Milk and Egg Allergy - some advice please

[harverina]

Hi there,

My DD is 6 months old and is breastfed. We started weaning her roughly 10 days ago. Last week she had an allergic reaction after eating strawberries and yogurt - red rash over body, swollen eays, gagging. She appeared able to breasth though.

We were very lucky to be seen by the allergy consultant yesterday. The waiting list is usually 6-8 weeks.

My DD was given skin prick tests and was found to be allergic to milk and eggs.

I am so disappointed by these result. I was so excited to start weaning and now I just feel so anxious about it all.

Just looking for some advice and reassurance? We have piriton now which we have to keep with us. Have so many questions that I wish I had asked the consultant but they didn't come into my head until after the appointment!...

1. how careful do I have to be? I.e if I have a cup of tea with milk then kiss my DD could she have a reaction?

1. Is milk all forms of milk or just cows milk?

1. I am continuing to breastfeed but the cinsultant says I should introduce the prescibed formula to get my DD used to it(i.e in food and the odd bottle...my DD has never had formula)???

Sorry if these seem totally stupid questions. Struggling to get my hed around this TBH. Just feel bad for my DD and praying that she will grwo out of it at some point. No even sure how bad her allergy is. The nurse commented that the welts in the skin prick test were not huge?

Any advice would be appreciated.

And sorry for the typos too

Hi you've definitely come to through right place to ask, my ds is allergic to milk and eggs too and we bf until 8 months as I was back to work at 7m. I started giving him half breastmilk, half formula and working up to full formula. He is now almost 10months and is so much better and I've got my head around it all now. Weaning is fine, just read all the labels carefully, can't remember the website but there are lists of names to look out for that mean egg or milk in ingredients. Also look at the baby whisperer forum, that helped me lots- if I can say that! Sorry not giving much more advice but its past my bedtime! Will have a think and come back tmrw x

Thanks for replying. I'm heading to bed too. The consultant and dietician told me that it wasnt necessar for me to cut dairy out of my diet - yet my DD does react when I have had alot of dairy. I have read on some sites that bf mothers should cut out the allergen too? Sorry for so many questions!

Quickly though-
1 different babies have different levels of tolerance, if you drink milk and bf and she is ok then that's promising.
2 again all babies are different but I tried goats milk and he reacted. Soy milk is not recommended under 1yr. We use rice milk on cereal and in mash etc
3 get going as soon as you can as I think it will only get harder. You don't have to give up bf but worth having odd bottles as some babies are completely opposed to teats. Good luck! X

The introduce formula thing is utter rubbish. Breastmilk can provide your baby with all the nutrients it needs for a while longer.

Ask for Insist on a RAST Test. DD1 is allergic to both these foods confirmed by RAST test. Skin prick test is not as reliable. It can give false positives in some foods but also can tell the level of allergic response: mild, moderate, severe.

The dietitician gave us a helpful food guide of foods which commonly contain hidden egg. It it turns out that you and her have to avoid these foods, ask for similar ones for milk and eggs.

The allergy is normally to cow's milk protein so milk from another mammal may not cause such a reaction or you can try soy or oat milk as a replacement for dairy.

If your dd is reacting to milk in your diet then cut it out. DD reacted to egg in my breastmilk. her eczema improved immensely when I stopped eating it. Improvement marked after a couple weeks.

Babies do not need any other mammal's milk if you are committed to continuing with breastfeeding to at least age 1. AFter one, they don't need milk at all.

There are plenty of cultures which have managed just fine without dairy in the diet after weaning. The Japanese, Chinese, All of north and south American Indians...

why does a 6 mo old baby need to get used to bottles and teats though? can't she just go straight to a sippy cup for all fluids?

If you are intending to continue to breastfeed, a bottle doesn;t make much sense. When dd went into nursery care at 7.5mo she did refuse bottles but I just sent her breast milk mixed in with rice crispies for her lunch. she could have water in a cup (the tomme tippee ones without a valve) if more fluids were necessary.

my ds had a severe reaction to dairy last week and ended up in a&e - so scary. i'm planning on bf for as long as possible so am doing my best to be dairy free. its so hard - dairy seems to be in everything - deli meats, lots of breads etc. i'm also avoiding soya until the rast test comes back because lots of lo's who are allergic to cows milk are also allergic to soya.

Hi I've been there too and my son is 3 now and still allergic unfortunately, although it is getting less severe.

