Please can someone tell me what might be wrong with my DD!

[DawnAS]

My gorgeous DD will be one next week and is really happy and giggly, however, there is something not right.

The background is that about 4 weeks ago, we decided to start the transition to cows milk from formula. She had been having cows milk in her porridge since she started on solids at 6 months and had been fine.

So when we decided to start the transition, we did it one bottle at a time, starting with her mid-afternoon bottle. So she was still having two bottles of formula a day (morning and bedtime) and one of cows milk. After two weeks we went to two cows milk and one formula. No problems at all, loved it.

However, on Monday we made the final move to all cows milk. She is a very diddy girl (always has been) and is only the 9th centile for her weight so she's never had a big appetite. Up until Monday she was having 3 8oz bottles a day albeit one of formula but when we changed to all cows milk on Monday, things changed. She was sick on Monday night, not like her at all. After she'd been sick, she was fine.

Tuesday morning she had breakfast (albeit not much, she seemed to be a bit off of her food) but drank her milk and then didn't really want much lunch but drank most of her mid-afternoon bottle of milk, then was sick, again, out of the blue. Tuesday night she had her tea and about 4oz of milk and went to bed happy.

Wednesday morning she had half her morning bottle of milk and then half an hour later, had some more (she's always been a slow drinker...) but was then promptly sick again. But then went to her CM and ate well and was fine for the rest of the day. This morning, she was sick again after her milk and then again this evening after her milk.

She's absolutely fine in herself, no temperature, a little bit of nappy rash but nothing that's bothering her as she's such an easy-going child.

But why is she randomly being sick? The only thing that has changed is that she's no longer having the formula, so could it be that the extra cows milk is just too much for her? Should I try cutting it down to two bottles of milk now she's on three meals a day?

Her excema has also flared up a bit but I'm thinking that could be heat-related.

So, surely if there was a problem with milk, she wouldn't have easily tolerated 16oz a day for the last few weeks, plus having it in her porridge and lots of Philadelphia which she loves. So is it just too much?

A lot of food she has kept down aswell so I don't think it's a bug either.

I should also point out that she's always been up and down with feeding. She'll go for a couple of weeks in a row eating loads and then a couple of weeks eating hardly anything, it's just the way she is.

Anyone? Sorry that I've rambled but I wanted to get all the info in!

Hi. It is just possible she may have a cows milk protein intolerance or allergy. I would probably go and have a chat with your GP about it and maybe ask them to get you to see a dietician for some advice. Really difficult. I have had a similar experience recently with my 8 month old who suddenly started throwing up all her evening milk and had diarrhoea. Turned out she has a lactose intolerance (which is a bit different from a cows milk protein intolerance). Basically if it carries on, why dont you go back to your formula until you can get some proper advice about it. Good luck.

Hi Izzy,

Thank you for your response. My only confusion though is that she has had formula since she was born and has been having cheese since she was 6 months. So for 6 months she's been having lots of dairy. Would it suddenly happen even though she's been having dairy products for the last 6 months?

Thank you again for your reply!

Hi Dawn

The eczema and congested thing sounds like a red flag to me - cow's milk allergy?

Is the cow's milk more full-on in terms of allergens than the formula?

Both DD and I are prone to eczema if we eat too much cows milk. DD was bf for 7 months - no eczema. After that she was still fine when she was on her formula morning and night, but when she ate masses of yoghurt from about 8 months, her eczema started to develop. I think the yoghurt was much "stronger" in some way than the formula.

Now she has soya yoghurt and two bottles a day of half So Good soya milk and half cows milk. As long as she doesn't have too much cow's milk, she is fine. It may be the same with your DD as you suspect - she can tolerate some cow's milk but not too much.

I also have to be careful with dairy - so I just have milk in tea. Recently I've been eating loads of yoghurt and lo and behold my eczema is much much worse, so back to boring old toast!

My DH also has to avoid dairy, so really DD must have inherited a double whammy! At least it means we are already set up to avoid dairy a lot of the time. But we manage by using soya/rice milk and yogurt and goats cheese. Its surprising how quickly you can get used to cutting out cheese sauces and things.

I had eczema as a child and was also very congested/stuffed up. I think that is a strong indicator of dairy allergy too. You could get an allergy test done and then you'd know for sure?

Hi Bumpsadaisie and thank you for your message.

After my last post, we did stop the cows milk but have continued with the cheese/philadelphia and butter. We've put her back onto Formula.

She has stopped being sick and excema has cleared up again. The congestion is still there but she's had that from birth so think it's just her!

Got the HV coming around on Monday for her development check so will raise the issue of milk again then. NHS Direct suggested going back to formula for a few weeks and then try to reintroduce the cows milk really slowly, so we'll see what happens...

Thanks again!