milk allergy and/or intolerance??

ekc29

Hi ladies, this is my first time on this board....

My LO used to have green, slimy and sometimes bloody stools back when she was 6 weeks.  She is EBF.  Pedi said for me to cut out dairy and see if these symptoms go away.  I did and the symptoms disappeared almost immediately.  

About 3 weeks ago I have slowly started eating dairy again to see if symptoms return, not an overload, but cheese on a sandwich one day, little bit of yogurt the next, etc.  LO has been fine until this past weekend, her above symptoms returned, but worse, now with what seems like abdominal pain while nursing, and today I noticed her cheeks are rosy.  I have her 4 mo appt next Monday, so this will def be discussed.  Is this a dairy allergy/intolerance? What is the difference??  I've also noticed she has a little reflux, not sure if that is related or not.  

magdusia

Sorry to hear about the reactions..  IMO it does sound like an allergy, not an intolerance.  Especially since her cheeks became rosy and the reflux.  I would cut out dairy imminently. Also be very careful of soy.. 50 or 60% of children allergic to milk are also allergic to soy.

If you are only going dairy free it shouldn't be that hard since you can just substitute everything  with soy.  If you are going dairy and soy free than that might be a bit trickier -but totally doable.

ekc29

Thank you for your opinion!  I am definitely back to going dairy free and will start to look out for soy.  I will talk to the pedi about this also.  Do you need to see an allergist for a definite diagnosis?? Or will she grow out of it?  

magdusia

Yes, you do need to see an allergies for a confirmation and to rule out other allergies.  Some allergist don't want to do a test until your child is at least 6 months.  Some say 2 years (in that case, find another allergist).  I think as soon as she starts eating solids there should be a test done.

Will she grow out of it? We all hope and pray that our kids grow out of this. Sometimes they do, many times they don't.  My son has a milk, soy, egg, peanut allergy and we're pretty sure that he will outgrow his milk/soy allergy by his second visit (hopefully) but his egg and peanut might stick around. 

There are many kids that grow out of their allergies by 5.. 

thatsmary

I just wanted to second magdusia's opinions.

 

g_belle

I would cut the dairy back out asap.  Also keeping a food diary for a month or so should help you see if there are any other foods in your diet that cause a reaction for her.  That way when you do see an allergist- you can give them an idea if there is anything else specific they need to test for (ours always tests the top 8 but there are thousands of other foods so they only test specifics if the parents indicate an issue).  Hopefully your LO will be one of the lucky ones and not have issues with soy if you haven't noticed one yet- but a food diary would help you pinpoint any other issues.

FrumiousBandersnatch

I 100% agree with cutting dairy and soy.  The food diary is a brilliant idea.  I wish I had kept it when we were trying to figure things out.  The timing of reactions can be a bit weird, so it will really help.

afc1189

I also gave up dairy for my daughter's first year. If she has rosy cheeks and a skin reaction, I would think it would be more of an allergy. If it is a matter of diarrhea, constipation, reflux etc I would say it could be either but very possible to be an intolerance. I read that most kids do outgrow that by about 6 months to a year.. and I am happy to say that my daughter as well as my pedi's daughter outgrew it! I started slowly incorporating dairy into my diet at one year and she is fine with it, constipated( might be an intolerance, but I'd take that over an allergy any day). I actually miss cutting out the dairy- I felt so much healthier and was thinner than pre preg:) There are so many foods that you can do without dairy- the hard part for me was junk unfortunately- but Whole Foods carries so many chocolates with no dairy, oreos have no dairy and also most cake and brownie mixes by Duncan Hines are dairy free. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need any recipes.

ekc29

Thank you so much!