Milk protein allergy

lihau88

So we went to our 4 week pedi appt today and I asked the Dr about LO's fussiness again (I had previously talked about it with her two weeks ago and she advised me to cut back on dairy to see if it helped as I EBF). I stopped eating my daily cereal and pretty much stopped drinking milk but continued eating cheese and yogurt on occasion.

LO has been so fussy with gas pains lately and will even cry out in pain while nursing. I have been giving her gas drops and gripe water which help her to feel better, but I needed a long term solution as it breaks my heart to see her in pain.

So while we were at the dr, LO had a dirty diaper and she was able to test her stoole for a milk protein allergy. It came back positive. So now I need to cut out all dairy completely from my diet. I am sad about this. I obviously will do anything for my LO, and her comfort and well being mean more to me than my love of cheese, milk, and ice cream/yogurt...I was just getting use to the non restrictive not pregnant anymore diet.

Also wondering about if I need to switch to formula for some reason. I've heard the Alimentum formula is quite pricey.

Anyone else with a LO with a milk protein allergy?

MamaAllison

No experience but hugs! Cutting out dairy must be really hard, and the fact that you are willing to try shows how great of a mom you are!!

1linedrawing

There's so many alternative options now, give a few a try until you are used to no longer eating dairy.
When I started eating vegan, the dairy was the hard part. There were days I used a cheese alternative just for a comfort food. Daiya mozerella, shredded on a grilled cheese proved to melt/taste best. Try almond or hemp milk in your coffee.
Depending on your taste- they have some awesome coconut milk/almond milk ice cream alternatives that are pretty damn good.

The point being- I'm sorry about your LO's allergy. It sucks adjusting a diet, but at least it's a good reason, you may even feel better yourself. And it'll become second nature sooner than you think! Good luck, mama!

Flyingtoast

Also make sure to read the ingredient list on EVERYTHING. It is snuck into so many processes food under scientific names, or under processed names.

The food allergy board is also available.

Edit: grammar

1linedrawing

Flyingtoast said:

Also make sure to read the ingredient list on EVERYTHING. It is snuck into so many processes food under scientific names, or under processed names.

The food allergy board will also available.

"Casein" and "whey" are sneaky ways of saying milk.
All trader joes cheese alternatives have those ingredients- FYI.

binny10

Ug, I'm sorry you are dealing with this- it can be difficult at first! Ds1 had a milk and soy intolerance that was diagnosed when he was 6 weeks. I EBF'd, and feedings were super stressful and the poor thing was fussy all the time. I started a milk/ soy elimination diet and things improved drastically. You don't need to switch to formula, it is very expensive although some insurance policies will cover it in this situation. As long as you are careful about your diet (like pp said read all labels) you can do it! I actually cut out dairy preemptively with this Lo cause I did not want to go through that experience again!

There are a ton of dairy alternatives out there. I found coconut milk is a great alternative for recipes that call for milk and earth balance margarine has dairy free and dairy/soy free options. Don't get discouraged! It does take a while to get used to but I found it was worth it since I really wanted to continue bf-ing.

lihau88

Thank you ladies for all your support and suggestions!! Currently going through a stressful feeding now and can only hope it gets better quick!!

lihau88

binny10 said:

Ug, I'm sorry you are dealing with this- it can be difficult at first! Ds1 had a milk and soy intolerance that was diagnosed when he was 6 weeks. I EBF'd, and feedings were super stressful and the poor thing was fussy all the time. I started a milk/ soy elimination diet and things improved drastically. You don't need to switch to formula, it is very expensive although some insurance policies will cover it in this situation. As long as you are careful about your diet (like pp said read all labels) you can do it! I actually cut out dairy preemptively with this Lo cause I did not want to go through that experience again!

There are a ton of dairy alternatives out there. I found coconut milk is a great alternative for recipes that call for milk and earth balance margarine has dairy free and dairy/soy free options. Don't get discouraged! It does take a while to get used to but I found it was worth it since I really wanted to continue bf-ing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's very helpful!!

