Cow's milk allergy help needed.......a bit long winded, sorry!

[lackaDAISYcal]

My DD is 9mo old. she has always had mild eczema, which the HV has told me is baby eczema and she should grow out of it.

Since starting to wean her at 6mo, it has gotten steadily worse. She eats a fair amount of dairy as she loves cheese and milky puddings, and now even has the odd bottle of formula. If she has breakfast cereal, I use cow's milk.

She has had a bit of a tummy bug for few days, so has been mostly BFing, and the only food she has eaten since Monday is a bit of (pasta with tomato sauce and some raisins and apple.....no dairy). Her skin seemed in much better condition this morning, so I took her to the clinic to ask about it.

I've come away with yet another prescription for an emollient cream, and the advice from my HV that if it was a cow's milk allergy, then it wuld be getting through in my BM, so therefore it can't be that as her skin would have been bad all the time . It has been present since she was tiny, just not as bad as it is at the moment.

So, what I'd like some advice on, from anyone who has been through similar with themselves or their own DCs is.....

*would my eating dairy perhaps be the cause of the mild eczema when she was fully BF?

*would a day and a half's abstinence from dairy be enough time to show an improvement?

*should I persevere with this and go see the doctor?

I obviously don't want to cut any important food group from her diet with no reason (I have coeliac disease and i know what a faff it can be finding alternatives), but I just have a gut feeling that it's cow's milk that is the cause.

I've got to pop out for a bit, but will be back later, so not ignoring any advice

TIA

My dd was lactose intolerant/allergic to formula milk. She went completely red when she had her first bottle of it at 4 months. Also developed quite bad excema. Took a little while to figure it out, but once I did I kept her off dairy and just kept on bfing her and giving her soya.

By aged 2 she was back and cow's milk and her excema had totally gone. I am sure the bf helped her get over it, but maybe she would've grown out of it anyway.

So don't despair, there are lots of options.

It's reassuring to hear that lots of DCs have grown out of it

if it's cows milk intolerance most will grow out of it by 3. You don't outgrow lactose intolerance unless its the temporary kind which often follows stomach bugs.

Having probiotics can help with eczema probably because they help digest lactose. You could also try lactose tablets (available in larger Holland & Barretts but you may have to ask).

If your gp is willing to prescribe a "milkfree" formula like pepti junior you could have it in your food while breastfeeding . You may also be OK with cheese and live yoghurt (which has probiotic bacteria).

Wish hv were properly taught about allergies!

Hi

This is the first time I have posted but came on for advice. 11 month old daughter has an intolerance to cows milk and indeed all animal milks. Soya not suitable either.

Had this diagnosed via kinesiology (realise this has mixed opnion on mumsnet!)as was fobbed off by the GP with steroids and useless emollients. Intolerance manifests as a bad skin rash. Have done some research and would like to try Provamel. Anyone know if this is suitable for 11mth old? Worried about calcium intake.

Any advice would be welcome!

hi jumperoo, and welcome to MN.

I don't have any answers from you, but suggest that you start a new thread in the allergies topic as sometimes people only read and respond to the OP and any subsequent queries on a thread can get lost.

I hope someone can help

Hi lackaDAISYcal

Thanks very much for the advice - will try that!

I have 1 yrs experience with DS' dairy allergy. My lessons learnt: doctors and HV only have v general knowledge (sorry to be sweeping but this is learnt thro far too much bitter experience), best see a specialist allergy or skin specialist (in our case it was a gastroenterologist), and then a paediatric dietician. Dairy allergy symptoms are either on the skin or in the gut (vomiting / blood in nappy / stomach pains similar to colic). As far as i remember, skin prick tests are only reliable if the symptoms are skin-related and i think they only work at a certain age(???) & i have a feeling this was after 1 or 2 years but really can't remember this last point. A severe dairy allergy usually means intolerance to sheeps / goat milk, and soya as they are all a similar protein. Surprised t'fore to hear about goats milk success. Lactose and dairy intolerances are not the same thing, you can be intolerant to lactose but ok on say milk stripped of lactose. When testing do it rigorously e,g. if also unsure about egg sensitivity don't give any egg when testing for dairy allergy otherwise you confuse results. Allergies usually show up immediately after ingesting, intolerances take longer. If testing for dairy test properly by excluding everything dairy in solids and breast milk or result will be unreliable. Dieticians usually recommend leaving a week between introducing allergy sensitive foods so working from that i would go off dairy for a week if you can. It is worth it to get strong evidence (don't know if that's wise if pg tho). I don't think 1.5 days is enough, would suggest min 3 days. If allergy diagnosed wait another year b4 introducing dairy again (awful i know but apparently reintroducing too early or repeated reintroductions can make the problem worse.) Don't know what evidence / studies this advice was based on but have had it consistently from specialists / dieticians. I was v sceptical about our diagnosis initially. DS was mostly b/f when first symptoms appeared between 1-3 wks. Problem exacerbated as soon as went on to formula only. Once ds was on a dairy free formula (ironically it is made from cows milk but the problem protein has been avoided by the product being broken down into amino acids which are easily absorbed) all symptoms disappeared so i was convinced. When I accidentally ate some soda bread (i returned to b/f) which has 1/2 buttermilk DS had symptoms within hours. If intolerant to one thing e.g. dairy, likelihood of wheat / gluten / egg / fish etc allergies is higher. Allergies / eczema / asthma linked and run in families but all becoming more common.

My daughter has the same symtoms and it is related to cow's milk. My mum made her a little bed cardie for wearing at night from an old babygro - she basically cut it in half and cut the feet off - she then sewed the feet to the cuffs of the arms - that way she can't pull them off. It's been really useful for us to stop her scratching at night!

have two children 19mths & six, six year old outgrew milk intolerance at 13 months but still can't eat cheese 19 mth had similar problems rashes, and constant screaming day and night asked doctor at six months old to try lactose free milk was given enfamil made slight improvement pushed to see dietitian who prescribed new milk prosobee what a life saver he stopped screaming almost same hour he had milk got really helpful book to tell me what foods could buy at different supermarkets definitely worth hassle. feel human again he started sleepin through night two weeks ago as opposed to one hour a night push for dietitian they will help decide whether worth tryin or not. Good Luck