Suspected Dairy Allergy

[QuinnofHearts]

Any help would be a great!

I have a beautiful 4 week old DD. I've been combi feeding her which has been a bit rocky.

In the first 2 weeks, I was convinced she had reflux like my DS. We started on Gaviscon which stopped the vomiting but didn't stop the "fussing". Fussing with tummy rumbles, endless wind, constipation and then diarrhoea. Last week I noticed she had eczema, so I've been applying cream to her face and breastmilk but it's not clearing up. This week a family member stated DD could have colic, so I followed all the guidance and started using anti colic bottles but if anything, it's got worse.

By process of elimination, it appears it's a dairy allergy. My husband has one, and DD appears to have one too. Her blocked nose is causing the most issues as she just can't settle at night.

I don't mind buying her soya milk, but what I'm upset by is stopping BF. We have been doing SO well, and today I BF in public for the first time and I was so proud of myself. I was vegan for a while in my early 20s but what I want to know is, how strict do I need to be dairy free? Can I have milk in my tea or do I need to switch to oat milk?

Any help or advice would be amazing, thank you.

My advice is to cut it completely for at least two weeks, maybe up to 4. Then when it's completely out of both your systems you should be able to get away with a splash of milk here and there with little effect.
Otherwise even if you just had a small bit each day you would just be topping up the build up of dairy in your body and never clearing it out.

I have read that flaxseed is good for detoxing dairy, ground up flaxseed that is.

FYI, most (60%) of babies who have cows milk protein allergy also cross react to soya. If you eliminate dairy and see no improvement I would also eliminate soya for a few weeks too. I excluded soya, dairy, eggs and wheat for 6 months when breastfeeding. The first few weeks are horrific but honestly the wheat was the hardest, there are so many good milk alternatives these days that excluding milk is relatively easy

If you want to continue formula feeding you will need to get a prescription formula from the gp that is milk/soya free

You do not need to stop breastfeeding with CMPA.

My eldest has it and I combi fed to 13 months. We used prescription formula but I wish I'd just EBF him once we were over his initial weight issues.

Anyway, give the NCT infant feeding line a ring, or pop along to your local group. Some fussiness is normal baby behaviour and not always a sign of something else (hard to say for sure over the internet)

You also don't have to cut dairy out of your diet, but if your partner is dairy free I'm assuming you don't have a lot of it in your diet anyway. Swapping to milk alternatives where you can won't hurt.

You don't have to stop BF. I've breastfed and am currently 17 months into BF my second allergy baby. You just remove dairy from your own diet ( or other allergens. My current BF baby is dairy, soya and egg ).

Really would be very wary of soya too - both my boys have been soya as well as dairy ( around 70% of cmpa babies will be too )

Recommend joining " breastfeeding with cmpa and other food allergies " on Facebook. They were an absolute lifeline to me with my first.

If baby is reacting through your milk which it sounds like, you will need to remove all dairy.

One question, how are you combi feeding. Is it set bottles or top ups?

If top ups try moving to set bottles to see if she's ok after your milk and only reacting after bottles.

My son was fine on breastmilk but would react after every bottle he had.

My 8 month old has cow's milk protein allergy- and I was exclusively breast feeding until recently.

Baby shouldn't be switched to only soy milk as it isn't sufficient in terms of nutrients (we are supplementing with special formula from our GP) also babies with cow's milk allergy react to soya so oat milk etc is a better substitute (for you to drink or to use in cooking meals for baby)

If your going to cut dairy you need to cut it completely (at least initially) and I would also suggest cutting soya too as the protein is incredibly similar and a large amount of babies that react to cow's milk react to soya.
We also found out my DC also reacts to other legumes (lentils, peas, peanuts, chickpeas etc) as they are also similar to soya!
My little boy will react if I have even a tiny amount of dairy (upset stomach, hard to settle, crying in pain etc) it's worth researching NON IGE CMPA and reading up about it. even if it 'just' seems like it's upsetting their stomachs but not an anaphylactic allergy, it is still serious as it's damaging their little tummies and it needs time to heal.

There are also alot of Facebook groups that I found really helpful and supportive in the beginning- especially with finding what you can eat and asking specific questions.

Yes to the above advice. You should continue to use your breast milk as much as possible and to go dairy free yourself. If your supply remains inadequate you will have to top up with prescription milk . I suggest you get medical advice .Don't start soy milk or goats milk.

You should be fully dairy free for now.

Thank you, GP is calling me tomorrow!

Thank you so much. I've been so proud of my BF journey with her and I am so sad that it might go away.

DH has milk in his tea and butter on toast, but doesn't drink milkshakes, eats cheese etc. I'm the big dairy fan 😭

Set ups, and it's after full bottles. We never have a reaction after a boob feed or bottle of boob. She has 2-3 formula bottles a day; usually in the afternoons when I'm cooking tea and sorting out my son.

I can do that. Thank you so much. My main worry is cheese as I'm meat free. I'll give it a go!

Wheat and eggs! Oh crikey. I'm meat free, and I love scrambled eggs and toast.

Just read that online about the 60% :-(

I don’t understand why you think you need to stop breastfeeding? You should be proud of how feeding is going and if it works for you both then keep going!

My daughter has a soya allergy and suspected dairy (I’m lactose intolerant so she’s never had dairy but soya and dairy allergies often co-occur) and is almost 10 months and I am still exclusively breastfeeding her.

Because I don't know any better, haha! I've had friends who have stopped, but I really don't want too as it's been going so well!

You can continue to breastfeed but you will need to eliminate dairy completely from your diet. I’d say at least four weeks to clear it from your body and also to allow your child’s skin to heal. It is possible but, as mentioned earlier, cross-reactivity to soya and soy milk is a possibility (it was for us).

hopefully the GP will refer you to paediatrics for support but they might try to get you to cut dairy first and then wait and only cut other things (like soya) if there isn’t an improvement after about 3 weeks. this is because of the importance of you getting the right nutrients to sustain feeding and your own health.

there are loads of good accounts to follow on IG - I would recommend milk allergy dietician.

also keep a diary of what you eat and what your baby’s symptoms are. That will help pinpoint if there are any triggers

if you do cut soya as well then pea milk is actually a better alternative nutritionally than oat for porridge and cooking and stuff.

Ok if she's not reacting to your milk, ditch the formula and work on increasing breastfeeds. It might be that your partner needs to do some more cooking / domestic support to enable this. If you can avoid the prescription formula, do, it stinks!

Again call the NCT feeding line for more help with this or find a breastfeeding group in your area.

You don't need to cut out dairy if she's not reacting to your milk.

Be careful with the GP. Most are not infant feeding specialists and many will just prescribe the formula / tell you to stop feeding.

Thank you. Going to quit the dairy today!

I hope you don’t need to stop! There are dairy free formulas that you can be prescribed but my experience is that doctors are really keen to support breastfeeding if you want to continue.

We had a bad night the past few nights, and this is when I've had a huge glass of milk before bed. I'm such a numpty.

I'll look out for pea milk, I use oat milk in coffee.

There's a BF group tomorrow, so I might nip in. Thank you so much.

Pea milk is vile OP, stick to the oatly barista