Cow's milk allergy...please give me some advice?

[Mitsouko]

Hello - hoping to get a little more advice here about CMA. My DD is 6 months today, has from birth been an unsettled, high need baby and a very poor sleeper. She had horrible, horrible colic until 3 months or so, has been diagnosed with reflux and has suspected allergies.

DD is breast fed. I was on the fence the past few months about the CMA as I cut dairy from my diet for quite some time and didn't see any improvement whatsoever. I then reintroduced it gradually and in small amounts - again, no obvious difference.

Had an appointment with DD's Paed last week who suggested mixing a little baby rice with formula when weaning starts this week and checking for reaction. Did just that a few hours ago, gave baby rice with a little Aptamil. After a few spoonfulls, DD had rash all over her face and neck, red eyes and little hives! Rang the GP who said not to worry. Breathing was fine, she wasn't wheezing or pale - I put a cool cloth on her face and now the rash has settled down some. Feel absolutely horrible about this!

So this means we have a definite mild allergy, yes? I gave apple puree with the baby rice as well, could it be rice or apples? Just confused as I could never tell any difference when milk was in my diet or not.

Help!

Milk allergy, not mild...sorry!

Yes that does sound like a milk allergy. A mild one though, so hopefully she'll grow out of it soon.

In the mean time its imperative you get a referral to an allergist. Do NOT be fobbed off by a GP. She may have other allergies along side milk, get her in the system while you can.

The allergy can get worse with more exposures too. Someone said on here a few months back that they dont worsen, just that factors change to make it seem like that. I believed them, but my son is living proof that this is not the case. Although he IS an unusual case, you still need to be aware. Just in case.

Get some piritom prescribed too, for accidental exposures.

Ive been in your shoes but with a very severe reaction when my baby was 6 months.

I bf too and cut out all allergens.

Also I forgot to add, my baby was refluxy too when I had dairy in my diet. I tried cutting out dairy (this is before he had his reaction to dairy obv!) and wasnt sure if it had made a difference either.

After his anaphylactic shock I totally gave up dairy and he never had reflux again.

OHforDUCKScake Thank you. Glad to hear your DS is alright, that must have been terribly frightening.

I rang the Paed's secretary at hospital earlier but couldn't get through, so left a message and will try again tomorrow. Paed mentioned getting DD referred to a dietician if we had problems with weaning, hopefully he will give a referral to allergist too.

In a real state now about what to do with weaning in the meantime, and my diet as well. Will probably be a few weeks at the very least until DD can be seen again.

I know, I was in the same boat. All of a sudden you fear all foods. Wonder if they'll be allergic to that too.

Be very wary of eggs and nuts, possibly soya, possibly wheat.

Otherwise wean on fruit and veg etc and when it comes to wheat give her a tiny amount. Wait. Then a tiny bit more. Etc.

I know exactly how youre feeling right now. It WILL get better. It WONT always be this scary, it will be alright. I promise.

Treatment obviously varies according to paediatrician and patient. I religiously breastfed but DD was losing weight, had a rash all over her body and what we thought was persistent cradle cap - she was also violently sick when she had her first yogurt. I was fortunate in that our GP referred her to the paediatrician that day and a milk protein allergy was diagnosed. I had to stop breastfeeding immediately as the protein was carried in my milk and DD was put on pregestimil and a very strict dairy free diet.

DD then received allergy tests for common allergens and was found to have an even stronger reaction to egg. I was told that the initial reaction is usually less severe as it is new to the body - subsequent reactions are stronger because the body recognises the protein (in this case) and reacts immediately to it. We followed the hospital's advice to the letter, keeping DD totally away from dairy and egg until she was four, then started to reintroduce very gradually. I can't say that she wouldn't have outgrown this anyway, but last week she drank a cup of milk for the first time ever and there were no side effects whatsover - not even the rash around her mouth.

Definitely heed the advice about soya and pester for allergy testing - its such a simple test but confirmation of an allergy makes it heaps easier to deal with.

DS had cmpa as a baby. It turned out he wasn't allergic to anything else. We did see an allergist to check out other possible allergies which was reassuring. He grew our of it by the time he was tested at 3.5 years (yearly tests).

DD has various allergies and intolerances and like you we had to get on with weaning while we waited for allergy clinic appointment. It was daunting but it was fine :) We avoided introducing foods that were most likely to be allergenic but still had plenty of stuff to get going with.

Definitely get a bottle of piriton to have handy, avoid all animal milk and it's products (butter, cheese, cream, casein, whey etc). If you van bear it, expressed milk might be a good option to use instead of formula for now, but there are lots of alternatives if needed down the line. This could play out lots of ways, so be cautious when weaning but hope it doesn't spoil your experience if ez

As far as I know, Aptamil is made from cows' milk so most likely still a CMA.

Expressed BM is good for drinking but don't try to make porridge with it - the enzymes in it do something funny to the porridge and it goes all strange!

oops... postes too soon!
meant to say try to enjoy your experience of exploring foods together as much as you can - easier said than done as I know... and come back and post on here if you need any ideas - lots of helpful people who've been through.

Milk is most likely culprit by the way. And neither of mine seemed to mind dairy in my diet while BF though I know others' experience is different.

Hi ladies, thanks for your help and sorry for the delayed reply - I don't get much time to post as DD is high need and pretty un-put-downable!

She's doing much better. Saw the GP who prescribed an antihistamine. We have a follow-up with DD's Paed scheduled for November, but I'm going to try and have it moved forward if possible. Hope to get referral to allergist and dietician.

DD's been fine on apple puree and baby rice made with cooled, boiled water. Going to try banana and sweet potato soon. So yes, definitely the milk I believe. Going super dairy and soy free myself in the hopes that it will help her.

Thanks again!