To eat dairy even though baby has suspected allergy?!

[milkinmum]

I've had differing advice from two different consultants - my infant is exclusively breastfed and hasn't yet started weaning and shows signs of mild allergy through my breast milk, I think I've noticed a link to dairy. He has mild eczema that is controlled through regular ointments and has mucusy runny poos. However he is a happy smiley baby, his weight gain is beautiful and he feeds and sleeps well.

One consultant advised an elimination diet for 6 weeks to see if those symptoms resolve

One consultant said if he does have an allergy that actually because it's mild and manageable and he's thriving that it's best to keep it in his system so his body doesn't reject it totally and that he should outgrow it soon enough anyway.

I have asked for clarity on what the better route is and got told only I know how much my baby is suffering or not?!

As much as I don't want him to have eczema on more concerned about lifelong allergy so I guess I'm resonating more with the continuing as normal route, but I feel guilty eating things that I do suspect he is allergic too?!

Can’t comment on when it’s in the breastmilk at that young an age, but DS has an egg allergy, the severity of which depends on how raw the egg is.

We are under the care of a consultant and we are working our way through the egg ladder slowly, where we give small amounts of egg containing foods and increase the amounts gradually so he can build resistance to it.

On that basis, I would agree that as it’s mild, keep it in his system, but that’s on the basis that it’s not irritating him.

If it's mild don't cut it out, if you do his allergy can get worse and the milk ladder can be hard. Also ive known mums to develop intolerance after cutting it from their diet.

Had a friend with baby apparently only a mild allergy but had to go full dairy free herself. Just because baby isn’t anaphylactic doesn’t mean they aren’t always in pain/itchy/reflux/not sleeping etc.
Try it for a week and if the difference in your baby is noticeably better then continue, if not ask for more advice

Personally I would exclude it for 6 weeks. If he is being constantly exposed to it then his gut won’t have the opportunity to recover. The bast majority of babies with none IGE CMPA out grow it.

Even children with severe milk protein allergies (like my son) are advised to eat foods from the "milk ladder" as much as they can tolerate, to help build tolerance.

If your baby is comfortable and the eczema is not bothering him then just carry on.

My son was in a lot of pain and having a really difficult time, so I had to stop.

My daughter reacted through BM but not all do. She's 6 now and only half way up the milk ladder. She still carries an epi pen for egg.
If you're not sure about the severity of the allergy I would try to cut it out for six weeks, (three weeks to get out of your system, and another three to get it out of baby's) then reintroduce it to your diet and see if it has an effect.
My second had egg milk and peanut allergy but did not react to my BM at all. She outgrew milk at one and egg at two. She carries an epi pen for peanut but I ate them consistently when bf before we knew. So it's different with every child

Hi OP, very sorry to hear this.

My son was the same, runny mucous poos, rash around his bottom, gastric reflux and couldn't put on weight because he vomited so much. He was finally diagnosed with ulcerative allergic colitis at 4 months.

I was insisting in breastfeeding him exclusively but because he wasn't putting on weight we had to introduce Neocate and omeprazole at 5 months but I carried on breastfeeding and by that time I had become fully vegan.

We were lucky to be under the care of the fantastic consultants at Evelina's which is the best allergy clinic in the UK. Allergy is a very misunderstood condition and in the UK unless it's Evelina's, King's or Addenbrooks the allergy clinics are not that good I'm afraid.

But to answer your question: full exclusion diet and then reintroduce one food at a time. If you don't do that, you'll never know exactly what he's allergic to, the allergy is going to continue and will never go away. Your baby needs time to heal, especially his guts as runny mucous poos are a sign that his bowels are hurt. DS reintroduction was done at hospital under the nurses supervision as he had history of reacting to everything: milk, soya, eggs, peanuts, any meat, etc.

You need to give it time and be patient and persist with the recommendations. But there's light at the end of the tunnel: DS is 13 and eats everything today. Wishing you all the best and good luck with everything 😊

A week isn't ling enough to make a difference. You'd either have to stop it completely for at least six weeks, or keep it in the diet.

Both my kids had CMPA and the milk ladder was tricky.

Thanks for replies He doesn't have any rashes, reflux or weight loss. Literally just mild eczema and funny poos! He doesn't seem to be in pain and is happy and smiley, gaining weight well (jumping up centiles!) and is happy to feed. It's really strange to be honest, I don't want to make it worse trying to make it better!

But allergy comes in different ways OP. Sometimes it's just mild eczema and sometimes it's a whole variety of symptoms.

Even if it's just mild eczema and funny poos that doesn't mean it's not worth doing the whole food exclusion diet. Runny mucous poo is a sign that his guts are hurt. My DS had those poos and I thought it was normal till the day I saw blood in his nappy.

