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?!

How am I being selfish?! When I first suspected a dairy allergy I instantly cut it out for two weeks before being told by a consultant to re-introduce as it wouldn't be the cause. I've since continued to chase it up with my GP and health visitor because I've had a niggling feeling somethings still up and I didn't want him to be fobbed off. I'm literally only thinking about not cutting dairy out because one consultant suggested this way he's less likely to end up without a lifelong dairy allergy. I literally can't see what's selfish, all I am thinking about is him, nothing is to do with myself?

My baby (now a teenager) was very unhappy, cried constantly, mucusy poos, eczema and ended up in hospital twice after trying a mouthful of formula. I was advised to breastfeed but no one mentioned cutting out dairy and I don’t know why, but I didn’t realise how much got through to her. As soon as we switched to neocate at 18 months old, she totally changed and life began for us both. I absolutely would cut it out and see if the eczema and poo improve.

My daughter is now 14, has never been able to even try the milk ladder and has had to use her epipen twice in the last couple of years due to accidental exposure to milk. It’s very sad and allergies aren’t well understood.

There's no clear answer as the medical professionals can't agree. They simply don't have the data.

My son had (and has) severe allergies, including to milk.

I did exclude dairy when he was very small, as it seemed to help his eczema and reflux. However, I reintroduced it into my diet when he was 18 months and still breastfeeding, with no issue.

Dr Adam Fox (a prominent UK allergist) has come out and said most mums shouldn't exclude it from their diet, as it only passes through the milk in tiny amounts. However, he says if the baby's symptoms can't be controlled medically, mum should then try an exclusion diet.

Keeping up with the thread... the thing is you may not know until you're weaning if you're over reacting or imagining things. I had certainly convinced myself there was nothing wrong then we introduced weetabix with formula on and within three days her skin was peeling off. Came off diary and egg and nuts immediately tests showed egg and cmpa. By 9 months she reacted to milk with hives on contact. Still allergic now at age 6 but can tolerate baked (up to pancakes)

Can you please quote where Dr Fox said this? I'm just curious because my DS was a patient of his and of Dr George DuToit at Evelina's and the advice we had was the direct opposite of what you're saying

Yes, it's his most recent Instagram post! He's there under dradamfox

My DS was anaphylactic to dairy until we did the SOCMA immunotherapy trial. He now can tolerate as much dairy as he wants. This was done by him eating dairy every day in ever increasing amounts.

We first knew if his allergy at a few weeks old. It was passing through my breast milk.

Unlike your DC he was screaming all the time and not sleeping so I cut milk out.

My advice to you would be to not stop eying dairy if your DC is perfectly happy.

@Alloveragain3 thanks, that's a useful account to follow. Any other recommendations?

I have had so much conflicting advice. It does seem like even the professionals don't know.

If I were you, I'd definitely keep it in my diet. The milk ladder is such a pain, I can't even tell you. If you LO isn't suffering hugely, definitely don't put yourself/ him through the reintroduction.

If you felt like you need to do something, you could exclude pure mik and yog and keep everything else. These are easier to swap out for alternatives IMO.

I read the post and it's not really "mums shouldn't do an exclusion diet" written in back and white. It's a measured post and takes into consideration a variety of situations. He does say that they should do an exclusion diet if necessary.

He says that an exclusion diet may stop breastfeeding because it's very restrictive and who wants to go on potatoes, courgette and rice only like I did when you could be eating cake and feeding Neocate to the baby? I just wish I had introduced Neocate sooner but I still don't regret having persisted with bf even after introducing DS to Neocate.

@pinksquash13 Hmm... I don't follow any others quite like that but the Natasha Foundation one is good for knowing what's going on in the allergy world

This is utter nonsense. I have two DC with multiple anaphylactic allergies both taking part in immunotherapy trials.

Current advice is if you can tolerate your allergen with symptoms as mild as the OPs Dc is to not cut out the allergen as tolerance will increase the more you invest the allergen.

Why would you if there was some risk to your baby?

@MrsMikeDrop

It isn't clear cut like this. In some cases, excluding and avoiding the food can make an allergy worse.

If the baby is content, it may well be better to not restrict any foods

I think the problem stih continuing dairy is that your baby might well start dropping off on the growth charts because they're not absorbing foods properly, which can also lead to anemia and a lot of other issues.

Personally, I'd go with dairy free for a few months and then eat it every other week or something and see how it goes. But anecdotally, my DC were both dairy free for 5 years and can now tolerate all dairy so I wouldn't worry too much about the allergy worsening. I'd worry more about gut damage and growth problems.

Because maintaining tolerance can stop an allergy becoming fatal.

Eczema might not be an allergy. I've had every allergy text under the sun and aged 28 still have severe eczema.

Some of us just have eczema.

I've had a cmpa baby. The more they consume it, the worse they can react and it can damage their gut. Give it up. My little one passed the milk ladder by 1 year old and I (and he)was eating dairy again.
My second is 4 months and I gave it up anyway before he was born just in case.
It's best for them in the long term

My baby had a milk protein allergy and no reaction at all to breastmilk. I always kept eating dairy.

Eczema is typically a non-ige allergy reaction which don't show up on tests.

Nope. This is really outdated advice. If you are able to tolerate the allergen you should continue to consume it otherwise your tolerance may decrease to such an extent that the allergy becomes anaphylactic.

@Rainbowshit is right.

My DD has previously tolerated a higher dose of baked egg but slipped back during the pandemic during my anxiety about medical services being available when we did the ladders

Yep. My DD was tolerating 6 peanut m&ms per day as part of a clinical trial.

Unbeknown to us she stopped taking them for a couple of weeks and just a couple gave her an anaphylactic reaction. In Greece. Fucking nightmare.

Sensitivity to milk or dairy can take many forms. I'd say its impossible to know what at this stage. For example one of my sons has lactose intolerance IE inability to digest milk sugar. My other son has an intolerance to milk protein (casein) - totally different type of condition. There can also be a an allergy to whey.

@milkinmum how are you being selfish?

Two weeks isn't long enough. That's how you are being selfish. Is cheese just too lovely to give up? How difficult for you. Poor you giving up something that means more to you than your child's health and comfort. I feel so awful for you. 6 weeks is just too hard. I couldn't imagine suffering so much either.

@Rainbowshit my goodness! Please send your knowledge to the allergy specialists. You've cracked it!