Seeing an Allergist at 4 months? Too young?

hoosiermamaof2

DS is almost 4 months, and we are positive he has some sort of food allergy. He began spitting up quite a bit in June, and I eliminated dairy for a couple of weeks after his 2 month appointment to see if that helped. It didn't. Between 2 & 3 months his weight gain drastically decreased. He went from the 55% to the 20% and doc recommended I go off dairy again. I did and when we went back to the doc he had lost an  1/2 oz! DS also has eczema so we know something is going on, but we don't know what. He still spits up quite a bit. I just don't think it is dairy because I feel like the spitting would have gotten better. She told me to start fortifying my breast milk with formula to help with his weight but my thoughts are if we could just fix the spitting up (somewhat...I know all babies spit up) then we may not need to supplement.

Is he too young to see an allergist to figure out what is going on? I just hate this whole...it may be this so try this. I would just like to know what I am eating is causing this so I can stop eating it.

Thanks!!

ream02

My DS has a diary protein allergy. It can take up to 3 weeks for the protein to get out of your milk and your LO's system. Also, unless you try a Soy formula a lot of formula's contain dairy unless you buy the one's that are specific to allergies which are expensive, smell bad and taste awful. My DS refused formula because it was just to nasty compared to my milk.

steph1977

Yes, I'd wait for testing until he's at least a year old. We were sent by our ped for testing at 4 months as well. After a very traumatic ordeal, most turned out as false positives. I totally understand your frustration, though. I cut out all of the supposed allergens, just to find out 6 months later that I was unknowingly eating many of the foods that she was actually allergic to. Most peds now recommend waiting until after a baby's immune system is fully developed (after 1 yr).

funchicken

Some babies have an immature gut that can cause food protein intolerances. Their symptoms are usually GI or reflux issues. An elimination diet can help you pinpoint the problem foods. My younger DD and my niece both had this. I was able to keep bfing on a very restricted diet, but my niece had to switch to Rx formula. Both of them outgrew many of their food intolerances by one year. Like the PPs said, an allergist might not be much help. I used the elimination diet on the Dr. Sears site.

bwralc

hmm interesting I disagree with a lot of the advice here.  My DD was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy at 8 mo.  She had started losing weight at just a few months old and became failure to thrive.  Without her diagnosis I wouldn't have known what to do.  Many kids who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to Soy so switching to a Soy formula may not fix your problem either.  I wanted to know what I was up against and luckily for us it was just dairy.  It took over a month for us to see results.  Go with your gut and at least get a RAST test done.  You might get some false positives, but in my opinion it's better to know where to start.

sapphiremom13

We had DS tested at 3.5 months and it confirmed our suspicion that he has a milk allergy. The blood draw was better than anticipated and it was a relief to have an answer. Our pedi did it, not an allergist.