help...think he may have a dairy allergy, need advice desperately

[Heathcliffscathy]

a couple of weeks ago, my homeopath suggested that ds might have a dairy allergy...i so didn't want this to be the case, that i've kind of been ignoring it in the hope that it will go away (always a good strategy this i find...not), but i can't any longer. symptoms: he is wheezing (not badly, but when he takes a deep breath in) and coughing and snivelly, but it's been too long to be a cold. he's had mild eczema since he was being exclusively breastfed. he's been on one bottle of formula a day (rest breastfeeding) since he was about 3 1/2 months old. I weaned him at 4 months, v slowly (baby rice, then some fruit purees. he is now 6 1/2 months old and has 3 meals a day (all of which are mixed with whole milk). since i introduced wholemilk in cooking around 2 1/2 weeks ago, his symptoms haven't got any worse. however they aren't getting any better either. i'm in a bit of a panic: if i take dairy out, how am i going to give him enough milk for his last (bottle feed)? also, in the morning/evening he has cereal/babyrice mixed with milk and fruit? also at lunchtime he has veg or protein and cheese also mixed with milk (he seems to prefer milky cold foods to anything hot). i know it's all my fault probably for not exclusively b/fding until six months...but we were having terrible sleep problems that were immediately improved with the introduction of solids (i know this doesn't work for everyone etc etc). anyway, he is still on 3 breastfeeds a day and i plan to continue this as long as poss. sorry to ramble on, but i'm panicking a bit about this and dont really know where to start in terms of cutting dairy out. should i go to goats milk formula for everything initially? or soya? should i try somehow to make my milk come in for the evening feed so that all his feeds are breastmilk (i'm completely crap at expressing so don't know how i'd do this)? please please help anyone who has any experience or advice, i'd be so grateful...

oi...please please someone, have spoken to homeopath and she said try dairy free for a week: soya formula???which one??? any advice at all???

I would be very wary of giving a baby soya formula without a proper hospital assessment - and even then there are formulas for the truly milk allergic which are not soya. Soya is not a good replacement for milk and is not risk free. Also babies that are allergic to milk ( a dairy allergy is not really a good medical term - you can be allergic to say, the milk protein or lactose iirc) are very often allergic to soya. Also, milk is an important food for a baby. I certainly wouldn't remove a big part of his nutrition without better medical advice. Mild excema is incredibly common - IMO it's not a reason to stop a baby having milk and he will almost certainly grow out of it. I am sceptical about the supposed link between mucus and milk anyway. I just think some childen have a lot of mild colds and take a while to get over them. What does your GP say about the wheezy breathing? I'd prefer to give him more fresh fruit and veg and vitamin drops to boost him immunity myself. He's still very young and milk is important to him nutritionally.

is trying soya formula for a week given that he will still be having 3 breastfeeds a day going to hurt? and if it has major impact on skin and breathing at least i will know that is what it is...

gp didn't even bloody register the wheeze: homeopth listened with stethescope and agreed that he is wheezing when he breathes.

I had mild excema as a baby - ds has a patch on his cheek. I really don't think it is a cause for concern. Also, personally, I'd be worried about a homeopath who bandied words about like 'allergy' - true food allergies are very rare - and suggested taking THE major food group out of a baby's diet without recommending you talk to your gp.
Also, I suddenly distinctly remember taking my ds to the dr at about six months because he seemed to have a single endless cold that lasted months and months - runny nose, coughing etc and they muttered about asthma, but it was nothing. He just had a runny nose and a few colds and now he doesn't seem to get them any more. I would strongly advise you not to panic, not to make any rushed decisions and to say that a true allergy is pretty unmistakeable and your ds clearly doesn't have one.

As I said, Soya is not a good substitute for cows milk formula, and is also very nearly as likely to provoke allergies.

sophable I'm NOT an expert in this in any way but have the following thoughts: can you talk to a HV/GP and ask to speak to a dietician about this? I know there are disadvantages to soya formula (though can't imagine a one week trial would be too much of a problem) but I don't know enough to give authoritative advice.
I would imagine you would be able to get back the evening breast feed simply by feeding frequently for a couple of days - or maybe just by feeding again at that time.
And PLEASE don't beat yourself up about introducing solids - I doubt it has made any difference. You may well also find that cutting out dairy doesn't make any difference (ds1 had eczema that predated the introduction of formula or solids - at 16 weeks- and appeared to be unaffected by dairy in his diet)
I'm sure some others will be on to give more advice before long!

speak to a gp about it. there is no way you should be elimatinating foods from his diet without being under medical care. Is he being sick at all? with regards to the ezcema, altho some children with ezcema do have milk allergies/intolerences, there is often other frators which causes ezcema (dd1 has very bad ezcema, not allergic to any diary at all, )
if you could re-boost your own milk supply, (go to breatfeeding board to ask about this as i have no idea) then it could be beneficial to your son, tho you may see no differnce at all.

if you feel your son is wheezing then please take him to the gp asap, as any beathing probs should be dealt with by your gp.

argh! aloha, i really trust this homeopath...she is very experienced, qualified and has published several books. she has kept ds's eczema at bay thus far (it is bad on backs of knees and ankles, he rubs a lot and gets much worse with sweat...so i need to try to sort it before summer comes.)

she has helped me enormously with serious and not so serious conditions.

you're asking me to ignore her advice in favour of yours and again: cutting dairy for a week to see what happens, surely it makes sense to check it out?

