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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

CMPA in breastfed baby

22 replies

littlemissdaydreamer · 29/09/2016 08:31

Has anyone had any experience of a breastfed baby being allergic to cows milk passed on via breast milk? My 7 week old son is showing a lot of symptoms of CMPA, I've been told it isn't possible until he's drinking cows milk directly but he's worse if I've had a lot of milk so it seems too much of a coincidence to me. I'd be really interested to hear if anyone else has had a baby suffer whilst breastfeeding. Thanks in advance

OP posts:

desperatelyseekingcaffeine · 29/09/2016 08:36

Yes I'm on no 2 now. First time didn't realise he was soya allergic too so he didn't improve when I went dairy free and replaced with soya. Had months of awful reflux and vomiting.

Now on no 2. Saw the signs early on and I'm now dairy egg soya and fish free with her. Hate being so restricted but she's so much more settled. If I slip up then the vomiting and reflux come back.

I think it's worth a dairy free trial for you then try milk once more after 4-6 weeks to check if that was the problem.

PragmaticWench · 29/09/2016 08:38

Both DD and DS reacted very badly to camp through my breast milk. It wasn't until we saw a specialist allergy consultant that anyone believed me! He said of course the protein passes through and supported me to carry on feeding, actually CMPA and soya free.

The best way to prove it is to eliminate it entirely from your diet for two weeks, then reintroduce it, keeping a symptom diary.

There's a CMPA for Breastfeeding group on Facebook that can be really helpful. Most GPS just don't know enough about allergies or breastfeeding, and especially not the two combined.

laurzj82 · 29/09/2016 08:42

Hi, my dd had cmpa (now outgrown it at 2).

Unfortunately, at the time I didn't realise it was an allergy that was causing the crying when feeding etc and thought she wasn't getting enough milk (no rashes etc, no allergies in family) so I gave up breastfeeding. Had I known I could've just eliminated dairy from my diet.

I know lots about it now and it's definitely possible for it to be passed on through breast milk. I would definitely persevere with breastfeeding and look to eliminate dairy. You may have a hard time convincing the hv and gp (it took us 6 months to be listened to and be prescribed a hypoallergenic formula) but the change in dd was dramatic. As an inexperienced ftm I thought I had a grumpy baby but she changed overnight into her sunny little self once she wasn't in pain.

Please let me know if you need any questions answered. Good luck!

Bertieboo1 · 29/09/2016 08:43

We also had this but thankfully no vomiting, just quite severe eczema. My DS had an allergy test at the hospital at about 6 months which helped. We then got prescribed special formula for when I stopped bfeeding him when he started at nursery. We had to go to the GP quite a few times about the eczema until they made the link with CMPA so persevere.

pamplem0usse · 29/09/2016 19:06

Complete rubbish - my ds had cmpa via my breast milk (along with a load of other issues) unfortunately took months to diagnose. He's now at great ormond street for a whole host of allergies which were all primarily evident via my milk.

BBB81 · 29/09/2016 21:02

Yes, my DD was reacting to milk and possibly wheat, eggs and soya through my milk. Unfortunately it took a long time to get appropriate diagnosis/advice and due to the damage done to her digestive system (her symptoms were only gastro-intestinal) she is now having lots of digestive problems. So my advice would be to cut out dairy and see if it makes a difference, you will have to be really strict initially though and cut out all traces of milk, lots of ingredients reading required as it is in so many unexpected foods!

Original poster

littlemissdaydreamer · 29/09/2016 22:20

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, very interesting and so different to what the HVs and pharmacist have advised me...
I've cut milk out of my diet for 5 days now and can see an improvement in my son already, I've read it will take weeks for the proteins to get out of his system but would it be worth me reintroducing milk already to see what affect it has? Would you expect the effects to be seen immediately? Thanks again

OP posts:

desperatelyseekingcaffeine · 30/09/2016 08:51

Personally I wouldn't reintroduce just yet I'd wait at least 4 weeks (you may have a slip up in that time that confirms it) Once you've done that worth going back to gp to ask for a paediatric or dietician referral - doesn't need to be done urgently but worth having for weaning. I second the cmpa support group on fb great source of advice and information including what treats you can and can't have!

user1467273391 · 30/09/2016 08:58

As everyone else says here yes it is. It happened to us and our GP said it couldn't. I did my own research and found out what our GP said was rubbish. A few weeks after stopping taking milk his eczema and reflux were gone. Unfortunately it was just too late as he had started refusing to breast feed. Ended up express bottle feeding for 6 months.