Food exclusion diet is a pain the arse but it's the only way you'll know for sure. Good luck

So my little one had mucusy nappies and really bad colic and wind. I thought maybe there was a link so I started eliminating all dairy and derivatives and noticed no difference but was advised to stop because it could affect my supply. Apparently they do tend to grow out of cmpa. What age is your wee one? For mine his nappies are still a little mucusy at times but it was a posterior tt that caused our main issues.

P.s oversupply and fast letdown can also cause similar issues with the nappies so laid back feeding can help if that's happening for you

Absolutely. As long as your baby isn't actively dying, what's a bit of gut damage? Imflammed, damaged intestines are good for babies and - if you are lucky - can lead to more exciting allergies later on.

Dd reacted through breast milk and had severe allergy so I was advised to swap her to prescription formula.

Oh piss off.

Multiple allergy parent twice over here.

Don't you remember what it's like at the beginning. How you have no idea what you're doing and second guess everything? And you never get good consistent advice from all the professionals involved until you get to the full paediatric allergy referral which so many kids with milder CMPA never get.

There's absolutely no need to be like this.

This fucking site.

Yes exactly this - OP you need to do it so you can work out exactly what's going on

But OP's baby is gaining weight well, is happy and thriving. He feeds and sleeps well. I'm not sure it warrants OP excluding dairy. I personally would be more concerned about the eczma especially if baby needs ointments and things for it.
I'm not sure how old the baby is or whether he is on solids or not? I would be more cautious to see how he reacts to actual dairy when he ingests it directly himself, as it will be much stronger than what comes through breastmilk.

Doctors do give differing advice, its partly down to how they have assessed the situation and applying their clinical judgement. Similarly, there aren't always hard and fast answers with parenting and OP will have to make the judgement on what route she wants to take.

I’d exclude for a period to see if it improves. If it does then you can confirm your suspicions and reintroduce dairy if you feel he’s comfortable and it’s manageable.

I suggest this because it will probably help to know in advance when he starts weaning if dairy is an issue, particularly if he starts to get more uncomfortable at that stage. It saves you the bother of then eliminating and reintroducing (to confirm) at a later stage, and when it might be more uncomfortable for him. You can just eliminate right away.

My son has a dairy allergy and we had an extremely difficult time getting our GP to take me seriously. Thinks took a significantly more difficult turn when he started weaning and having confirmed while breastfeeding I was able to fully explain to GP, eliminate right away and get referred to dietician.

My eldest has lactose intolerance and we found out the hard way. At hospital I breastfed her and she was fine came home and MIL was adamant on giving her formula which I begrudgingly gave in to. That first night of formula feeding was like the scenes out of the exorcist. Poor DD was throwing up had diarrhoea constantly, all night. So I did the sensible thing and told husband to take her to his mum as she insisted on formula(we lived with his mum at the time).
Following morning took DD to the GP and was told she had lactose intolerance. So she was breastfed which meant I had to eliminate dairy from my diet. Even me having milk in tea would set her off. It was tough but we found alternatives to dairy.

He's had a few bottles of kendamil, never drank more than a few ounces and he hasn't had an instant reaction. I've been suspicious his eczema is slightly more red the day after. I really don't know if I'm over analysing or if something is wrong. Annoyingly I cut dairy out for two weeks a few months ago only for the consultant at the time to say it's impossible for him to be allergic through breastmilk so I resumed a normal diet. Wish I'd stuck at it now!

FWIW my baby always had runny mucusy poos, all sorts of colours. A paediatrician told me there was nothing to worry about if he didn’t seem in discomfort. As a PP said it can be due to fast letdown and oversupply. I also wondered about dairy and other allergies at the time.

Now he’s on more solids (and BF) he eats everything with no sign of allergy and does normal solid poos!

Consultant was talking out of his bumhole and it makes me so angry! Of course the baby won't be allergic to your breast milk, he will be allergic to whatever you ate, which in turn it will be passed onto to your baby via breast milk. I don't know if you're here in the UK but if it close to you I'd ask to be referred to one the following clinics: Evelina's, King's or Addenbrookes. The ignorance when it comes to allergy is absolutely staggering, GPS don't have a clue and even paediatricians don't know much about it since it's still a very underfunded field of study. Not least people who think allergy is just someone being fussy or picky.

@Ilovetea42 A restrictive diet does not affect your milk supply. I went full vegan from 4 months until 9 months (when I stop breastfeeding) and still had milk for England. The only thing that can affect your supply is if you're dehydrated.

@Begonias oh god, that is horrible, people who think they know best. But there's a good chance your DD had an allergy and not intolerance. It's very hard to distinguish one from the other because symptoms are basically the same but you can tell by the intensity of the symptoms.

@milkinmum Forgot to say that not every reaction is instant like an anaphylactic shock. Most babies with food allergies will have a delayed reaction. Anaphylactic shock is rare in babies.

Often with CMP and lactose it's causing upset in the gut and can lead to severe ulcers and stomach bleeding.
From our experience I'd be tempted to stop all dairy for a couple of months and if re-introducing it try dairy in baked/cooked products rather than 'raw'.

Don't be selfish.