Milk intolerance?

[littlegreenie]

I have noticed that my breastfed baby seemed to get eczema on her face when I had milk so I avoided having too much. I still had things like chocolate which didn't seem to affect it too much but cereals for breakfast did. I stopped them for three weeks and her eczema almost completely went. Now I am weaning her (she's just over 6 months old) and with dairy in food her eczema has come back with avengeance. I have her a yoghurt last week and within an hour she had 2 messy nappies and the second had specks of blood in it. I spoke to the doctor who said not to worry to much and only if it happens regularly or there is lots of blood then to bring her in. I spoke about dairy and he said that there is often a correlation between dairy and eczema but it is very hard and complex to go without dairy so he would only look info it if we really had to and to carry on giving her dairy. However I feel worried about it as she is obviously getting very uncomfortable with such an itchy scalp, her sleep is worse than normal waking about 14 times a night) and she seems like she has stomach ache. Has anyone had any experience of this reaction to dairy? What have you done? Should I persist with doctor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[summer rain]

If it is affecting her digestive system and causing eczema then it is more likely to be an allergy or a combination of an allergy or intolerance. It isn't true that going without dairy is complex or has any major drawbacks; not true at all. However continuing with dairy if it is causing problems can have repercussions. I don't want to alarm you but while it is rare, in some cases continuing to give the offending food to a baby with an allergy can be dangerous as it can cause bowel damage and sensitise the body further to the allergen meaning that they don't outgrow the allergy or they may develop health problems stemming from it in the future including asthma and bowel disorders. In rare cases they can also develop an anapylatic reaction to an allergen. My OH and I both have lifelong allergies to dairy products because in both cases doctors told our parents do not give dairy products to us and our parents ignored it, my mum kept me off dairy until I was 1 and a half but then started giving it to me even though it still gave me diarrhoea, and my OH's mum just completely ignored the advice. In my youngest's case we avoided all dairy while I was BF because he had the same reaction you describe at only a week old, and he outgrew it at only five months and is fine with dairy now. When my second eldest had an allergy to dairy we were advised to avoid all dairy for at least 1.5 years by the specialist and to look out for any ongoing problems with it, we reintroduced it carefully and again he is fine. Is it possible to see a different doctor who will take this more seriously and possibly run some tests? While allergy tests aren't totally accurate under a year old; they can give some indication of what is going on and if it is indeed dairy that is the cause xx

 

[littlegreenie]

Summer rain thank you very much for your long and informative reply. I shall make an appt at the doctor and try to be more assertive as to getting it investigated further. I certainly don't want her to and up having long term problems from poor advice we have been given.
Before you avoided dairy with your children were they very poor sleepers? Mine is and I wondered if part of it has been that she has tummy pains which are waking her. Has woken 10-14 tines a night for 4 months now.

 

[summer rain]

Well my second eldest his was a true allergy with no digestive intolerance, so he was a good sleeper and had normal bowel movements etc. However he was also allergic to eggs and one time when we thought he had outgrown it he had some omelette, he had been fine with it on a previous occasion recent to that but the second occasion I went in to check him in the night and he was sobbing and scratching himself violently, it was horrible. I gave him the anti-allergy syrup advised by the doctors and some baby ibuprofen as that is an anti inflammatory and he managed to sleep. Didn't give him eggs in anything for a very long time after that. My youngest he was still really a newborn when we started cutting dairy with him because he showed symptoms within a few days of birth and newborns you can't read too much into their sleeping patterns but he was definitely very uncomfortable and very badly bloated before I cut out the dairy and just seemed very unsettled. We went for a follow up appointment when he was 2 weeks old for his jaundice and all the staff doctors and nurses alike said his stomach looked extremely distended and was about 2x the size it should have been. As soon as dairy got out of his system he still had a rounded tummy all babies do but it was to a normal extent and he was just a different baby. xx

 

[SpunkyMunkey]

Summer rain thank you very much for your long and informative reply. I shall make an appt at the doctor and try to be more assertive as to getting it investigated further. I certainly don't want her to and up having long term problems from poor advice we have been given.
Before you avoided dairy with your children were they very poor sleepers? Mine is and I wondered if part of it has been that she has tummy pains which are waking her. Has woken 10-14 tines a night for 4 months now.

My son had terrible sleep until I cut dairy from both of our diets. He didn't have excema, but he had reflux and awful diapers and gas. I didn't even make the connection between the diapers/gas until they went away when the dairy was gone and came back when we tried to reintroduce it. He was waking at least 8-10 times a night, possibly more, but I was too tired to keep track. I haven't talked to the doctor about it yet, but will be on the one year check up next week. I am not sure how he'll respond, but if he doesn't seem to think that's the problem, I figure I will tell him that, regardless, I won't be giving dairy and need to know what my options are. Although, given that I was dead on about the existence of reflux and the doctor doubted that (and admitted to me later that he had) I think he will go with me on this one. Good luck with your doc. Never forget that he may be the medical expert, but you are the expert on your baby!

 

[littlegreenie]

Thank you for your replies. I thought I would give little update. I took baby go the doctors today. He said he thought it was an allergy to milk protein. He suggested cutting it from mine and her diet and bring her back in 6 weeks. He said to try a soya yoghurt and see how that goes but if she still has a reaction then try lactose free so we can try and pinpoint what the issue is. Thank you for your help.

 

[trinamcg]

My LO has reaction to the protein in cow's milk also. The terrible rash disappeared almost immediately after the doc prescribed special formula for the allergy. He doesn't have stomach pain anymore but still spits up and vomits a good bit. Be careful with the soya products as milk allergy is often accompanied by soya allergy. Good news is that they grow out of it!

 

[Rickles]

My LO has cmpi - I've been dairy free since she was 2 months old - it's a pain in the ass but has totally helped her cleared up her reflux (which reappears when I slip up) and made her a 100% happier baby. The paediatrician suggested keeping her off dairy until 9 months (so when solids were well established) and then introducing it slowly - to see if the intolerance had improved... As previous posters have said - soya is often just as bad - Maddie reacts to that too xx

 

[BigAl]

I'm starting to think my lo has a milk protein intolerance. He has really dry skin (not bad enough to be eczema), but for the last month has just been an awful sleeper. It I is taking me 2-3 hours to resettle him, as he is constantly arching his back and kicking his legs like he is trying to pass wind. His nappies are very liquid, and often green.

Does this sound like milk intolerance if it has only really been this bad for a month (although he did have colic and mild reflux)?

 

[littlegreenie]

I'm starting to think my lo has a milk protein intolerance. He has really dry skin (not bad enough to be eczema), but for the last month has just been an awful sleeper. It I is taking me 2-3 hours to resettle him, as he is constantly arching his back and kicking his legs like he is trying to pass wind. His nappies are very liquid, and often green.

Does this sound like milk intolerance if it has only really been this bad for a month (although he did have colic and mild reflux)?

Could be. My baby's sleep has already improved so much since going milk free - she has slept over 2 hrs at a time this week but had been every 45 mins before then. Her eczema has completely fond and she is just a little dry now. Do the nappies get worse soon after having something with milk in it?

 

[BigAl]

Well I am on day 5 of dairy free and the dry skin on his face has gone! Just like that, when I have been using cream on it for the last 4 months, amazing. Also dirty nappies have dropped from 5-10 a day to 2 and are much firmer in consistency. I will stick with the dairy free for a few weeks now I think.

Glad your baby is sleeping a little better.