Original poster

littlemissdaydreamer · 03/10/2016 21:02

Thanks so much for all your advice! I saw an excellent GP today who agreed ds has CMPA, so tonight's feeds will be spent reading up on dairy alternatives!! I'll join the Facebook page mentioned previously too! Any more advice on alternatives to cows milk l, do's and don'ts or useful sources of info would be very much appreciated! Thanks again!

OP posts:

PotatoBread · 04/10/2016 09:13

Hi - does anyone know the name of the CPMA support group on Facebook as I can't find anything?

DD is now 13 weeks and was diagnosed with suspected CPMI 3 weeks ago due to having a lot of blood in her nappies/stools. Was prescribed nutrimaligen milk and told to keep her on that for a 4 week trial rather than a 2 week trial to give her guts time to heal and for her haemoglobin levels to rise. I have to start reintroducing normal formula at the end of this week and am dreading it!

Thanks :)

desperatelyseekingcaffeine · 04/10/2016 12:26

It's cows milk protein allergy support group. Lots of cows milk alternatives I use Koko which is coconut based but not strong flavour. Oatly also popular and easy to get hold of. Make sure they are calcium fortified it's usually only the organic ones that aren't. Starbucks does cocount milk if you need a good coffee fix :)

For sweet treats bourbon biscuits, choc chip hob nobs, angel cake and most decent quality dark chocolate are usually dairy free but check packaging. Cheese pretty rubbish imo but Zizzis do a vegan mozzarella on their pizzas which is pretty good!

It gets easier I promise!

Bonnylassie · 04/10/2016 12:39

I'm on a few cmpa/bf fb groups but this is by far the friendliest and supportive one www.facebook.com/groups/963388520398067/

trixymalixy · 06/10/2016 16:04

My GP didn't believe proteins passed through breastmilk. He thought I was just a neurotic new mum. I was right, he was wrong and he apologized to me later.

Leatherboundanddown · 06/10/2016 16:09

Totally possible and yes I had this too. My daughter was very ill. It took about 4 weeks to see a great improvement then it was all ok.

Original poster

littlemissdaydreamer · 07/10/2016 03:17

Thank you desperatelyseekingcaffeine you've been really helpful! I'll be adding bourbons to the shopping list! Unfortunately I haven't managed to find an alternative milk that makes a decent cuppa to have with them yet, but I'll keep trying!
It's not until you start trying to cut milk out that you realise how many foods it's in!!

OP posts:

AnnaT45 · 07/10/2016 03:29

Yeah tea doesn't the same without cows milk! I got used to having it black. If you haven't already join the FB page. Loads of info and tips on things to eat. I'm amazed GPs are still so misinformed about it, it's really common it seems. Glad things are already improving for you

AnnaT45 · 07/10/2016 03:30

Oh and Oreos are dairy free!

Owlytellsmesecrets · 07/10/2016 03:38

Remove cows milk from your diet ..... All dairy is better!!!

Bue · 07/10/2016 04:25

OP just popping in to say that Provitamil oat milk is by far the best in a cup of tea! Going dairy free is hard at first but gets much easier, and you may find that you can reintroduce dairy into your diet at some point. I started having limited dairy in my diet again from when DD was about 9/10 months and by then she was fine with it through me.

I know at least 10 breastfed babies who have had CMPI. Luckily I do think that slowly, slowly, HCPs are learning a bit more about it!

MariaA1969 · 31/01/2018 11:29

To help Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent CCGs to make things fairer for everyone - and to save money - we are considering replacing free prescription Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy infant formula milk with a voucher scheme. Read about our proposals and let us have your views by completing our survey tinyurl.com/CMPAPubSurJan18

Poppies9629 · 12/02/2018 20:42

My 21 week old DD was diagnosed with CMPA at 10 weeks and she is EBF. I cut out dairy and her symptoms disappeared after about 4 weeks (doctor told me would take 48hrs!)
Totally possible.
She is still EBF and has only had 1 flare-up since which I suspect is down to peanuts. Push doctor for a blood test to confirm / get severity and dietitian app as you will need advice ref reintroducing dairy vis the ‘milk ladder’. I had to push for that after hospital told to stop eating dairy and that was the only advice I got.
Good luck - thank god for free from ranges

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