is this rash a reaction to milk?

[CarolinaFullMoon]

I gave ds his first taste of cow's milk this morning, mixed in with his porridge. He's one next week and I've avoided giving him dairy products so far because there is a bit of a history of allergies and eczema on his dad's side.

He now has a nasty-looking red rash on his chin and throat which looks like nettlerash and seems to be a bit itchy. I haven't seen this before, so I can only assume it's a reaction to the milk. Is this a sign of dairy intolerance/allergy or is it something he'll grow out of if I keep giving him milk?

Could be, but could also be the day a virus or whatever sets in! I wouldn't give any more though until I'd seen a GP, just in case.

hmmm. The rash has gone now, so am finding it difficult to believe it's not breakfast-related.

Will see the GP about it, thanks.

Peachyclair - just wanted to say thanks for reminding me to see the GP. Stupid as it sounds, it hadn't actually occurred to me . Saw her this afternoon and she is referring ds to the local hospital's allergy clinic. Am slightly about it - I'd begun to think I was being ridiculously over-cautious by not giving him cow's milk sooner.

Hello

Does sound like a reaction im afraid.

Gave my dd formula in baby rice at 5 months and the same thing happened.

Did not think it was a reaction so tried again the next week and the same thing happened except this time it looked worse and she was crying.

Called GP and he confirmed it. The rash went down after a couple of hours.

So I continued only with breast and at about 8 months, I took a bottle of formula milk to a surgery where they weigh babies and got there when they started. I told the hv that I wanted to be in their company and try dd on milk in case she had a bad reaction as I know they can have a couple of mild reaction and then a sever one.
Fortunatley she was fine, she drank the milk, I waited two hours and nothing happened so I was delighted. It is quite common for babies to have a reaction and then outgrow it.
I am not sure if this counts at your childs age.

I would stay clear of all dairy for a few months and see your gp, they may suggest you try again at a later date. but if i were you i would try in your local clinic or near your hospital.

If yopu're not bf, get a prescription from your GP for formula (or when you want to use it in food / stop bf). For lactose intolerance I'd recommend EnfamilLactofree, for an allergy Nitramigen is the standard. try to avoid soya... cheaper for them to prescribe, but it has a really high sugar content (DS1 lost several teeth as a result!), and also many kids allergic to dairy are allergic to soya as well.

I am bf, fortunately. That's why it hasn't been too much of a hassle to keep ds dairy-free so far. Might even consider expressing it and making sauces, cheese etc from it .

about the soya! The GP mentioned trying soya, but that would prob be more hassle than avoiding dairy anyway at the moment.

We agreed I'd give goat's milk a go and avoid cow's milk and its products until we get to the allergy clinic.

Lovecloud, that's interesting about your dd. Glad to hear she grew out of it.

soya is quite a common allergen and there is a higher rate of nut allergy in babies given soya, although that may just be because they had a tendency to allergy anyway. Still best avoided. Goats milk proteins are quite similar to cows milk so the majority of babies who react to one will react to the other. However there are some who are lucky and don't so that is worth a try if you are prepared for a quick response if he does react (see separate discussion about piriton ).

If you can express enough to use in food that is the safest until he's tested. Give him probiotics to help him outgrow it, you can get non dairy ones in health stores.

Thanks Tatt. Are there probiotics in breastmilk or am I thinking of prebiotics?

I was joking about the expressing, really, I suppose. We're managing ok without any milk in his food atm - just bfing between meals, but I will need to think harder about calcium sources etc as he's starting to cut down on bfing of his own accord.

Before this happened, I was planning to introduce wheat, egg and citrus fruits v soon too - particularly wheat and egg so I can make him a birthday cake . Is it sensible to go ahead with that? Are there any precautions I should take with it?

have known people express to cook with expressed breast milk, though - just for the child, obviously, not the whole family Breast feeding helps ensure good bacteria in his gut but a top up wouldn't do any harm as he's cutting back on breast feeding. Try the yolk of a well cooked egg before the white and oats before wheat. You can make cake with xanthum gum, egg replacer and rice flour if you're worried. I'd have to look up the current guidance on weaning to see what age is recommended now, so don't want to say anything on that. A search for "weaning guide" in the archive might throw up a good one someone else posted.

He's been having oats (porridge) since about 9 months, with no problems that I can see. I've been following the advice in Lucy Burney's Optimum Nutrition, which is no egg, dairy, wheat or citrus fruit until 12 months.

Will try the yolk first and cooked flour rather than e.g. weetabix.

I remember reading a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe a couple of years ago for a white sauce made with breastmilk. He'd eaten it as well as feeding it to his son .

peachyclair do you remember type of soya milk used?? My ds is on soya. I just checked all milks in my fridge - cows milk full fat was 14.0gm sugar per 250ml, cows milk low fat was 12.5gm sugar per 250ml and soya full fat was 4.8gm sugar per 250ml. Does it differ brand to brand??

tatt - do you also recommend avoidance of peas and others in legume family with nut allergy or just soya??

it's only soya, not other legumes, that has been linked to nut allergy and other legumes are not such common allergens. That's why soya is the only one I metion. I think the problem with sugar in soya is that its added sugar, sucrose rather than lactose. Lactose is considered to be less likely to cause tooth decay. But that is just from memory, I haven't checked and my memory post children isn't always reliable

I don't know what to do with this. He has been on soya for 14 months. Is now tolerating cows milk every 2nd day. Am assuming cows milk will be okay in a few months. Do I continue with soya until I can switch back or try to go with rice milk now. DS has tested positve to nuts but has never had them. I will do anything to help his chances of outgrowing this allergy if possible.

If he's just tested positive and not had a food challenge he may be OK anyway, the tests aren't 100%. It hasn't been proven that soya at an early age cause nut allergy, mymama and if it did the damage would probably already have been done. I wouldn't encourage anyone to start soya but neither would I suggest coming off it. Rice milk doesn't have much nutritional value, unfortunately.

The only thing that might possibly help with outgrowing allergies is probiotics because they help the development of the gut. No-one seems to know why some kids outgrow nut allergy and most don't. I have my nut allergic one on probiotics anyway, but they don't have dairy problems so can have live yoghurt.

Soya was started after the testing. ds had severe reaction to first taste of wheat at 6/7 months. Was tested at 9 months and pos for dairy, wheat, egg, fish and nuts. His wheat result was much smaller than the egg and nut result and the same as fish result. Needless to say has never even had egg, fish and nuts.