What are some options for feeding a three week old who is allergic to dairy?I currently nurse and give her formula. She seems less agitated by the formula but I dont want to give up nursing. I am trying to avoid dairy in my own diet but it appears to be in everything.

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Jessica - posted on 01/03/2009

I had this problem with two of my three children. It takes several weeks to get all the dairy out of your system. Stick with it and you will see a less fussy baby. You can try formula like Soy, but I found that aggravated the baby as well...Similac makes a verison called Sensitive that I supplement with that is lactose free and does not irritate my baby. I have been nursing for 8 months...7 1/2 dairy free...I have had a few slip ups, but the reversion to the fussies gets me right back on track. The good news is my older child had no milk issues after her first year of life.

One of the hardest things for me was giving up cereal with milk for breakfast! I found that milk, cheese and butter in their natural state gave her issues....but milk and butter in cooked items not so much...like cookies. Be sure to watch your salad dressings too...cream based dressings all have dairy. I can't wait to have pizza and Coldstone when I wean her, but she is so darn healthy...I don't regret the sacrafice in my own diet.

Crystal - posted on 01/03/2009

I had the same problem with my daughter, i did not want to quit nursing but i had too because she would vomit after every feeding. So I put her on enfamil, with the rice startch, it worked for a while but it is milk based, so I tried soy formula, but she vomited it up imediately. She is doing a lot better now and she is on the walmart brand of formula. Parent's Choice Sensitive type, it is also about half the price of the name brands and it worked better than any other thing.

Kristin - posted on 01/03/2009

Thank you everyone. We are pumping and have added a hypo allergenic formula which our doctor said she will give us a prescription for which should help with the cost. We want to do what is best for our daughter. Right now the formula is working and she doesnt seem miserable when I nurse although she is much more gassy. I have avoided milk for a week now so I assume I still have some in my system and she seems okay. It is still a wait and see as she is not even 4 weeks old yet. I appreciate all of the information and wish everyone luck with this as well

Tania - posted on 01/02/2009

Hi! My son is allergic to regular and soy formula. I supplement with Nutrimigen from Enfamil. All of his rashes and colic went away almost the same day...which was wonderful. I still breastfeed as much as I can. I have never been able to pump. I buy lactaid milk and just watch what I eat. He has adjusted well and he is doing great. I hope that helps!

Paulette - posted on 01/02/2009

Hi, I am allergic to dairy and had nursed both of my children. The ingredients to look for: lactose, whey, casein and caseinate. For you: you may want to try Rice Beverage flavored with vanilla...it has a better taste than Soy beverage, it tastes more like milk. You can use it in baked items, mashed potatoes, pancakes (auntjemima reg. mix-no dairy), etc. It is worth the effort and hey you could possibly loose weight too. I hope this helps you.Take care.

Tinika - posted on 01/02/2009

I had the same problem. I would try soy milk, but if that doesn't work they do have hypo-allergenic formula. It is more expensive tham nost formulas but it definitely works. Soy milk was too much for my daughter at first so I used the hypo-allergenic formula and I switched her to soy when she was a year old. That worked out good. I hope it works for you.

Ludmilla - posted on 01/02/2009

If you nurse, you'd need to increase the nursing in order to increase your production otherwise by supplementing you will slowly decrease and will not be able to continue nursing. In order to get all dairy out of your system you need 4 weeks, so stick with avoiding it and you'll see great improvement. formula, unless is soy or else, is made of dairy and the fact that she seems more relaxed with it may be that you have a strong let down reflex. there are severl tips to avoid that and enable your baby to be satisfied at your breast. Have you gotten in touch with La Leche League? They organise free meetings and show you the best techniques, apart sharing with the other moms. HTH, Ciao from Ludmilla

Erin - posted on 01/01/2009

My daughter was dairy intolerant (milk proteins) and as there were no formula's on the market that didnt have milk proteins in them, as well as the fact that a lot of soy formula's contain carcinogens and carcinogenic promoters (due to the short length of fermentation, there are very few soy products on the market that are not carcinogenic), we put her on rice milk. She was eating solids at 4 weeks. Now mind you, she was overdue by several weeks and was 9pound 8 ounces born and didnt lose any weight, so the rice milk was pretty much just something to get her fluids, she got her nutrients from her solid feeds. She is now 7.5 years old, often mistaken as being a twin for her almost 11 yr old brother, plays soccer, dances, sings, excels at anything she puts effort into, and is now able to tolerate dairy in her diet, but ended up being wheat and gluten free.



With my son, I was younger and I bowed to the peer pressure that nursing is best for baby. I now know that trying to nurse him for so long is one of the reasons he was soo sick for so long, because he was gluten/wheat intolerant and we didnt know that, even though i dont eat much wheat in my normal diet, the small amounts that were getting through were literally killing him (many trips to hospital, failure to thrive, recurrent pneumonias, constant projectile reflux, you name it, he had it).



I do know how hard it is to adjust to a new diet regime where you have to avoid foods, but it does become easier, you get soo used to scanning the food labels and to buying more fresh produce. At one stage in our household we had three wheat/gluten free, one dairy free and one egg allergy (anaphylactic to egg yolk), as well as one who loves fish and two who can only eat small amounts of white fleshed fish or their asthma plays up, so cooking was a very interesting exercise that on most nights involved three different meals being cooked simultaneously in three different pans/pots/microwave etc to avoid cross contamination. It is much simpler now with all of us wheat/gluten free and we only cook eggs after the family member with the egg allergy has already been served their meal.



