Is this a dairy allergy? (Bit of a long one!!)

[WibblyPigRocks]

DS (8mo) has been BF since birth and we started solids at 5 and a half months. I have been giving him my homemade puree and finger food.

I tried mixing his baby rice with formula to try and introduce him to the flavour, because I had originally intended to wean him off breastmilk at 6 months. I noticed his chin seemed to be red, but I was unsure if this was connected. However, I have since tried full-fat milk and yoghurt and they produced the same red, bumpy chin. I once tried an organix fruit custard which was 97% fruit and 3% milk powder and thought that was okay but when I lifted him out of his chair he was red and bumpy all down part of his neck too.

I have fought my GP for a referral to a paed at the local hospital because I am unsure what to do next, but a local mum who had a similar prob with her DS says this Dr isn't known for being very helpful.

I tried DS with a petit filous the other day and he did get a bit of a red chin still. But this red chin has never bothered him and he so loved the petit filous!! He has rice milk with his cereal (still BFing obv) because I am unsure about soya for boys under 12 months - but I realise that's a whole other issue!! Obv I will bring this up with the paed.

Is this really a dairy allergy? How likely is it, really, that he will grow out of it? Will I ever wean him off breastmilk?

I guess I just want to know what other mums who have been through the same thing think - what's our future?!!

Ds had the same thing and I was told (13 years ago mind) it was a contact allergy to dairy. WHen I was bf him I found that if I had a lot of dairy it made him a but wheezy so I cut down on dairy and it seemed to help. However 13 years later he clearly has no dairy allergy and probably never did.

Hi Wibbly...sounds very similar to my DS. At 6 months I gave him a bottle of formula and he came up in a red rash all round his cheeks and chin. It was quite bad and when you looked really closely there were lots of little white blister spots as well (utercaria). So I just kept on breast feeding. We also put a drop of cows milk on arm to see what would happen and he came up in rash over his torso.

We were seeing a dermatologist soon after that (for his eczema) and she referred us to an allergist for skin prick tests. But she only did that because I had taken photos of the reaction (she initially thought i was being 'anxious mother'... he's only red cheeked because he's teething etc etc) - so I would definately take photos of the reaction.

Sure enough he's allergic to milk and eggs so he has rice milk (in food) / neocate to drink and the odd soya yoghurt / cheese. I am generally dairy free (keep slipping!) as the majority of his milk is from me.

Who knows when he will grow out of it - soon I hope! I'm very envious of my friends who can just give there babes anything!

My DS had a similar reaction and is allergic to dairy as well as to soya and eggs. My GP was supportive in referring us to dieticians who have been helpful and I took him privately to an allergy specialist paed, who has also been good.

I weaned DS onto nutramigen, and he also has some rice milk, so I did manage to stop breastfeeding. I also believe the chance of outgrowing the allergy is very good, although DS isn't quite 1 yet and hasn't been retested.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

Hi
I am exactly the same here with my 10 month old. He had teh same red face reaction you describe although it doesn't seem to bother him and he also loved the yoghurts too. He would get dry skin and nappy rash too. My GP wouldn't refer me on either yet but I think I might go back. I was given wysoy soya formula to use for cooking. I still BF too.

Recently I thought my DS might have grown out of the allergy already as I did try some milk products again- rice pudding and porridge made with milk and he seemed fine- no red face. However I did feel by the end of the day his cheeks looked flushed and his chin was really dry so not sure if that was still the milk reaction. I have stopped milk again mostly but he does tolerate cream cheese and butter OK.

I'm not sure what the future is to answer your question!! Hope someone been through it will reply!

I am going to go back to GP to try get referral to paed/ dietician though to ask more q's.

Oh by the way my DS also seems to react to raw tomato and kiwi too and I avoid them.

You need to get a referal to an allergist rather than a paed since ime these are the only docs who really take allergies seriously. You may have to fight for a referal though (we had to keep on nagging with ds1 for over 2 years even after the hospital had confirmed an egg allergy). Thankfully though because we had already been through all that with ds1, they immediately took ds2's milk allergy seriously from the start.

In our case, ds1 (who is now 4 years) looks to be outgrowing his egg allergy (which just leaves him with all nuts, kiwi and hayfever, but that's something else...), so I hope in time ds2 will outgrow his dairy allergy. With ds1's egg allergy we were told he may grow out of it by the time he is around 5-6, but if not it is likely he will never grow out of it. I believe it is similar with dairy. For ds2's dairy allergy, I bf and we mix neocate into his food/breakfast cereals. Unfortunately the neocate tastes/smells rank so he won't drink it.

Can I ask a question related to this?

My 4 month old has had a dreadful nappy rash on and off for about a month which clears up completely only to come back with a vengance literally over night. He's also been sleeping very fitfully for the same period.

Both of these coincide with me going back to work and giving the baby an occasional bottle of formula - only two or three times a week. I have also been eating a lot of cheese recently for no apparent reason other than I found some I really liked and kept buying it but other wise don't eat a lot of dairy. He also has 'infant exzema'.

Do you think this is a milk allergy???

He's also had a cough/ cold on and off and have sometimes been giving him medised for it and he sleeps MUCH better for having that - I understand that the antihistamine may be helping the milk allergy? (I know it is supposed to help babies sleep anyway but the effect is much more pronounced that its ever been with my older daughter). Its tempting to give him this every night but have resisted!

Opinions sought and valued please!

Lexysmith, could he be teething? That would also explain bad nappy rash and bad sleeping. I don't think the cough/cold medication will have antihistamine in it as antihistamine wouldn't help against colds, but if the medication does have antihistamine I'd avoid using in babies under a year old as they are not licensed for use under this age (apart from under medical supervision).