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Dairy allergy? Anyone have a baby who has this?

Hannah - posted on 05/09/2010 ( 4 moms have responded )

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I'd like to know how you discovered your baby had this allergy, as I can't figure it out at all, here's what's going on if you can offer any advice I'd be grateful-



My baby has excema (but there is a family history of this) and she is also prone to 'sickness bugs', the GP suggested she might have a dairy allergy and to just avoid dairy products.

She didn't offer to do any kind of test, and to be honest dairy is in so many things (and I want ot be able to use a bit of formula at day care) that decided to not cut it out and see how things went.



Well, a sickness bug has just been through our house and she was really poorly with it. Over the last 2 days she has seemed better and to be eating ok again, but then this afternoon she was violently sick again.

So I am thinking maybe it wasn't just the sickness bug but maybe she does have a dairy allergy too....... I have read that symtoms can be delayed for up to 10 days, which makes it nearly impossible for me to tell if she is better because we have cut out dairy or if she has just got better from this bug.



I haven't really noticed a foolproof link between her being sick after having dairy, as like I said we didn't cut it out and she hasn't been sick all the time, just a couple of times in the past few months, but there have been times when she hasn't wanted to eat very much at all and I've read that fussiness and lack of interest in food can also be a sign.



I just wanted to know if anyone has experience of this, and if so, was the allergy an obvious thing, or did it take a while to figure out the link?

I really don't want to have to restrict her diet just on the off chance that she possibly has an allergy, but I don't want to be making her sick either. Help!

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4 Comments

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Shana - posted on 05/11/2010

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The test for blood in the stool is just like a little card that they smear the poop on and it turns a color if blood is present in the poop. Nothing fancy.

If you think your child could be sensitive to dairy you should just cut it out and see if it helps her. I had to do it and at first it seems impossible, but really it's quite easy. Just get rice milk for cooking, and read the ingredients. They're going to tell you to stay away from whey and casein proteins.

Formula that is dairy free is Similac Alimentum (it's purple) it's very expensive though.

If you're feeding her cereal, you should switch to Rice cereal, and again read labels because I know for certain that Gerber has dairy in their rice cereal.

What happens when the child is sensitive is that they can't digest the proteins in the dairy, because of this their intestines get irritated, they can get swollen and start bleeding (where the blood in the stool comes from), it can be very painful, it can also cause the child to not be able to absorb all of the nutrients from other foods because of the injury to the intestines. So think about this; would you rather inconvenience yourself for a few weeks and make sure your child is healthy, or would you rather just take it easy on yourself and have a sick baby in pain.

The gastroenterologist we saw told us that it would take up to a month for us to see any difference with her because it takes time for the intestines to heal.

The only way to know for sure is to cut dairy out of the diet. I hope your baby feels better soon!

Hannah - posted on 05/10/2010

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Thanks guys no I know what test to ask for when I go back to the doctors. I don't know if she has a dairy allergy or is lactose intolerant, there is a difference between the two but I can't remember what it is. But there are always so many other factors that could be a possible cause for her being sick that I don't want to jump to the conclusion that she has an allergy.
Like yesterday she was sick, but I had been to work and not pumped, and so when I fed her I think she ended up massively full of milk. I think the only answer is to ask for a test to get a conclusion, but the dr wasn't forthcoming with this. trying to save the NHS Money I expect lol!

Cindy - posted on 05/10/2010

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One of my sons is lactose intolerant. He was getting horrible diaper rashes, even when we changed him constantly. There is a test for a lactose intolerance. Basically they test the poop for lactic acid. Lactic acid is the result of the undigested lactose. I don't know if there is another type of dairy allergy, but I hope this helps.

Jennifer - posted on 05/09/2010

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I have several friends with babies that are dairy and soy sensitive. Most of their babies were very fussy, had blood in their stools, rashes, and/ or were very gassy Your doctor should be able to test a poop sample for blood. That is usually a good indication. Or you can cut dairy for awhile and see how your baby responds. If there is a noticable difference you will know that dairy is the problem.

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