Cows milk allergy in toddler

[mimsy35]

Hi

My 14 month old has had a little rash around is mouth for 2 months now. He is getting a lot of teeth but he has also started on cows milk. I took him to an allergist who says he has a cows milk allergy and suggested I put him on Nutramigen. I'm reluctant to put him back on formula. Has anyone used Nutrimagen for a one year old? Did it have side effects? Or does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks!

I doubt he will drink nutramigen at this age you could try it.

Alternatively you could give him coconut milk or any other nut milk.

Nutramigen has no side effects. It's excellent for kids with allergies. However most children over the age of 1 wouldn't accept it as the taste isn't the most palatable.

Alpro Soya 1+ is a lot more palatable.

Are you confident the allergist is a qualified medical professional. If not go to your GP for onward referral rather than following this person's advice.

My three year old hasn't been able to have cow's milk his whole life but is fine with goats milk. Supermarkets now do loads of goats milk products - mild cheddar-like cheese, yoghurts, butter and even ice-cream so it is a life-saver.

koko is good. The prescription milks taste vile ill be surprised if he takes it tbh.

Dd was having alpro junior plus at around this age and dietitian said koko would also be ok

DD (16 months) is allergic to dairy. After I stopped BF she was prescribed SMA Wysoy. Since two weeks she's moved on to Alpro Soya 1+ as recommmended by the peadiatric diatician. Can you ask if that's an option?

I use Nutragimen to make porridge for my 1yo (he's one in a couple of weeks anyway!). Tend to add banana/berries/stewed apple to make it nicer though as it's rank. However, he doesn't get a 'little rash', he gets severe weeping eczema all over. If the little rash is mild, I'd be reluctant to make major changes to his diet. I'd definitely see your GP. Goat's milk, soya milk and nut milks are options you could investigate.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm pretty sure it's an allergy because his nose sounds a bit congested too. I was advised not to give him coconut milk and almond milk because they don't have enough nutrients for a child his age. Alpro Soya 1+ was suggested by the allergist (who is a professional) but almost everyone else says to avoid soya because it may cause a hormone imbalance. I'm gutted to have to put him on stinky formula. He is perfectly fine otherwise. I could try goats milk - though again, everyone says the proteins in goat's milk are basically the same as in cows milk.

Couldn't you just give vitamin drops. It's got to be more nutritious than drinking nothing at all.

It sounds more like an intolerance than an allergy tbh, but I am not an expert.

DD was allergic and milk protein caused facial swelling and wheezing, and even small amounts via breastmilk left her skin red raw all over. Worth checking with a medical professional as they can guide you and help you access a dietitian. Anyone can call themselves an allergist as far as I understand.

Well I'm concerned about the congested noise in his nose and he is starting to get dry patches on his body so I think he definately needs to come off the cows milk. I'm afraid his symptoms will increase if he continues on it. The question is do I risk give him some sort of hormonal thyroid imbalance if I give him soy milk or will he end up with tummy trouble if I give him weird formula? The GP's where I live are useless by the way.

Try goat's milk products for a couple of weeks first. My GP is anti-soya for babies. I only give my baby water to drink and breastfeed at night (I'm dairy-free too). I only use the hypoallergenic formula as a milk substitute in cooking eg in porridge and I think once he's a bit older we'll switch to coconut milk. He hasn't had any tummy trouble from the formula, but he doesn't have much of it.

My son was on alpro soya +1 for about 18 months.
The hormone imbalance thing has never been proven in humans I believe.
He's a fit, healthy boy. It is very very sweet though so make sure tooth rushing is good!!

The proteins in goats milk are smaller and easier to digest than cow's milk or soya - so worth a try. We went from Neocate formula to goats milk at about a year old and haven't had any problems.

Thanks everyone,

I think I'll try goats milk and if that doesn't work, just go for the nutrimagen.
Fingers crossed there'll be an improvement. You'd wonder why this information about cows milk protein isn't common knowledge!

My dd has cmpa. Was your lo on formula or bf before? I'm wondering if it's just needing to adjust to cows milk rather than a full on allergy, if they were on formula before. There are many fortified almond milks on the market now and our dietician suggested a fortified oat milk. Sadly dd will not take any of them. We're giving osteocare supplements and ensuring she has fortified cereals and bread. This is far from ideal but as others have said, it's hard to get a child on dairy free formula (in our case, neocate) after probably 5 months old. There are some fab FB pages for CMPA allergy support by the way - it was a bit of a lifeline for me during weaning!! Good luck and hope it goes well xx

Oh my other piece of advice is that it can take three or four weeks for the cosas milk to completely leave a body so anything you try you need to persevere for that long to really know if it is working (apart from if you have an obvious violent reaction of course).