1. Re the cup of tea - it's possible, depends on how much she reacts. In my sons case this may cause a hive on his face where the milk touched, which would go down in 10 mins with no medication needed.
2. If it is cows milk protein allergy like us, the advice we were given was that he was likely to react to goat / sheep as well as the proteins are similar. I think the figure is 80-90% of children will react to these if they react to cow (sorry have no idea of reference or whether this is right). Our doc advised not to try. In our case I risked a trial of goats milk yog and swiftly found out that it was just as bad as cow. Rice and oat milks are likely to be ok though. Soya could be a lifesaver if she is ok with it - you could test a bit on skin, or to be safe, ask for a skin prick / RAST test for it? We rely heavily on soy milk, soy cream, soy custard etc which are all good subsitutes.
3. Formula - we were in same situation and I agree with others - can go straight to sippy cup. We used formula (first nutramigen, then soy later when clinic said it was OK - think it was from age 1). He never really took to drinking the formula, but as you start to increase solid foods the milk goes down anyway and if you can carry on bfing morning and night that helps too. I mixed the formula into cereal, made pasta sauce and putddings with it - some people do this with expressed milk but I wouldn't have had enough for this. THe dieticians are concerned about calcium which is why they want to monitor the amount of formula / bm they get.

I felt exactly the same as you about the weaning - it is an exciting stage and suddenly realising you won't be doing macaroni cheese and scrambled egg is a bit of a blow. BUt, there are lots of delicious things you can make with a few staple subsitutes once you've worked out what your lo can have. You can make pasta, risotto, rice pudding, semolina etc with her special milk. Casseroles and stir frys are easy to do without milk and eggs. Even chocolate fudge cake and blueberry pancakes are possible and delicious , I can give recipes if anyone wants!

I'm sure you had advice from the consultant on other things but you don't say whether she was tested for any other allergies. If not the other common ones to look out for are wheat, nuts, fish and soya. Be careful about houmous, my friend was caught out by this as it has sesame in it.

Oops I think I've written an essay but am back on the boards as starting again with my 3 month old who is looking very dry and itchy and starting to go the same way as his brother! I'm a bit depressed as well that he hasn't escaped, but I know now that it will be OK in the end - we'll deal with whatever allergies he has (hoping fervently that it is not wheat and soya or some other combination opposite to his brothers!).

We have same allergies plus fish and also have never been advised to have epipen, just to use piriton when needed - not sure why, maybe the level of allergic-ness...
I agree btw on soya, would be safest to get it checked before trying it - I think it would be part of any routine screen as it is such a common allergen? Coconut was also in our RAST test so probably be careful with that too.
Good tip on the oatly cream - I will try it instead of buying yet more Alpro products for a change.

ooh just saw theres lots of discussion on allergy wilderness thread on grounds for epi pen prescription, if you're interested. Lots of informed /experienced people!

The allergy team at the Paediatric Research Unit at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London is testing a new milk formula for infants with actual or suspected Cow's Milk Allergy. This might be an opportunity for you to get some excellent and accurate advice for free and info from medical staff who are really into your problem. You can get the details by clicking on the flashing message on the home page at www.allergybestbuys.co.uk. Hope this helps.

Hi everyone, Thanks for your replies. An epi pen was not even mentioned. Not sure why and tbh. Thats why I wondered if they can tell the severity of the reaction. My dd didn't appear to struggle for breath but she did gag until she was sick.

heliotrope recipes would be appreciated. Thanks for your post it made me feel a bit better. I'm not feeling worried about what my dd cannot eat, we can deal with that. I suppose i'm just so scared in case she is allergic to other things and takes a severe reaction. This morning she had melon at breakfast. She has had alot of melon since we started weaning. She rubbed her eyes and the melon went right across them. Her eyes looked red and slightly puffy (were they?) and I convinced myself that she had taken a reaction. Even now i'm not sure. I'm turning into a nervous mess about it. Re. The Soya milk we have been told to avoid this at the moment but that we can let her have Soya yogurts.

Have posted recipes at www.mumsnet.com/Talk/allergies/1056684-Dairy-and-Egg-Free-Recipes
I see some one has put a ginger cake recipe on another thread (www.mumsnet.com/Talk/allergies/1045290-Top-tips-for-egg-allergy) which I will be trying as it looks lovely.

I guess you won't be doing cakes for a while anyway as you're at the weaning stage but you can have these to look forward to later. You're right to be cautious of new reactions - take weaning one food at a time, and piriton at the ready. Need to make sure family and friends take it seriously as well - even though ours know the situation they have been known to forget and decide to try the baby on some cream cake or something! I think sometimes they think we're fussing as there didn't seem to be so many allergies when they were bringing us up.

Hi my son has the same allegies he is now heading towards 4, the syptoms are the same since he was little.

