CMP allergy in 6 month old BF baby - should I give it up too?

[abigboydidit]

Hi,

Last week my 6 month old DS reacted badly to his first taste of cow's milk (cooked, in porridge) & we've now been referred to an allergy clinic after much fighting with my eejit GP. Until weaning he was EBF and I intend to continue to BF for the next 6 months at least. I consume a fair amount of dairy products (milk in tea, yoghurts, chocolate etc) & DS has never shown any reaction to this that I have picked up on. He has never had reflux or problems with wind & has always been a very well settled and contented baby. He had some mild problems with his skin, which was diagnosed as seborrhoeic dermatitis. It has cleared up using an anti-fungal cream & although he still has some patches of dry skin it doesn't seem to be a problem anymore.

So! The big question is, should I give up dairy too? Allergy UK said I should but both the paediatric dietician from the allergy clinic I spoke to and my BF peer support worker said I didn't need to. I'd really appreciate any wisdom or experience from people who have tried. I suppose my thinking is that if it will help him get over the allergy quicker, am willing to give anything a go but I would find it a hugely depressing daunting prospect as I can't bear the taste of soya/rice/oat milk.

To be honest, I wouldn't think you needed to go dairy- free, given that youve been BFing your DS with no problems. Some babies are v sensitive to CMP to the extent that they react to proteins in BM, in which case youd know about it lot sooner - my 6 month old DS is CMPI (but by no means a severe case) and spent the first few months of his life fractious and unable to sleep, with reflux, frequent green diarrhoea and poor weight gain - I went dairy and soya free around 6 weeks ago and (teething aside) hes like a different baby!

You don't specify what the reaction was that your DS had, but I believe it is not uncommon for EBF babies to react to the introduction of cows milk or cows milk-based formulas, a friends DCs both came up in a rash overnight to their first nighttime formula feed, but there was no further problem with gentle introduction as they got used to it. I wouldn't wish to underestimate your DSs reaction however, It may have been a lot more worrying and he could well be intolerant to CMP presented more directly to him; it's great that you are now receiving specialist advice but FWIW I would take the advice of the specialist paed and the BF counsellor and carry on as you are. Dairy-free is a tedious business!

Thanks Taranta. He came out in hives and his face became puffy while eating porridge. Tried dabbing neat milk on his skin afterwards and came up in huge hives again so not risking giving him any more dairy till seen by specialist!

Gosh, well that sounds like the proper thing and risky indeed to try raw/cooked milk again anytime soon. Must have been v worrying for you! I imagine my DS would be the same at the moment, but am hoping that he will grow out of it in due course as I think most do. Still think it's fine to BF and use BM to mix baby rice etc though, but hope you get some answers soon from the allergy clinic!

OP - if your DS is fine in himself, and his skin is not bad, then I wouldn't think you would need to give up dairy. I don't think anyone knows whether any tiny traces affect the allergy prognosis, it may be that tiny traces actually help reduce the severity of the allergy (cf desensitisation studies). Given the lack of info either way, just go with common sense - i.e. he's happy, you're happy, so don't change what you're doing.

I also think it must vary hugely depending on the child and the severity of their allergy (and maybe how the mother's body processes the dairy into the BM ). Personally, I didn't give up dairy, as the GP said it could not possibly go through into the BM. With hindsight, and with the benefit of now (unfortunately) knowing an awful lot more about allergies (usually more than the GPs!), I should have done, as DD's bad eczema almost cleared up once we moved her onto hypo formula!

FWIW, our consultant told us recently that the breastfeeding mother's consumption of her child's allergen/s had no bearing on eventual outcomes, so if the child is allergic, they will be regardless, and the same applies to whether they are likely to outgrow it. I guess it's down to whether you think it's affecting your dc. Ds is allergic to egg, and I don't think my consumption of it was affecting him, but once I knew he was I couldn't bring myself to eat it any more. I worry too much about inadvertantly bringing him into contact with it more than the effect it will have through my breastmilk tbh.

It looks like you are one of the lucky moms who don't have to follow a strict diet! (slightly jealous )
My DD had terrible eczema 2 days after I had dairy or egg by accident. I'm still BFing at 2 but started eating food with small amounts of dairy in them as her allergy has reduced, but she's always scratching if I do. :(

So as long as your DS is fine, no sign of eczema, keep having dairy yourself if you feel like it. Our consultant thinks dairy amounts in breastmilk might even help the child to grow his own immunity quicker, although it's debatable.
I personally don't believe it but hey!

hello,

my dd had a similar reaction when i started weaning her at 6 months after ebf. she came out in hives and had mild swelling after eating yoghurt. skin prick test confirmed cmp allergy but i was advised i could keep consuming dairy and did so without any problems but as others say, i think advice may be different dependant on severity and/or if your ds has eczema.

i continued bfeeding until dd was 14 months but introduced alpro junior +1 at 9 months in agreement with dietition - not for main drink, but on cereal which dd was fine with. again though, you need to be careful as i believe many kids with cmp allergy can be allergic or intolerant to soya.

we started using milk successfully in cooking and by 12 months she had outgrown her allergy.

good luck.

OP, I also struggled with whether or not to give up dairy for my CMP allergic BF daughter, as everywhere I turned seemed to give differing opinions. When I finally got to see the allergist, she informed me that they generally only advise giving up dairy whilst BFing if you child suffers from eczema, which thankfully mine doesn't. Good luck

Mishtabel, that's interesting, and my feeling is that it makes good sense.

I avoided many, many foods while exclusively bfing DS when he was tiny - in fact I still do! I decided what to avoid on the basis of fluctuations in his eczema (I kept a detailed food diary).

The foods that gave DS horrible eczema through my breastmilk did turn out to be the foods that he is allergic to.

I can understand that AllergyUK say it's a good idea for bf mums to avoid allergens in their own diets (this fits with current NICE guidelines). I can also understand why a bf peer supporter said you do not need to avoid these foods - she may not have known much about bf a child with allergies.

(As a bf supporter myself, I know there are many old wives tales about bf mums having to avoid seemingly random foods, such as apples, onions and curry. Those old wives tales are a mostly load of old rubbish, so we generally say that bf mums do not need to eat a special diet - unless of course they are sure that their baby is reacting to something specific.)

Have just thought back to the NICE guidelines about allergies and, if I remember correctly, they say that bf mums should be given information about exclusion diets (i.e. not that all bf mums should follow exclusion diets).

This may be because some mums feel that they must start giving specialist formula, even though they would prefer to continue breastfeeding.