cows milk allergy

[babybear5]

does anyone have any experience of this in infants. I have been told to give my 17 month old daughter a milk free diet for 6 weeks to see if she has an allergy. She has a long history of being unwell with chest infections, colds and poor weight gain so they are now trying to connect this with a possible allergy. They are not thinking lactose intolerance but cows milk allergy due to her symptoms. I am none the wiser on either..can anyone help?

[Shoni]

Hi when I was a baby I could not have baby milk or anything dairy and it was due to me being lactose intolerance,so my family told me! When I was feeding the milk would run through and out my body both ends without digesting! I lost lots of weight, hope this helps?????

[MeMySonAndI]

Try it for 2 weeks, it is well worth it.

During DS first 2 years he was always bloated, and suffered from severe eczema, constipation, a constant runny nose, was wheezy all the time, etc etc.

We tried him in a completely free of dairy diet for 2 weeks, and we couldn't believe the change, all the symptoms above disappeared after 2-3 weeks, he became more active as well. He became a completely different child.

Restricted diets are always a hassle, but once you see the change they can make you realise they are worthy of all the extra effort.

[mintyneb]

babybear, try posting on the allergy board (appears under the health topic) you might get some more advice. My 4 yo DD is allergic to cows milk but she has another underlying condition that masked the symptoms when she was a baby but as soon as she was given some milk/cheese type sauce at about 7 months she had instant hives around her mouth and chin and was massivelt distressed.

I think that generally allergic reactions tend to involve hives/nettle type rash where the milk or milk product has touched the skin plus vomiting etc. An intolerance would provide more digestive type problems as you've described.

If you do go dairy free, you must make sure you read all food packaging lables as milk / milk protein / whey powder appears in all sorts of foods. eg plain crisps, cheaper packets of processed ham, bread coatings on most fresh fish or chicken nuggets.

Again threads in the allergy section will give tips on dairy alternatives you can use

By the way, who is suggesting that your daughter might have an allergy? the GP or paediatrician etc?