In regard to breastfeeding, not sure why you need to give formula, ibreastfed till he was 16 months then swopped fully to soya milk, depends if you want to stop BF, looking back the dairy in my diet did have some effect on my son, but only if i had lots.
In regards to things like kissing your son when drinking tea, this does affect my son, nothing major i hive which soon goes.

Just be extra carefull as so many food you wouldnt expect have egg and dairy.
There are loads of alternatives out there, look on the alpro soya website they have some good alternatives also they will send you a recipe book.

it really isnt that bad, you soon get used to it!

and in regards to epipens very rarely needed for egg dairy allergys.

also high liklihood for them to grow out of the allergies.
One of the things my consultany said though was to introduce peanuts after the age of one, as if there out of the diet its likely a not allergy will occur. peanut butter, satay that kinda thing my son had.

Get used to read the packets most foods have a allegen bar which makes ir clear whats in it, some food say may contain milk egg etc, i give these to my son as these are to do with possible cross contamination and the small possible amout would have such a minimal reaction.

Also take your piroten everywhere!

sorry for rambling just adding bits as i thought about them!

Hi
I would try and give your consultant a ring - or does he have an assistant? Explain that the first appointment was quite overwelming and you have a few more questions to ask - thats how I found the allergy appointment anyway!!
The severity of the allergy is measured by the size and reaction speed of the prick test reaction iyswim, so the consultant will be able to tell you whether a tiny exposure could result in reaction or if Epipens might be needed - I suspect that he would have prescribed some if necessary as I didnt even mention epipens to the consultant but they were prescribed immediatly.
Sorry to ramble - trying to be quick. x

However - others dont seem to find the skin tests that reliable, it was in our case, but maybe worth talking to the consultant again just in case - sorry about typo's!!

woodhen and vodkacat, thanks for your replies - only noticed them tonight sorry

Vodkacat your post is very reassuring. We are getting ok with weaning. Making everything myself which I am enjoying and find it easier to avoid dairy and eggs.

I am feeling a bit better about it all now. A bit worried about going back to work and having to rely on child care - just in case someone slips her some dairy or egg, but will cross that bridge when I come to it next year.

So far we have no more reactions. I have noticed that my DD's face gets uite red and blotchy sometimes after a breastfeed and sometimes just randomly. It is also looking quite dry at some places. Wondering if she has eczima.

Does your DD have eczema?
My DD has the same allergies, also discovered at 6 months, she is now 13 months.
I still BF her now and cut all dairy and eggs from my diet and her skin (and sleep) improved dramatically, it took a bit of time though, I'd say a good month.

Our allergist was saying some babies don't react to the mom's diet though.
But I can see it on her skin after a couple days if the bread/biscuits/crisps/you-name-it-processed-food I ate contained hidden milk...
beware of chicken stock too, a lot of them contain eggs. I am an expert at reading ingredients now ;-)

Oh and make sure you mention the egg allergy when she's due to the MMR vaccine (13 months)! it contains egg!

good luck and don't worry, she is still very little so she won't miss out on those, and you will soon get used to checking everything.

No, my DD does not have eczema - althogh her skin on her face can be very red and blotchy at times when I have too much dairy.

Consultant told me not to cut milk and eggs out of my diet but to avoid large quantities of it as it does affect my DD. I tend to stay away from raw dairy and coffees made from milk. I havent noticed any difference in my DD when I have hidden, well cooked dairy/eggs. However, I suppose if I did completely cut ot all out I may see a difference in her sleep!

I was advised to cut dairy from my diet when I was breastfeeding as it was definitely affecting DS. So whatever your consultant says, it's probably wise to have as little as possible.

Check out the soya because although there's a common link between dairy and soya, my DS was absolutely fine with soya - which was a lifesaver. They might not need milk as they get older but they do need some form of calcium. I weaned from breastmilk to soya formula at 11-months (never had a bottle though, straight from breast to cups as foxytocin said). Thankfully by 3.5 yrs he'd outgrown dairy allergy, though not others.

I was always told that skin prick not that reliable and blood tests much better. They can cover off more potential allergens without too much distress to a little one. And beyond the common ones, there are so many random ones (I actually know a few adults who can't eat melon) that with weaning you just have to be vigilant with any new foods and introduce gradually in small amounts.

I wouldn't get too worried about epi-pens and stuff if your consultant wasn't worried. It's never been suggested to us. You'll probably find when you come to looking at child-care that they are very clued up these days about common allergies. Now DS is at school it is taken pretty seriously. If she is mostly ok with the dairy she gets through your breast milk, I'm sure a kiss after a cup of tea won't hurt. You'll learn to deal with it. It's annoying but manageable. Good luck.