with all kinds of allergies as it doesn't contain the allergens.

Another poster said about alternative mills, if you don't want to BF anymore then Neocate can be used up to 2yrs old as a main milk drink. You can use coconut, almond, oat milk as well (we use oat and coconut milk in cooking)

[Teabagtits]

It's important to remember that dairy proteins are in so many things you would expect (e.g. Cold meats, crisps tv) you need to look at labels and see if they include proteins such as casein which is what my dd reacted to the most despite it still being in some df formulas. Going df is actually really easy but it takes a while to get used to reading the labels.

[Teabagtits]

*wouldnt expect

[Badbadbunny]

Re timescales, our son had awful problems with cow's milk - green slimy nappies, clearly unhappy, etc. GP and health visitor were chocolate fireguards and no help at all. (This was years ago before intolerances were so widely known about).

We ended up taking advice from a quack who suggested goats milk or soya milk. We tried goats milk and noticed a different almost immediately, so it doesn't need to take several days or weeks.

[Namebot]

I'm also dairy free because I have an allergic baby. He had bad eczema from about 16 weeks and while I suspected dairy it was only when I was weaning him and aw his reaction when I gave him cream cheese that I eliminated it. Later, blood tests confirmed his allergies.

I would agree that it took 4-6 weeks to make a difference. I actually feel better for cutting out dairy and I've lost weight too.

Oatly is the best alternative that I've found.

Baby's eczema is much better - although he was also under the dermatologist.

I would hesitate to replace dairy with soy as babies are often allergic to both, although my son is ok for soya.

[Namebot]

Re:goats milk - my friend's baby had severe cmpi and when he tried goats milk he had a severe reaction ( tongue, face swelling). I would have some liquid piriton to hand if trying new milks.

[NotISaidTheWalrus]

It's worth remembering that the majority of people who believe their children have allergies actually have no diagnosis, and you will find the internet full of people giving you advice with no medical background, and little actual knowledge.

OP speak to your dr's, and get proper advice, not internet advice.

[ppeatfruit]

Liz Earle's book about Vital Oils is very helpful for eczema. it suggests that that we all need more essential fatty acids in our diets,; like evening primrose, starflower oil and or fish oils. It's worth looking at. both for you and your LO.

[evensmilingmakesmyfacehurt]

@NotISaidTheWalrus

I would agree with obtaining a GP / Paed diagnosis and we have had fabulous support on the NHS from our GP who actually listened to what i was saying, took notice of the food diaries and photos of reactions and referred us to the hospital for testing & advice as well as prescribing hypoallergenic formula.

My HV was of the thought that milk allergies don't exist and told me he was just 'colicky' and breastfed babies lose weight also that his nasty red eczema all over was just something babies get - he went from 92nd to 9th centile within a couple of months because feeding when I was eating dairy & wheat was obviously causing him pain and he didn't want to feed from me.

The list goes on but I guess my point is that a lot of mums with babies who have allergies also have unsupportive health professionals who don't follow the allergy route and therefore don't have an official diagnosis.

[NotISaidTheWalrus]

That is true, but in that case they need to fine better HCP's, NOT replace it with internet advice, which can be at best misguided, and at worst down right dangerous.

Some people turn into zealots...look at any single thread on here about baby feeding etc, no matter what the problem at least one person will pop up every time and suggest cutting out dairy and/or gluten, eggs, citrus, air....! It's ridiculous.

[Namebot]

^^ I agree - an exclusion diet should not be undertaken lightly. However, when I told the consultant that I suspected dairy allergy they said to exclude and check for an improvement. The blood tests took two months to come back and even then the allergy professor told me blood tests could provide a false negative. But I agree that a lot of what is online is projected orthorexia.