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acia
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Best way to challenge a dairy intolerance?
acia
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DD has a milk protein intolerance, but I was told I should "challenge" it around the one year mark since many kids outgrow this.
I'm thinking that since I'm still nursing, I should probably challenge it by eating something with dairy myself, and then seeing if she has any adverse reaction to my milk. But I'm not sure what type of dairy is "best" to start with (i.e. which is less likely to be hard on her system). I know that there is a difference between cheese, butter, yogurt, and straight up milk in terms of how it can affect the digestive/immune system.
Does anyone know anything about this? What's the best way to challenge a milk/soy protein intolerance? Or should I wait until she's older?
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Re: Best way to challenge a dairy intolerance?
In the book Dealing with Food Allergies in Babies & Children, the author recs testing several items separately since dairy intolerance can come from one or more proteins. For instance, if the problem is casein, you're pretty much done, but if it's whey only, you can have most cheeses.
Not sure if you can find it in your library or on google books, but I believe the author recs starting with cooked mozzarella to test casein. We stopped there b/c it was a fail. Once we get our current issue resolved I'm going to try yogurt. I can't remember what the whey test was.
ETA: Just saw you mentioned soy too. Fermented soy (as in Asian food, soy sauce, etc) is a different thing than processed soy in packaged foods & also soybean oil in dressings & such is different too. You'll probably want to challenge those separately. Soybean oil and lechithin is generally safe for soy intolerant babies - not Ari, of course, since he's allergic to everything, but most other babies.
I *think* mozzarella is good to start with because it doesn't have all the proteins or something...
Sorry I'm not more help.
ETA: webMistress answered
Um, so you're saying the most responsible thing to do is to start with pizza?! If you insist!
Also, what signs should I be looking for that she's reacting to the dairy? I imagine the symptoms would be quite different than they were when she was just a few weeks old (i.e. I might not notice the fussiness as much, plus she's always so constipated that I doubt I'd notice a difference in that department). How long do I give the dairy to react before trying another type?
Yay for pizza right? We had to do GF pasta noodles in a bake since I can't have pizza. Ugh. I dream about pizza lol.
Ari still gets really fussy if he has a reaction. He just whines & cries all day. His sleep gets crappy too. Since you guys have seen sleep improvements you should be able to tell pretty quick!
Other symptoms he has are diarehea, flushing & broken capillaries on his face, eczema flares, reflux. Your results may vary.
I'd watch very closely for at least 2-3 days. Most allergists recommend a minimum of 2-3 days in between challenges. Ari's GI recs 5-7. If you are unsure of whether a symptom was a reaction, wait for the symptoms to clear & challenge again before moving to the next item.