How strict did you have to be? For example, did you have to cut out EVERYthing that had dairy in it? Were you avoiding labels that said "contains milk ingredients"? Or were you just cutting out liquid dairy, like milk, cheese, yogurt, and obvious dairy products?

I'm just curious if I need to avoid things like chocolate, or anything that has a trace of dairy in it.

karich

I too, had to cut dairy for 8 months while nursing DD#2.
It wasn't easy, because there is dairy in EVERYTHING. You've really got to read labels carefully....you will be shocked where you find dairy as a filler (deli meat?!?). I cut out everything that even had traces of milk. This included whey, casein, etc.
I ate a lot of asian foods/dishes because milk really doesn't exist in that diet.
It takes 2 weeks for the proteins to leave your system, so don't give up if LO doesn't improve immediately.

For me, it was worth the sacrifice, because I figured the last thing a baby with a struggling belly needed, was to be introduced to formula. It would have to be a prescription formula because most conventional formulas are milk based. It can be very expensive (if your insurance won't cover it). Many babies with milk intolerances also have soy intolerances.....and I just figured it was much easier for me to start eliminating than it was to play with a million different formulas.

Let me know if you need some meal ideas. It's totally doable. I know this may not be important to all right now, but I also lost a fair amt weight cutting out dairy (I was about 5 months pp when we finally figured out what was going on with her belly).....so that was an unexpected bonus

Good luck!

binny10

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's very helpful!!

How strict did you have to be? For example, did you have to cut out EVERYthing that had dairy in it? Were you avoiding labels that said "contains milk ingredients"? Or were you just cutting out liquid dairy, like milk, cheese, yogurt, and obvious dairy products?

I'm just curious if I need to avoid things like chocolate, or anything that has a trace of dairy in it.

I had to cut out all dairy, even trace amounts of soy or dairy affected him. If we went to a restaurant and I ate something accidentally that had hidden dairy/ soy we knew about it by the next day. The good thing about eliminating dairy (and soy) is it ends up being a pretty healthy diet! I referred to it as the diet I never intended on going on, it eliminates nearly all processed foods. Like pp said, probably not first on your mind at all but I ended up loosing baby weight pretty quickly.

I did find chocolate that is dairy free, and chocolate that is dairy free/ soy free. Trader Joe's dark chocolate is dairy free, and tazo chocolate is dairy and soy free (but pretty expensive, so worth it though).

If you have any questions about recipes/ food alternatives I'd be happy to help!

Eta: I suck at mobile bumping

binny10

Oh! And the brand Enjoy Life makes dairy free/ soy free chocolate chips. Chocolate was one of the things I was obsessed with finding :-) if your local grocery store doesn't have them health food stores and amazon usually carry them.

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sdlaura

Yep, I dealt with this with DD and have already cut most dairy from my diet because if DS's grassiness. Did your pediatrician also test for soy intolerance? Many babies are sensitive to both. DD has no allergies to any foods now - she grew out of it. I recommend rice milk (original, unsweetened) for cereal.

lihau88

Thanks a bunch to all you ladies for your suggestions!!! I will most definitely be looking into them.

Our dr did not test for soy intolerance, but she did mention that a lot of the time if she has the milk allergy the soy is a possibility also.

sdlaura

Oh and one bonus of cutting dairy is that it makes it easier to lose the baby weight .

lihau88

WildFlower26 said:

I had to switch to a diary free/soy free diet for DD1.  How strict do you have to be? Very strict.  In order for the diet to be effective you have to completely eliminate all dairy.  I personally, would recommend eliminating all soy as well, but that is obviously completely up to you.  Soy proteins in breast milk are very similar to milk proteins in breast milk, and many infants who have a problem with one have a problem with the other.

As for restaurants, I personally didn't worry too much about it in that setting.  I would order things without dairy, but I did not obsess about cross contamination or hidden ingredients.  I also still ate things that were processed in a factory with dairy.  I just didn't eat anything that actually had dairy as an ingredient.  

