pregnant and concerned about baby #2 having milk allergy

[carbooty]

Hi everyone,

Just registered so thanks for having me

I am looking for some advice, and hope that someone has had a similar experience?

brief history, my two and a half year old was breast fed upto a year old. Partly because I wanted to do the right thing and partly due to milk allergy discovered when I was desperate for a break. She wouldn't take the hypo-allergenic milks, because she prefered taste of breast milk. Thankfully she grew out of this allergy at 1 yr.

I am now 23 wks pregnant again and in between have had a mastectomy so breast feeding is no longer an option. I am very concerned that my next baby will have the same problem. I have spoken to allergy UK and they advice I shouldn't even start baby on cows milk formulas, but my gp has a different opinion. I really want this sorted before baby is here and I am worried about what to do is he/she has a severe reaction. I don't want to have to wait and see.

I am lactose intolerant too.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks
Carbooty

Ladies, thanks for letting me tap into your knowledge and experiences.

I am finding this whole bottle feeding formula quite stressfull. I am in Milton Keynes so if anyone can recommend someone private locally they have used, I would be very appreciative.

Everything is so contradictory, and the NHS processes seem more interested in the cost of things rather than what is the best thing to do.

CB
x

carbooty these are the best figures I can easily find on milk allergy (Anaphylaxis Campaign March 2005 estimate of perhaps 2% in babies under 1 year old. www.ggspec.com/uploads/statisticsAC.pdf

It goes on to say
"Fortunately the remission rate is very good, with 45-55 per cent outgrowing their allergy
by one year, 60-75 per cent by age two, and 85-90 per cent by age three. However,
cow?s milk allergy may occasionally be lifelong. In this group, symptoms may be severe."

That suggests severe allergy is less than 10% of the 2% who have milk allergy. Less than that because some outgrow it after age 3.

If you drive Andrew Clark at Addenbrooke's Cambridge is well liked www.spirehealthcare.com/Cambridge/Our-Facilities-Treatments-and-Consultants/Our-Consultants/D r-AndrewClark/ or you might want to try Professor Gideon Lack's team at King's college - this one has been mentioned on mumsnet before (think it said better with children than adults?)sites.google.com/site/georgedutoit/your-appointment

Just because some outgrow it does not necessrily indicate that their symptoms are not/can not be severe in the meantime. My ds1 (now aged 4) used to have a RAST of 5 for egg (so a strong reaction but not to the point that he ever had anaphylaxis from it), but now aged 4 he has a RAST of 3 and will even undergo an egg challenge in the summer. Although I agree that in most cases milk allergy sufferers tend to get more GI problems, this does not mean that it should be taken lightly and it is still not possible to predict reaction to future exposure to an allergen.

As the I mentioned earlier, the recommendations are that children with a first degree relative with an allergy be given formula with well-defined allergenicity personally I would push the doctors to prescribe it or get a private prescription. It may mean having to pester the doctors about it, but ultimately its probably worth it for peace-of-mind and reducing the risks of allergy in your new dc.

Carbooty I feel for you in your situation. My DD was/is allergic to dairy and she had problems even when I was BF - I had to cut dairy out of my diet. Her symptoms were colicky/bloating, silent reflux/arching and congestion and breathing problems (I didn't realise about the breathing problems until I'd eliminated dairy and her nose cleared up and she no longer gasped for breath in the middle of the night ). I am pregnant again, but have decided not to avoid dairy during pg and see what happens.

DD is still on Cow & Gate Pepti. As Tatt said, this is more palatable than Neocate or Nutramigen and, if I am correct, much cheaper should you end up buying formula over the counter. Although, IME, newborns will drink anything. The palatability comes in later.

What would I do in your position? I think if you end up with a hospital birth, then that is the ideal opportunity to try some supervised cow's milk formula if you are worried about anaphylaxis. However, if the symptoms are milder and more like my DD's (she had top ups of normal formula for a while because she wasn't gaining weight - another sign - but oddly they really settled her for a while. Just the calories I suppose) then alerting your HV to any signs of colic or reflux will be the way forward. I remember the MW being a bit when DD pooed when being put onto the scales at a week old and the poo was just trickling out of her. Apparently it wasn't a good sign, but it took them months to suggest dairy allergy to me after that.

I hope that this helps in some way. I know all babies are different, but those were my experiences with a newborn sufferer.