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1.12.2010

Milk allergy


I'm super annoyed. Hear me out. I have never dealt with a food allergy before and so it is mostly inexperience and ignorance.

Pete is almost 11 months. I haven't given him any cow's milk yet. By this time, my first son, Charlie, was living on cheese, yo-baby yogurt, and scrambled eggs. A couple months ago I tried the yogurt with Pete and he got a red rash around his mouth. The same thing with cheese, the fruit and yogurt baby cereal, and even milk-based formula. I recently tried giving him cheese again and he got the same red rash. Doctor says he'll probably send us to an allergist but in the meantime we gotta do soy formula, which he isn't drinking very well (I'm not nursing as much so we've got to supplement) and to also avoid eggs!!

I guess I'm annoyed because now I'm having to come up with all these other ideas of foods to give to Pete. We love cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, and milk in our family. Has anyone had experience with food allergies? Do they go away? Is soy milk going to be permanently in my fridge? What else can I feed him? Help!!

8 comments:

Anna said...

My youngest sister was allergic to milk and she outgrew it. My neice was allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts, she has since outgrown all but peanuts. She is now 8. My sister would bake cakes but put sprite in it instead of eggs. Sorry, I don't remember how old they were when they outgrew them.

Debra Hawkins said...

My oldest nephew was allergic to milk and eggs and then outgrew the milk allergy by the time he was four. He is still allergic to eggs though. My nephew mostly lived on fruit slices. She would cut up pears and other things into feed yourself bites. I know they make lots of products with soy. My sister used to buy soy ice cream so he wouldn't feel left out when his brother's got a treat. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

My daughter was diagnosed with soy and milk allergies at 2 mos. By her first birthday she had outgrown the soy allergy. On her second birthday, she still tested for having milk allergies; but she is able to tolerate cheese, ice cream, etc. Only problem is that she doesn't really care for these foods much, since she didn't have them as a baby. :/ Thankfully, we seem to (so far) have escaped this with our baby twins. I'll try to find/send some recipes to you. Do a Google search and you'll find some great resources for allergen free recipes.

Jill said...

My nephew was allergic to several things including dairy. He outgrew many but never the milk allergy. He preferred rice milk. I don't really know what he liked to snack on but I do know that my sister found enough dairy free products to be able to make him chocolate chip cookies! There is a lot out there now.

Cannwin said...

My son has been drinking soy since he was about 3 months old. He was the most colicky child until we switched him off milk based formula's and after that he was 150x better. I still nursed him though but I obstained from dairy products and supplemented with the soy formula.


He's now 7 and still doesn't drink milk. Whether or not he's still allergic is unknown because we can't get him to touch dairy products. He thinks 'cow's milk' is gross.

They say that kids who are allergic to milk usually grow out of it by the time they are nine months. Mine never did.

I also have an allergy to milk and over the years it has gotten easier to handle. I now barely think about it. But when I was a child (before we knew what it was) I lived with constant stomach pain.

You'll get used to buying the two milks. It isn't so bad when you think about how much better off he is.

As for egg products I think that is just to make sure he doesn't develop any other allergies. My kids doctor has urged me to keep my 2 year old away from peanut butter, and a whole gamut of other foods until he is older just in case. Because some allergies aren't grown out of and you don't want your child developing one of those.

Allergies suck to deal with, but they are worse for the person with them.

Evelyn said...

My five yr old son is deathly allergic to milk. We found out when he was a couple months old and I accidently spilled milk on him as I was nursing him. He broke out in that rash then and everytime we kissed him after we had eaten yogurt or ice cream, etc. He had some more severe reactions when he had formula. His airway started to close off. We finally got him into an allergist when he was 6 months. The tests confirmed our suspicions. I was devastated. I thought he was "broken" and also...what could I give him that didn't have milk in it?!? It seemed like there was nothing, but as time as gone on we have figured out ways to make it work. He is our oldest and we probably feed our children healthier food because of this allergy. Who knows what it owuld be like without? He isn't allergic to eggs or peanuts, but he's got problems with fish, shellfish, animals, seasonal, he has cold-induced asthma. SOmetimes it feel slso overwhelming, but you cope over time...and it's just how it's gotta be. Our son drinks Soy milk and LOVES it! I have tried to switch him to rice milk but no go. I was concerned about the soy because i had heard it had estrogen in it. Our allergist said there wasn't enough to be concerned about. Get to be good friends with your allergist. They are your best resource! Be your child's advocate at church and family and friend functions. I am shocked at how many people think "cheese crackers must be okay if all he has is a milk allergy" or they think it's just intolerance or that I'm a psycho book mom. THat has been frustrating! They haven't seen him when he's having a severe reaction and we've had to rush him to the hospital after shooting him with epi-pens. Alot of peopl won't understand so it's your job to get informed and inform others. Good luck!! It's doable!

Evelyn said...

Also, sorry so much, they keep saying he might grow out of it...He hasn't yet, but it doesn't seem to be quite as severe as it once was. He used to swell up all over (ever seen Hitch?? That's not so exaggerated.) Now he is old enough where he can be vigilant too. He is very good about telling people "I can't eat that; it will make me sick". That has helped a ton!

Shelly said...

Wow! Thank you everyone! It sounds like this is a common problem. I'll do some searching and I have a feeling that I will need to become an expert on this really fast. Thanks!