I am also going to make a case for sticking to the diet, and not switching to formula.  Please understand that I do so respectfully, and I fully understand the need for you to do what works for you.  My personal experience was that prior to seeing a specialist, I didn't get much support for continuing to breastfeed.  Our local doctor was very aggressive about switching to formula.   However, once we saw a pediatric gastroenterologist I got very different advice.  Basically, if you eliminate milk from your milk and allow LO's gut to heal, you can then reintroduce the milk into your diet (many months later) and LO's bigger, stronger body has a chance to deal with the milk proteins through your system.  Then as the months go by, you will introduce dairy directly to LO in the form of solids.  So long as you continue breastfeeding, you LO has that chance to get exposure to the problem through your milk first, before having to deal with it directly.

Some specific replacement food recommendations.  Nutritional yeast is great on popcorn, or baked potatoes, etc., and has a cheese like taste.  Avocado is delicious and works well to top any dish that you would normally top with cheese or sour cream.  Coconut milk is absolutely amazing and I still use it to cook with all the time.  Get the kind in a can, that is just coconut milk, not the kind in a carton that is fortified and intended as a drink.  You will be blown away by all the delicious healthy fat that comes in the can.  Coconut oil is a fantastic butter substitute in baked goods.  I usually use olive oil, rather than butter in savory dishes.

I can tell you that this experience made me a MUCH better cook.  It took some time, and I had to get out of my comfort zone, but I learned to use many different ingredients and really stepped up my cooking.  My H also lost a lot of weight because of our healthier diet.

I am also pleased to tell you, my 2 year old DD drinks regular cows milk, and eats cheese without any
problems at all.



ETA: Are you sure they tested for a milk protein allergy, or did they test for blood in the stool?

She tested for the protein allergy. She noticed her stool was a little "mucousy" and so she had it tested for the milk protein.

Glad to know your LO did outgrow it. I'm hoping we are in the same boat. And I definitely will be needing to step out of my comfort zone. So many things that I'm use to have dairy in it and I never knew (my oatmeal and granola bars to be exact). I know it's just gonna take some work to determine what I can and cannot eat.

djtippietoes

I don't have any advice but I read a lot of vegan food blogs that might have good suggestions for things you can make. Ohsheglows.com is a good one.

lihau88

elf828 said:

@lihau88 PPs have shared good advice about diet modification for you - especially to also remove soy products because of the good chance your baby is allergic to milk and soy protein. If you do end up having to supplement with a special formula for allergies, feel free to PM me - I work in this area and can help you sort out the different formulas and how to get them / maybe get insurances to cover them. Often general pedis don't have a lot of experience with allergies and infant nutrition and it can get confusing. Good luck!

Thank you!!! Yeah, my dr just mentioned the Alimentum formula? If the time comes, I will most definitely seek your help.

Firefly9

My older son had a dairy sensitivity when I was nursing him.  Cutting out dairy was tough at first, but I got used to it. 

Take this with you when you go shopping until you get used to what you can and can't buy: https://www.godairyfree.org/dairy-free-grocery-shopping-guide/dairy-ingredient-list-2

Forget fake cheese, it's not worth it!!  Just give it up completely. 

For desserts, the most important thing, obviously, lots of cookie recipes can be made dairy free; for instance, if you use shortening instead of butter and if you use Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet chips.  Also, if you order soy mochas (or peppermint mochas, raspberry mochas, whatever), those are dairy free (and vegan, if I remember right).

When you go out to eat, ask to see an ingredient list; I actually think it's law that they provide you with an ingredient list if you are concerned about allergies, but I could be wrong.  Tell them why--every place I went to was more than accommodating, they provided the list and were good about substituting ingredients where they could.  At Panera once, they even wiped down the entire cappuccino machine even though that wasn't necessary.

Jimmy John's bread is dairy free, and if you have a Qdoba, know that their all their meats except the pork contains hidden dairy.  Look at their ingredient/allergy list online.

Almond milk is the shit.  Most Big G cereals are dairy free.  Thomas brand bagels are dairy free.  Earth Balance margarine is decent and dairy free.

If you need more, PM me.  I keep meaning to type up all my dairy free stuff into a blog post.

lihau88

Thank you for your help @Firefly9 !! I may pm you soon!