Other words meaning milk
It can be challenging to learn to read the ingredient lists on packaging to determine whether or not a food really does contain milk. There are a lot of terms that mean milk, and just don’t come right out and say it. Thankfully, many companies are listing allergens at the bottoms of the ingredient lists now, but not all of them do it! Here are some terms to avoid, as they also mean “milk” or “derived from milk”:
Parve Saves the Day!
Helpful hint… when you are looking for food to buy that does not contain milk, if it has the word “parve” on the label anywhere, it is good to go! Parve is a Hebrew term (pareve is the Yiddish term) that describes food without any animal or dairy ingredients. You’d be surprised at how many options there really are out there- even cookies!!
Blog background- raising two boys with a milk allergy
Hi Moms, Dads, and other Caregivers,
I decided to start a blog about babies with milk allergies. I have learned so much about this topic over the past couple of years, but when I first started to research it, I couldn’t believe how little help there was out there. It has taken trial and error, and countless hours spent online to piece together how to diagnose and live with a true milk protein allergy in a baby. Let me give you a little history…
Two years ago, I had a very fussy little baby boy- Logan- who would spit up a lot, cry, scream, and not sleep! But, since he was growing and gaining weight, by his doctor’s expectations, he was doing fine. And, as our first child, we really had nothing to compare “normal” to, so we weren’t sure if we were being overly sensitive or not! But, my mother’s intuition would not be quiet, so I kept googling his symptoms. I had been nursing him, and did notice some variation of symptoms with my diet. I attempted to cut out dairy, as I had heard that milk products sometimes irritated a baby’s stomach. But, at that point, I considered limiting dairy to mean not eating pizza, milk, yogurt, and ice cream… that didn’t quite cut it, but I didn’t know anything else at that point. I tried different formulas to supplement, including soy and gentlease (the one with milk proteins partially broken down). Soy did not work at all- at first my then 6 month old looked at me like I was crazy and handed the bottle back to me! When he did have soy products, it actually made him just as sick or sicker than milk did! We’ll come back to that later…
Eventually I tried the lactose-free formula, which did make a significant difference in the amount Logan spit up and the quality of his sleep. I thought I had solved the problem, except he still got very fussy, had a lot of loose stools, and then developed a facial rash!
To make a very long story shorter, by the time my poor guy was a year old, I FINALLY figured out that he had a milk protein allergy. This meant that he could not have any food or drink with ANY milk ingredients in it… I plan to talk more in future entries about what this really means and how to work with it.
I have recently been blessed with a second little boy, Luke. He is adorable, sweet, fun… and when he was about three weeks old, started to get very fussy and to throw up a lot! Luckily this time we knew what to watch for, and I am now successfully nursing a baby with a milk protein allergy! I do supplement with formula too… I plan to get more into that next time.
Note that a true milk allergy is not the same as being lactose intolerant. You can’t give a child “lactaid” or other products that eliminate the lactose ingredient if he/she has a true milk allergy. Also, many children (as with Logan) are also sensitive to soy if they are sensitive to milk. So, what is a parent to do? That’s the goal for my blog… I’d like to offer support, suggestions, food ideas, etc for parents who are dealing with this tough allergy and the symptoms that go with it. Please feel free to send me your comments and questions. Note that I am not a doctor or a nutritionist- I am just a mom with some experience that I’d like to share. You’ll need to consult with your own pediatrician to find out what’s best for your baby.