The only major difficulties are school lunches that dont go off in the summer heat. The kids take an apple, a carrot, corn cakes, rice crackers, a container with spread in it (depends what they want - mightymite, peanutbutter, nutella, honey etc). They also take little packaged cheeses when we can get them on special. When my daughter was dairy free she took dried fruit and nuts or sunflower seeds instead of the cheeses. I also make home popped popcorn to send with them as well.



As someone else said, the less processed the food, the easier it is to avoid dairy, and we also wont buy it if it says "may have been processed on same equipment as ...." just incase, because one child is extremely sensitive, and all intolerances work on a buildup effect, so enough little trace contaminations together over a few days and we can see a reaction.



Hugs, it does get easier, really, it just takes a little while to work it out.

Megan - posted on 01/01/2009

I have been there. It sucks for the first couple of weeks. I would keep up the formula while you pump and dump. My first two had no issues, but my third was lactose intolerant, and I love milk! It is hard to cut it all out. I totally agree that most of the soy/rice products don't taste that different, and if I was having a major craving it usually sufficed. I nursed for nine months. that first month was hell until we figured out what was causing it. Best of luck! Also nurse at least once a day to help your production, a pump, no matter how good, is not as good as your baby! If you need to vent look me up!

Deborah - posted on 01/01/2009

Have you tried goat milk? It's the closest thing to breast milk and it helps the tummy heal. I would also stay away from all gluten products. Good luck!

Michele - posted on 01/01/2009

Oh- and watch for the ingredient caesin, I didn't know it was a cow's milk protien, until my son reacted to soy cheese. Mornington Dairy (sold at Superstores and Wal-Mart Supercentre, if you have one of those near you) makes a good goat cheese that tastes very close to "real" cheese, and my hubby doesn't notice the difference when I give it to him!! Good luck!

Michele - posted on 01/01/2009

We have some severe allergies in my house, so I know where you're coming from... if you have a chance see a naturopath, they will have a list (or should) of safe foods) We do a lot of shopping at the Real Canadian Superstore in their Naturals aisle, they have quite a few dairy (as well as gluten-free) ideas. What formula are you using??

Kimberly - posted on 01/01/2009

Hi Kristin. My son has a milk protein allergy and you can nurse. But you will have to cut out all dairy, including the additives found in many foods. It isn't as hard as it sounds -- just read labels. There are plenty of snacks, breads, etc. that you can eat. Do some web searched -- even most restaurants have their allergens posted (including milk). I've made a couple of mistakes here and there, but occasionally getting a bit of an additive (e.g. eating french fries that you find out later had some dairy additive) hasn't seemed to bother my son much, so long as you avoid all the obvious dairy (cheese, milk, yoghurt, butter, etc.). And remember that it takes roughly 2 weeks for all the milk protein to leave your system once you cut it out of your diet. So you can either pump and dump during this time and only give your daughter formula (that's what I did) or you can continue to nurse, but knowing that she will have some belly aches for another couple of weeks. Good luck!

Cathy - posted on 01/01/2009

My daughter is allergic to dairy and eggs (whites and yolks). Our doctor flat out told us to remove all dairy from her diet. It was amazing the changes that have occurred since removing both dairy and eggs! I'm not certain about breast milk, but our doctor suggest goat's milk - although he warned she would eventually develop an allergy to that. Now that she is older, she drinks rice milk. There are plenty of soy based formulas you can try - just make certain there is no milk or milk products in whatever you use. You will need to carefully read labels. We even avoid foods for which the labels read "manufactured in a plant which processes milk/egg products..." It's very difficult at first, but in the long run, it is well worth the time and effort.

Dara - posted on 01/01/2009

IMHO, the best thing for you baby is to nurse her. So if you can do it just cook for yourself making everything from scratch so you know what's going in. If the recipes call for milk you can substitute with soy or rice milk. Also watch out for some of the other things you are eating -- it might not just be milk. It's a lot of work, but the benefits to both you and your baby are worth it. At least try to get her to 6 months if you can.

Liz - posted on 01/01/2009

Hi my daughter was lactose intolerant, i did have to give up nursing however it wasnt until she was 6 months but the difference in her was almost instant when she was switched to soy formula. as one of the other mums has said their are some really good soy products and they are more widely available. When she starts weaning there are alot of recipes you can get off the net, i made everything from scratch for her. She is nearly four now and i am glad to say has grown out of it. Good luck x

Connie - posted on 01/01/2009

My first two children are allergic to milk. I nursed both of them for over a year and did manage to eliminate milk products from my diet, but it was hard. I ended up making most things from scratch and eating very little prepackaged foods. There are lots of good soy products from milk and cheese to whipping cream that can be substituted in recipes and most of the time the taste difference isn't huge. Nursing was really important to me so I thought the trouble was worth it. Hope you find something that works for both of you!

Tracy - posted on 01/01/2009

My son had the same problem and I nursed (by pumping) and gave formula too. We put him on Similac Soy and he felt better immediately. I tried to avoid all dairy and it was very hard. Eventually I switched to soy milk and pretty much just ate veggies (which made him more gassy) and lean meats. After a few weeks of that I talked to my doctor and his, and both agreed it may be better to switch to all formula. This was at 4 months so he had a good base. Hope that helps. Good luck!