How long did the milk ladder take?

[GirlOfTudor]

Hello!

This is my 1st thread on here.

I wanted to ask for input from anyone who's done the milk ladder with their child with an ige milk allergy.

My son is 23m and had an instant reaction to milk products at 6m. We've been seeing a dietitian after much pestering of the GP. At his 1st skin prick test, we were advised to continue to keep all milk out of his diet (except breast milk) as the reaction was severe. His reaction decreased at the next appointment so we've been doing the milk ladder very slowly, as advised by the dietitian.

I just wondered how long it took other children to graduate from it and have the ability to drink pure milk?

We're only on stage 2 after a recent set back.

Thanks in advance!

Hello!

My daughter started the milk ladder at about 2 years old. At our last hospital appointment - age 7 and a half - it was decided that we should stop with the milk ladder having not got passed stage 2! We were told the milk ladder is successful for 75% of kids by age 6, so we are in the minority.

We know two other kids who started at the same time as our daughter and both were through it in 2 or 3 years.

My dc is 8 and can tolerate cheese and some yogurt now. But it took until 6 before they'd pass step 1. Thing is she doesn't like 'real' cheese or yogurt, not fussed about milk and the availability of vegan cheese means that it's not been an issue. She can tolerate enough on the ladder to go to a party and eat beige food.

This is our 3rd attempt as thought DS kept failing at step 1, but it was very ambiguous so the dietitian told me to just move on to the next step and see what happens and he has been fine. We've gone very slowly as can only do weekends, so multiple weekends at each step. We started mid Feb and are on step 6 this weekend. Most difficult thing is getting him to drink enough milk! So we started at 23 months and I'm cautiously optimistic we will be done by the end of May at 27 months.

I've just re read your post though and think you are dealing with an iGE allergy whereas for us milk is non iGE, so maybe not a great comparison sorry

Thank you for replying. I didn't expect to get any replies!

I'm sorry to hear your daughter didn't get through the ladder. I expect your quite experienced at managing allergies now though. Hopefully my son will get through it in time.

Oh wow age 6!! My son got to stage 2 then pancakes set him back to stage 1 (despite him trying a different brand of them and having no reaction 🤦🏽‍♀️).

I am super grateful about the availability of vegan food as it does make life a little easier with an allergy child.

No worries, your input is still valuable!

We started the ladder last December but were told to do each step of the malted milk biscuits for 1-2 wks rather than 1-2 days.

I agree with it being ambiguous, especially as there are many different versions of the ladder and different advice, even between NHS trusts.

Thanks for all your replies so far. I didn't expect to get any 😅
I don't know anyone in real life with a milk allergy so I appreciate it 😊

Yeah I really struggled with the how long for each step but I think the dietitian's tailor it for your type of allergy, severity and needs. I said weekend but I tend to do Thursday - Sunday and each step for 3 or 4 repeats of that. We had an accidental exposure to a cup of milk at nursery very early on (step 2) and there was no reaction so that gave me a lot more confidence to push through each step.

Currently my eldest can have all dairy except uncooked milk and uncooked cheese, but it has to be in moderation, she is nearly 11. She had an awful milk allergy where she couldn't even have milk on her skin as a baby. It was/ is? an iGE allergy for her. Its only in the last year or so that she's been able to have any milk products beyond highly baked/ processed milk or whey powder etc.

My son is the same in that he can't have milk on his skin without a reaction aswell.
Thanks for sharing. I think I'll have to manage my expectations at how quickly my son will be able to have milk.. I was hoping in a year, but perhaps not!

My son is now 4. We have got up to pizza but it took ages! Hoping we can progress at some point.

My son is 7 can tolerate dairy in other products but not cheese milk etc