cows milk intolerance-do they grow out of it, when to re-introduce milk?

[Maisiemouse]

Hi-after a black hole of the first 6 months of my dd2 with 'colic', we finally realised there was something else going on and we had a diagnosis of cows milk intolerance and reflux made. She's been on Nutramigen for the last 4 weeks (she's now 8 months old) with the most amazing turnaround..she's the happiest most contented baby and I want to cry for all the time we spent thinking she would just grow out of the colic...Anyway, my question might seem really stupid but when can I start introdcing milk again, they never did a test to see if she was allergic as they said there wasn't one, did your baby grow out of it? , it would be great to be able to give her yoghurts and cheese etc and feed both my girls the same food! but I really don't want to do anything that might upset the balance or put her further back..

[akent]

With our dd's egg allergy we've been told to try her every six months to see if she's grown out of it. So, perhaps when she is 1 try a yoghurt? I think yoghurt can be better tolerated by some people with cows milk intolerance and would be a good first food to try.

[Sugarmagnolia]

"They say" most children outgrow it by the age of around 2. My DS is 3 1/2 and unfortunately hasn't outgrown it. I went to see a consultant yesterday to discuss diet/testing etc. The way you test for it is to give controlled amounts of dairy (we will be given detailed instructions from the dietician how to do it) for a period of time and then collect both stool and blood samples. The stool can be tested for lactose intolerance and the blood can be tested for milk protein intolerance which are slightly differnt. The only other way to test for it is with a biopsy of the intestines which is hugely invasive and unnecessary. You can't test for it like a true allergy because it isn't an allergy. Someone at a "health and stress clinic" tried to get me to have him tested with an electronic "wand" they run over his fingers and a computer tells them which foods he can't have but I think that's complete & total nonsense.

You can try her with different things every 6 months or so but for the time being you should get used to feeding her a dairy free diet. There's lots of things out there you can substitute - see some of the other threads on here. My best advice is don't rush it. She's going to be happier and you will get used to the inconvenience, it's not that bad - really!

[tatt]

I'd agree with the "don't rush it" message. Best not to even think of it until they are a year old. Milk allergy often gets outgrown between 2 and 3 so something to be said for waiting until at least 2. Giving your child dairy free probiotics may help.

If you can manage to get proper tests that would be best. If you're in one of the places with poor access to services cheese and live yoghurt are less allergenic than milk and goats or sheep milk products affect less people than cows milk. But if the problem is lactose all milk contains that.

Don't try substituting with soya milk as they may develop soya and/or nut allergy and that's worse than milk.

Although its a pain cooking several different meals better to do that for a year or two than to be stuck with allergies for life.

[brandy7]

my ds is 2.3years and at 3months i was told he was milk intolerant. ive just over the last few weeks been trying him on tiny tastes of stuff with milk in and so far he hasnt been too bad, defintely wont be trying egg as hes really reallty bad on that

[honeysmummy]

Hi, ds1 was diagnosed dairy intolerant when I weaned him at 6 months. He sees a dietician every year for skin tests. I was told he would grow out of it by 2, now I'm being told by school age. He's nearly 4 and still very allergic. He's had soya milk since 6 mnths and we've got used to a non dairy diet. The only time I find it a strain is at Birthday parties. He wears a t-shirt stating his allergies to preschool as they had an "accident" with milk there. His sister is not allergic and it is a bit fraustrating. Good luck with it and hope your's grows out of it sooner!

[honeysmummy]

Also that's rubbish aboout no test as mine had skin prick tests and dd2 had a "dairy challenge" in hospital to see if she was at all allergic. There's also a blood test called a RAST test. haven't had one but it apparently gives a grade of allergy.

[firsttimemama]

My lo is 8 mths and has been on Soya Milk since about 3 months she also had reflux so we used infant gaviscon from month 3-6 - managed to stop needing the Gaviscon for the past eight weeks and she keeps the milk down well now. BUT since she started on solids at around 6 months her poos have been very difficult for her to pass - they were always an odd consistency - like plastacine, but now they are much harder like solid balls the size of almost a ping pong ball she cries everytime - I relly feel I have to get her off soya milk because of this and I'm going to try to get her to take some follow on milk - and hope she tolerates it otherwise I'll have to get presciption stuff for her. I was told it tastes horrible so I didn't want that for her as she seems to enjoy Infasoy but this poo thing is just too painful for her. Does the poo thing sound sfamiliar to anyone? BTW I tried her on SMA Gold at abot 5 months and she vomited the nearly the whole bottle about five mins into the feed.

[CanStarveWillStarve]

ftm - the plasticine consistency is caused by the gaviscon. I would hazard a guess that she's not drinking enough water if her poo is now too hard. Try giving her more during the day, and mix with a little orange juice if that still doesn't work, or feed more prunes to her!

Don't want to alarm you, but soya milk (even formula) shouldn't be used routinely in babies, but GPs are notoriously bad at knowing this. You might be interested to read this article, which mentions it.

[firsttimemama]

Thanks CSWS, the consistency didn't really improve after Gaviscon stopped and now we're not using it at all. She is not keen on water/juice but I agree that if she took more fluids on board it would help and I do try everyday but the little she will take does not have much of an effect - I did read research on Soya Milk but I'm happy with my reasons for using for it - It wasn't my first choice but after trying everything else on the market, she was happy with and she has been pretty content on it up until now.

[Sugarmagnolia]

honeysmummy-there's a big difference between and allergy and an intolerance. If your DS is having skin tests that suggests it's an allergy. They can not test for intolerance with a skin test and they can only test for milk protein intolerance with a blood test. To test for lactose intolerance (which causes tummy upset but not skin or resperitory reactions) they have to either biopsy the gut or test a stool sample.

[PeachyClair]

Our dietician says to try and keep clear a full year, then reintroduce gradually- she saus to start with baked goods (say a biscuit with milk as an ingredient) and work gradually up, a new 'type' of milk at a time. So she said (iirc) baked, then boiled- so rice pud (1tbsp max); then butter; yoghurt (she advised with probiotics); milk

She said it very gradually and if ANY signs appear, take a break of a few weeks and then go back

HTH

[amidaiwish]

firsttimemama, we had the plasticine poos when i tried my DD on goats milk as she was getting excema with normal formula.

In the end we tried Babynat Organic Cows Milk Formula and she has been fine on that - this is the only formula (inc goats) that she seems ok on.

[amidaiwish]

sorry forgot to mention that we didn't try soya as she has an egg allergy (hives) so doctor advised no soya as it is a very common allergen.

[Maisiemouse]

thankyou all !! we also tried soya milk (briefly) for the reflux but switched to nutramigen..mainly because I was worried about the oestrogen-like effects...Nutramigen smells disgusting but my lo thinks it is wonderful and I can't tell you what a difference it has made. her poo is like putty (interestingly was harder on the soya).
I will stick to dairy free til she's 1 then like you say just try really slowly.