Dairy problem ?

[Marsh212]

Hi everyone ,

Has anyone had any experience with baby seeming to be intolerant/upset to some dairy but not others ?

11mo , always been windy even when just on normal formula but could sleep through the night . Worsens severely with cheese and greek yoghurt . Not worsened with dairy baked into bits and bobs . Don't dare try Weetabix / porridge with whole milk . Helped with colief.

If baby had cmpa would all dairy not cause their symptoms ?

Baby wakes inconsolable and very difficult to do anything to help

Abit confused by this and what to do

TIA

I figured out at 4 mths old that my BF baby wasn't handling dairy - some similar symptoms.. inconsolable / wouldn't sleep / wouldn't lay flat / SO windy. Fast forward, he's got CMPA so he's been dairy free since. To reintroduce milk, you follow the "milk ladder" which starts off at very baked milk, then less baked, grilled cheese, then yoghurt, ending with milk (roughly.. you can ask a dietician for a real version). Sounds like your baby has CMPA but is tolerant to an extent. Would get in touch with a dietitian through the GP

As above and useful to get this documented by GP as you may find nursery or school will only follow dairy free if you have Dr note. I found nursery great but school a pain. Oat milk is a great substitute (organic versions branded not cheap supermarket own brand which is like water) and soya yogurts. So much “vegan” food about now it’s less hassle than you think. Work up the ladder until you find the point that suits and then test going up every few months.

The issue is that several things all get classed under problems with dairy.
Immediate allergies - what most people consider as an allergy - rashes, hives, anaphylaxis. Can occur with any trace of the food and reactions are soon after having the foods usually within 2h
Delayed allergies - gastric symptoms but can occur with traces of food. Symptoms are usually 2-72h. This was the type my daughter has and she had symptoms within an hour some times but they peaked around 24-36 h after.
Intolerance - gastric symptoms but need larger volumes or purer forms of the food.

An allergen that is present in small amounts and "heavily baked" is usually more tolerated than the allergen in its pure state that hasn't been cooked. The egg ladder is the simplest to follow and demonstrates this clearer than the milk ladder imo. Step 1 is "heavily baked in a flour matrix" - a cake or Yorkshire puddings
Step 2 is heavily baked - a well cooked omelette
Step 3 is lightly cooked - soft scrambled egg
Step 4 is uncooked - mayonnaise

You can also get build up reactions. we have recently tried to get coconut into my daughters diet and she was fine having 1 tsp of vegan cream cheese once a week but when we went to 1/2 a tsp 3 days in a week she reacted.

I would remove all none baked dairy, see how symptoms are. Until you are symptom free and settled don't replace dairy with soya products. About half of babies that can't tolerate dairy can't tolerate soya as the proteins are so similar. By waiting until you are symptom free before introducing soya you will know if the stopping dairy has helped or not. You risk symptoms continue as you have replaced one allergen with another one.

Speak to your HV as they maybe able to refer to dieticians for some advice on removing dairy and what to look for in dairy replacements. My daughters dietician recommended oat milks that are equivalent nutritionally to oatly barista especially in terms of fat content and being fortified with calcium and iodine but she has other dietary limitations

That's standard for cow's milk protein allergy. When you begin trialling milk (the milk ladder) you start with baked goods with milk powder in them then at each stage increase the amount of protein the body notices until the final stages are cheese, yoghurt then finally milk. Keep having the products the body can tolerate but don't push it with the others until you have advice. You need 6 weeks from a reaction until you try the next step on the ladder again. Be cautious of soya as 30% of people allergic to dairy will be allergic to soya as well. Allergy uk can be a massive support

Thanks everyone this is all really useful . Do you think it's worth starting baby on cmpa milk ? That way I will definitely know if it's diary or not ? Then start the milk ladder 6 weeks after as long as symptoms improve ?

Definitely going to visit the g.p and get this documented and the advice I need .

Kicking myself if this is cmpa , feel so awful about not potentially catching this sooner eventhough in my head I have always thought it is a potential 😥

The proteins in the baked goods will have been broken down more so less likely to cause an issue. It does sound like it could be non-IGE CMPA.