xp:milk allergy question
pitterpatter129
member
I've never visited this board! We have food allergies galore in our house! 
I have this copied from my month board about milk allergies though and thought someone on here would be able to help me.
Nate has had an on-going (off and on) yeast rash for about a year now! It completely cleared up over the summer, and then the second he went back to daycare, it came back with a vengence. We have prescription cream, but it's doing very little.
This week he has also had terrible diarrhea that seems to come and go out of the blue, and of course, makes the rash worse! He doesn't have a fever. He does also have the peanut and nut allergy and a cinnamon allergy and asthma and eczema.
I'm no stranger to the allergies and eczema and asthma - both my husband and I suffer from all of the above. I am also severly sensitive to dairy products. I was thinking that when Nate isn't at daycare, he gets very little milk (lots of cheese and yogurt though). He was nursing up until recently, and since I'm bascially dairy free, wasn't getting dairy proteins that way. I usually give him water with meals and snack too, especially when it was sooo hot this summer. I'm wondering if the diarrhea and rash aren't being caused by a dairy allergy?
For any of you with an LO with a diary allergy, how did you figure out what it was? Did any of you find it after formula/nursing was already over? Obviously, had he been on formula or if I had dairy while nursing, it would have been more obvious a long time ago, if it is a dairy issue. I'm more curious how it would present in a toddler? I didn't figure it out until I was in college! I had stomachaches my entire life and bathroom troubles. I don't want my kid to go through that!
Those of you with dairy free kiddos, any go-to food items that replace dairy that your kids like? Mine won't touch leafy greens and doesn't like a lot of high protein foods, so I'm not quite sure what he's going to eat if I eliminate his dairy! Soy products I guess. I hope he's not also allergic to soy!
Re: xp:milk allergy question
A tell tale sign is blood in stools. It can be obvious or hidden. You can bring a diaper to your pedi's office and ask them to check it.
I would tell your pedi about his symptoms. He might recommend staying away from soy as well because most infants react to both dairy and soy proteins. If you need to replace dairy in his diet you should probably speak to a pediatric nutritionist to see what options are out there for him.
I'm wondering if the diarrhea and rash aren't being caused by a dairy allergy? We now suspect that these issues were the signs we had suggesting our son had a dairy allergy. As an infant, he had a constant yeast rash. The pedi prescribed or had us try several different diaper creams, without any success. It was a discussion at every appointment we had. I also asked about his stools at several visits (though I did give up on this one because I kept getting the same answer). Being a 1st time parent, I didn't know what the BMs were supposed to look like, and was told as long as they were yellow, we were fine. Looking back, I wish I had asked more questions or been more specific because I think that even though they were yellow, they were more mucousy and looser than they should have been.
For any of you with an LO with a diary allergy, how did you figure out what it was? We had testing done at 6 or 7 months of age. My son broke out in a rash around his mouth after the first time we gave him formula, then hives the second time, then another rash the 3rd time (over a 5 day span). (Our pedi only was taking phone calls about it (never saw him so I took pictures), I wasn't certain that the hives were in fact hives because I had never had experience with them, and we were told to try some different formulas to see if there was a different reaction. I finally wised up after the 3rd try with traditional formula and said we needed to do something different, which was when we switched to a soy based formula... when things were fine, we really suspected an allergy). Neither my husband nor I have any food allergies, another reason why it wasn't high on our radar.
Did any of you find it after formula/nursing was already over? Just as we started formula, after 6 months of EBF. I continued nursing part-time for 4 additional months without making changes to my diet.
Obviously, had he been on formula or if I had dairy while nursing, it would have been more obvious a long time ago, if it is a dairy issue. This was not the case for us. I ate dairy all the time (cheese snacks, tall glass of milk with dinner, ice cream, yogurt daily, items made with milk) while BF. Being a new parent may have contributed to my obliviousness (is that a word?
). My son was always content, ate like a champ, never had any telltale signs of a food allergy. I also continued eating dairy (while nursing) after we discovered the allergy because I didn't know I was supposed to stop. Therefore, the rash didn't completely clear up until about 11 months of age, after I had stopped nursing completely.
I'm more curious how it would present in a toddler? Just based on my experience, I think it's possible that the signs you're seeing are how it is presenting in your toddler. I would follow up with an allergist to be on the safe side. We have also found that as long as the milk based product is baked into something, there is no reaction.
Those of you with dairy free kiddos, any go-to food items that replace dairy that your kids like? Silk brand yogurt (he can also tolerate Stonyfield Oh Soy! although it has milk based cultures, so we use it sparingly), vegan cheese slices, Daiya brand shredded cheeses, Amy's frozen dairy free Mac & Cheeze, and of course coconut ice cream sandwich minis for the occasional frozen treat
I want him to be able to enjoy the things we do, but in a form that is safe for him.
You can see by my post count that I've only posted a handful of times, but I do lurk once in a while and this caught my eye because it sounds so much like my son. I felt compelled to offer what I know, so hopefully it wasn't too long or obnoxious, and at least a little bit helpful.
Thank you you two!
I think it seems as if he is allergic to something, probably dairy. We've obviously gone through this before with peanuts (and cinnamon and honey and oatmeal!!!) DH and I don't have a lot of food allergies (me, milk and melons), but we do both have a list of other related issues (like seasonal allergies and asthma and eczema!) LO has been diagnosed with eczema and asthma already, so I just knew more allergies were going to show up. I think I will ask the pedi for a referral to an allergist this week, as well as drop most dairy products and see if it helps. I bought some soy milk, so hopefully, no allergy to soy. Sigh. Poor kiddo.
If he is getting dairy at daycare, and not at home, he could be reacting to the lactose. When a person takes dairy out of their diet, the body forgets (temporarily) how to make lactose. Since you do not want you lo to feel poorly, could you send Lactaid milk to daycare and see if that helps?
I took him to the pedi and we have gone lactose free. He's taking the lactose free whole milk to daycare. I've since added milk back into my own diet since we how have lactose free!
However, this morning has begun a new round of severe diarrhea and we can't figure out what we've accidently fed him or if he's just caught another virus.
I'm back on here looking again. I'm going to make yet another appointment. We have relatives with celiac... I just want my poor kid to feel better. His little bottom is so raw from the excessive diarrhea 2-3 days per week every week!