Hi Sophable, bit of info from another site:
I really, honestly think there is nothing in your post which sounds really worrying to me.

Is soya formula safe for my baby?
Expert: Tanya Wright [See Biography]
Question: Is soya formula safe for my baby?
Tanya Wright: Government recommendations suggest you only give soya formula to your baby on the advice of a health professional, such as a dietitian, health visitor, paediatrician or GP.
Soya formula may be suitable for your baby if he has a cow's milk allergy or intolerance. But there are also lots of modified cow's milk-based formulas that are suitable for most babies with an allergy or intolerance. Make sure you seek medical advice on this to ensure your baby gets the best possible alternative to breast milk.
Soya formulas contain do glucose syrup, which can damage your baby's teeth with prolonged contact. To protect your baby's teeth:
? do not allow your baby to sleep with the bottle in her mouth
? transfer her to a feeding cup from around six months
? start cleaning your baby's teeth thoroughly and regularly as soon as her teeth appear. (Read more on caring for your baby's teeth.)
Dental care is free for children so make an appointment for your baby to see a dentist regularly and make sure you tell them your baby is having a soya formula.
Some parents also have concerns about the presence of phytoestrogens in soya formulas. Phytoestrogens are oestrogen-like substances that occur naturally in many plants, including soya. There is some concern that a large intake of these could have an adverse effect on babies' hormonal development. This is a controversial issue which is yet to be resolved and agreed upon by the experts. However, the Food Standards Agency advise that, until a full review of the evidence both supporting and opposing soya formula has been completed, there is no reason to stop your baby having a soya formula if it has been suggested by a health professional.

and tbh one week of trying a dairy free diet wont make an impact anyway. it would need to be a long term thing to see what causes problems.

Quote: my homeopath suggested that ds might have a dairy allergy:

get the child checked by the doctor ask for their advice and see if they will reccommend your child to a specialist if they think this may be the case, eczema and asthma often go hand in hand, this may be the case with your baby, dont cut out his milk until you are sure what is wrong.

My twins (one has asthma and the other eczema) were breastfed for the first few weeks, then I changed to formula, they had problems with this and vomited after every feed, the Dr came to see them while they fed, they had their milk then projectile vomiting, this was an alergy to the protein, they were given Wysoy and soon were back on track with their weight and health.

Sophable, I am not asking you to take 'my' advice, really - this is the advice any dr would give too, I promise. After all, suppose you did cut out milk and by coincidence your baby's cold got a bit better - what then? Don't feel under attack. I know you really like this homeopath but you do sound a bit panicked and really, an allergy is a serious thing to diagnose - esp in a baby. This doesn't sound like an allergy to me.

misdee: took him to gp who dismissed me out of hand - had a listen and said she couldn't hear anything: both i and dh had noticed that his breathing was significantly wheezy: we are not making this up. tbh, i have v v little faith in gps and conventional medicine when it comes to eczema/asthma etc. dh has v bad eczema and asthma in his family. when ds first got eczema gp gave us steroids immediately!!! we haven't had to use them yet...but i just think this is typical of their over prescribing/non attentive/one size fits all reaction...and i really like this gp. of course as soon as i think anything is wrong i take ds to gp straightaway in a belt and braces way. but would always rather take a complementary route: esp when dealing with baby...

misdee is experienced with allergies, Sophable.

bil has a milk allergy. his skin was really bad, he was really really snotty and he was sick. he had to go on soya formula but it has had an impact on his teeth. his dentist tells him off for drinking too much fizzy/sugary drinks which he doesnt have. it was the fact he was on soya milk when he was younger.

aloha: don't feel attacked, am panicking tho...

ok: what about trying goatsmilk formula whilst i try to get my breastmilk up in the evening...and mixing his food with water instead of milk??? what do you think?

do u have pets? more comman cause of allergic reactions in children than dairy.

no pets.

Hi Sophable - firstly dond blame yourself!!!
AS you know i didnt introduce solids with dd until 6 months as ds had problems like you're experienceing ie the wheeziness, mild excema and also a contact allergy to milk.
I have been using cows milk for mixing food for dd and she also has been getting contact spots and excema behind her ears. I'm going back to work next wee which wasnt really planned nor did I want to express at work. But having tried her with formula she's been getting discomfort and spots on her face.
I am now doing a routine this week of expressing and intend to put this in her food as well as in a beaker for her to drink when I'm not here.
I can only express 2-3 oz at the moment but I'm confident I can improve on this.
If I were you I would persevere with giving breastmilk in the evening as cutting out dairy worked with ds and cleared his excema. We did do this on trial and error and had it confirmed later that it was fine as he was still getting breastmilk.
I'm hoping that once I get into the habit of epressing it wil become second nature.

I would suggest you give it a trial of a couple of weeks of just using breastmilk as his milk and see if it makes a difference.

hth

i really really think u need to speak to a gp/dietician about this. it would mean reading up every label you use, getting used to all the different termilogy used in foods/milk/additives etc, and making sure you son gets his RDA of vits etc. its a hard job doing these diets and it has an impact on the whole family.

oh bol*ocks...i guess i need to go to the breastfeeding board to sort out how i'm going to start expressing again...i hated it and was completely crap at it...thanks for advice tho hercules...glad it worked for ds...

I wouldnt go with the soya by the way but focus on increasing your milk supply. There are tablets you can get for this.

but do try and go back to full breast feeding as opposed to using formulas.