Outgrowing a Milk Allergy
Luckily, most kids do eventually outgrow a milk allergy (although not everyone does!). Our oldest son, Logan, officially outgrew his allergy around his 2nd birthday. We noticed that when he accidentally had food with milk in it, his facial rash wasn’t appearing anymore. The confusing issue though, was that he continued to have lots of loose stools, especially when he had milk food. We ended up taking him to an allergist to get a final ruling. The allergist did the skin prick test, and found that he had indeed outgrown his milk allergy. When I asked about the loose stools, the doctor said that his body just didn’t have the enzymes it needed to break down milk. Once we gave him milk more often, his body made more of these enzymes and his system evened out. And, this proved true for Logan! We’ll hope that our baby, Luke, also outgrows his allergy!
Two Types of Milk Allergies
One other thing I learned with my older son was that there are two types of milk allergies- a rapid onset, and a delayed onset. As I took him off of milk but still made mistakes about giving him food with hidden milk in it, his facial rash would show up, but not for about 8-12 hours after he had the milk food! I could not figure it out, until I came across some research that explained the two types. So, as you eliminate milk from your or your child’s diet, know that the symptoms may not immediately appear or disappear!
How to Diagnose a Milk Allergy in a Baby
This is a tricky subject, and before I begin, I’d just like to reiterate that I am not a doctor. You will want to speak with your pediatrician about your concerns and get his/her opinion!! But, here is my experience and opinion on diagnosing a milk allergy in a baby…
Milk allergies often run in families, so if you or your spouse had one as a child, there is a higher likelihood that your baby will too. Other symptoms can vary from child to child, and include rashes, loose stools, blood in stools, vomiting, and being very fussy or colicky. You can have your doctor run tests to verify a milk allergy, which I would suggest doing if your child has very severe symptoms. But, a lot of diagnosing with a baby comes with trial and error. In other words, try completely eliminating milk from his/her diet (or your own diet if you are nursing), and see if it helps! If it does, try re-introducing milk every couple of months to see if the symptoms reappear. Most children outgrow milk allergies by the time they are 2-5.
In my own experience, my older son, Logan, was a very fussy baby. He spit up a LOT and had multiple loose stools each day. BUT, he was growing, gaining weight, and reaching developmental milestones appropriately, so his doctor was not too worried. I had asked about a milk allergy early on, but since he did not have bloody stools, that worry was discarded. Around the time he was about 10 months old, he developed a facial rash, especially on his right cheek, that would come and go without a logical pattern that we could find. Again, I brought up the idea of a milk allergy, but no one took me too seriously. I spent a LOT of time researching his symptoms on the Internet, and kept coming back to the milk allergy idea. I tried to eliminate milk from his diet, but the rash kept coming back. Unfortunately, at that point, I didn’t realize how very many foods really have milk in them. It wasn’t until I really got serious about learning about milk allergies that I figured it all out.
To truly find out if it is a milk allergy, you have to get really good at understanding what foods really have milk in them (see my last blog). You can’t just eliminate pizza, ice cream, and mac & cheese to see if it will work. You have to read the labels of EVERYTHING you or your child is eating and learn to find hidden milk ingredients in them. Completely eliminate dairy, and see what happens after a few days! With Logan, his rash completely cleared up, and his diapers got better (although not perfect for a long time). Whenever his rash did reappear, I could think back through what he ate, re-read labels, and always find the culprit.
If you think your child has a milk allergy, first speak with your doctor. But, then try eliminating dairy, but be very conscientious about it- really read everything. If you are nursing, you’ll need to eliminate it from your diet to avoid passing it through to your baby (again, see previous blog). Or, you can try Nutramigen formula by Enfamil. If your child is already eating solid foods, take some time to do research and change his/her diet for a couple of weeks and see if symptoms improve.
Remember, a true milk allergy is NOT the same as being lactose intolerant. You can’t get lactose free products and expect them to work if it is a true milk allergy. In a milk allergy, the allergen is the protein in milk, not lactose.
Do the best you can, but don’t get upset if you make a mistake and accidentally eat something with milk in it– it is easy to do! Just chalk it up to a learning experience and try again tomorrow 
.
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.
