Could this be a dairy allergy?

[mamadoc]

Recently started weaning DD at 6 months (breastfed entirely up to now). I have pet fur and pollen allergies but no problems with food.
DD has had a funny rash on 3 occasions now. It is in lumps like insect bites on her head, neck and chest and around her eyes was red too.
At first I thought it was the wipes I was using to clean her afterwards but stopped using any wipes and today it happened again. I think it is happening when she has dairy (first two times yoghurt this time porridge with cows milk on).
Is a rash a likely symptom of a dairy allergy? I am working up courage to go to the GP but don't want to be thought neurotic

Wow, I could have written this post! I did exactly the same thing, b-fed DD till 6 months, then introduced solids. First go at baby formula mixed into porridge brought her out in hives... except only where it had touched her skin. Which was, of course, a pretty wide area, face, neck and chest as you say.

I rushed to the doctor in new-mum panic, and was told it was probably a skin irritation, and to feed her it again . I have dabbed another brand of formula on her skin, and some cream cheese (though that was an accident!) and exactly the same thing happened, anywhere it touched her, her skin went bright red and came up in hives. Now to my mind, that is an allergy, my skin does the same thing when I touch cat fur, and that is definitely an allergy.

So I have spoken to HVs, they said I should go back to the GP and try to get referral to a dietician or allergy specialist. Unhelpfully for you, I haven't done this yet! But I am keeping her off dairy, she is doing fine on veg and boob. I also haven't introduced any other potential allergens (wheat/egg/tomato etc) till I find out what's going on.

I would definitely think it's worth a visit to the GP, and I would love to hear from anyone who has anything more helpful to say!

not sure how helpful it is but i would def get to the GP. even if it turns out to be something else, it will be worth settling your mind.

ds was fine after weaning onto solids and until we started growing up milk at 12 months, then he started getting really bad congestion at night when he had milk at bedtime. the day we took him off growing up milk and onto soya milk there was a huge difference. not a classic allergy / intolerance but a useful comparison for you?

Think I will go to the GP. I was a bit worried because I thought that dairy allergy would be more like diarrhoea or vomiting for some reason but have done some reading now and it seems a rash is a common symptom.
She has already had wheat with no problems but I'll definitely be avoiding dairy and holding off the egg until we see someone. Feeling very guilty now that I have exposed her 3 times and only just thought of food allergy- bad mum alert.

Hi - don't worry gps recognise a rash as a possible allergy more than they recognise diarrhoea and voimting. They may still not be very helpful as they don't get much trainign but you could ask about Pepti junior, nutramigen or neocate for something to use in cooking (or use expressed breast milk).

Most babies do grow out of this so you may also want to ask about when you can try reintrosucng milk. Have to say my friends with a milk and soy allergic baby got rubbish advice on that, but you may do better!

Hi, I am breastfeeding my 6.5 mth old DS and 3 weeks ago fed him some broccoli with some cheese sauce (butter, flour, milk and cheddar). Ten minutes later he had hives down his arms, on neck and cheeks, his lips became swollen and he was very itchy around his neck and face. The hives looked like little insect bites; raised white weals with redness around.

Rang up emergency doc, by the time she rang back it had settled down, but emergency doc advised seeing my gp and getting anti-histamine. She also said giving dairy a go a week or so later, but I'm too afraid he'll react even worse.

I saw my gp and was given anti-histamine liquid for future incidents ( but have avoided all dairy, so none so far). He's also been referred for tests in 3 weeks. Hopefully, we'll get dietary advice too.

Just want to say though, go and see your gp. You're not neurotic!

totally agree with kerrymum and everyone else too - you're not being neurotic, nor are you a bad mum for exposing 3 times! goodness, we carried on giving ds milk at bed for a good number of weeks believing it was a cold etc etc trying loads of different things from the doctor, until the lightbulb finally clicked on in my head!

Couldn't agree more, there are so many reasons for rashes, crying and vomiting/diaorrhea, don't blame yourself for missing the signs. I missed them at first too, plus I managed to give my DS 'dairy free' cheese slices that did, in fact, contain casein, despite reading the ingredients list multiple times. We're only human...

Hi There

I'm new to the forum, but have some experience with milk allergies.
My DS is now 14 months old and I breast fed him from birth. Straight away he had problems with explosive diarrhoea, stomach pain, and masses of wind. When he had a dirty nappy, it looked like it had cottage cheese in it (which was actually undigested milk).

After 6 weeks of perseverance he was prescribed Lactose free formula and I was advised to stop breastfeeding (maybe not the right decision, but I followed it anyway as I didn't know any better). Well.. within 48 hours he was a different baby ! The diarrhoea had gone and so had his wind and stomach pains.

It was then assumed that he had a lactose intollerance. He stayed on Lactose free formula quite happily until 6 months and he then went onto ordinary formula, however it had to be the ready made variety as the extra process of heating destroys the part of the milk he had a problem with (aparently).

Happy baby...until I introduced any kind of yoghurt, cheese, custard etc. Diarrhoea and a red rash around his mouth.

He is now on a dairy free diet, apart from his formula milk which he tollerates. We still can't use cow's milk yet.

We are due to see the dietician on Monday to see what they say. I've waited nearly 4 months for this appointment so I hope that they have some positive advice for us.

Anyway, this is not a very helpful post, but I do know what it's like to have a baby with a food intollerance.

The good news is that intollerances can usually be sorted out and they do grow out of them by the age of about 5yrs.

My DS is of British (me) and Chinese (DH) origin and aparently milk intollerances are prevelant in babies of Asian backgrounds.

Anyway. sorry for the lengthy post.

HTH

hey gillylou and welcome to MN! it's all about experience so all posts are helpful in some way (except i guess for the "i want a bitchy fight ones!).

hope your DS grows out of the allergy - have you tried him on soya at all or is he allergic to that as well?

Hello

Definitely go to the docs. Ask to be referred to an allery clinic for testing. Ask them to test for soya, milk and oral allergy (pollens etc, will show as sensitised to apples etc).

Its probably safer to stay off soya as it is common to be allergic to both soya and lactose.

The clinic will then prescribe appropriate formula to enable you to give your baby a balanced diet.

DD is now 2.7 and hopefully should grow out of it by about 4 (fingers crossed)

Hope that helps?