Milk allergy | Imamother

challi

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 4:18 am

We took dd off milk and see a huge difference in her, behaviour, independence, infections, sleeping, you name it it helped. Our dr has been really skeptical as to the connection but after talking to so many other parents with the same prob we decided to try it and were amazed. I'm not sure if its a real allergy or not, but I'd really like to keep her off the milk.

She's 14mnths abt and I've been giving her soy milk, and soy based products to supplement the nutrients she would othewise get from the milk. Today someone mentioned to me that too much soy could be dangerous. I was hoping someone else here doesn't give milk and could guide me as to what I should be giving her instead to make sure she's getting what she needs. Thanks

mom2six

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 4:59 am

What you are describing sounds more like an insensitivity than a true allergy but the treatment is the same--avoid. My dd is anaphylactic to milk and we do sub with soy milk and tofu cheese. The problem with soy is that it's highly estrogenic and therefore many parents prefer to limit their child's soy intake. It's been said to delay puberty in boys and even cause infertility. In girls, some say it can cause early puberty but others disagree. Personally, I do give it to dd but she only has a little bit in her cereal in the morning and an occasional cheese sandwich so I'm not too worried. With ds (who's sensitive to milk but not allergic), I limit it a bit more and only give him a drop in his cereal.

Does your daughter nurse or drink formula? If she takes either one of those, she doesn't need any milk. There are hypoallergenic formulas available that are safe for most milk allergic babies.

challi

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 5:18 am

unfortunately I had to stop nursing a couple of wks ago and she wont touch formula with a ten foot pole. Until I stopped nursing she'd never had formula, never drinken from a bottle only cups of water and juice.

With only a drop of soy, how do you make sure they get enough calcium, fats etc for healthy growth? I had been giving her a cup of soy a day, plus what I put in her cereal for breakfast but now I'm really worried to do that.

Her body reacts very strangely to milk. Kvetching, rashes, not sleeping, ear infections, alternating wks of constipation followed by horrible runny stools, and a few others. Now that she's been off its suddenly dissapeared. I feel like I finally got my kid back!

Pickle Lady

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 12:25 pm

My son is allegic to dairy also and we give him soy. Noy tons of it. The only soy products he really has is soy dream about 2 cups a day. IF you think too much soy is a problem then give rice drink, oat and almond drink.

challi

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 1:38 pm

is the rice drink or almond drink fortified does it give enough fats for a toddler's diet though? Unfortunately, going to my dr abt it isn't very helpful, she doesnt believe that its a good idea to take milk off a kids diet. When I asked what to give instead she didn't have an answer. What would dd be missing from her diet, nutritionally if I don't give milk to her?

amother

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 2:06 pm

I've been severely allergic to milk since I was a baby.

The main thing you have to make up for is the lack of calcium. Therefore, I take calcium supplements everyday. When I was younger it was this nasty tasting liquid calcium, and now I take calcium pills.

Ima'la

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 3:03 pm

I give my son soy milk b/c he is allergic to dairy. I give him a calcium supplement, as well. (As dr. before starting this b/c my dr. warned me not to give too much.) In E"Y, they have white chocolate teddy bear calcium vitamins. America has yummy Viactiv calcium supplements - but watch out - they're dairy! Won't work for this purpose!

DS only has the milk in his cereal, and doesn't get soy from a whole lot of other sources, so personally I am not worried about it being too much, but you could substitute some of the soy milk with rice milk or almond milk, as suggested above.

I suggest you speak to a nutritionist about how to make sure dd is getting the proper vitamins and nutrition.

One more thing - is it possible that dd is lactose intolerant? That can sometimes be treated by taking Lactaid with dairy food - then she can still have dairy. You could have dd tested for milk allergy by an allergist to find out whether it's a true allergy...some drs. believe in testing children that age and some don't. My dr. wanted milk allergy confirmed b4 I took ds off of such an important food (as opposed to a more minor food, where he would've said, so just don't eat it.)

mom2six

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 3:43 pm

challi wrote:

With only a drop of soy, how do you make sure they get enough calcium, fats etc for healthy growth? I had been giving her a cup of soy a day, plus what I put in her cereal for breakfast but now I'm really worried to do that.

Her body reacts very strangely to milk. Kvetching, rashes, not sleeping, ear infections, alternating wks of constipation followed by horrible runny stools, and a few others. Now that she's been off its suddenly dissapeared. I feel like I finally got my kid back!

I'm still nursing him. Once he's 2, he won't need the milk as much so I'll feel more comfortable weaning them.

mom2six

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 3:46 pm

amother wrote:

Actually, in kids under 2 it's the fat that's important to get from the milk. Rice dream does not compare to milk in that sense. Almond milk might but it's not recommended to give treenuts to allergic/sensitive children before age 3. Some even say age 5.

mom2six

Wed, Jan 24 2007, 3:51 pm

Pickle Lady wrote:

If soy is so bad for babies why do so many babies get soy formula?

It's pretty recent that there's been a lot of noise about the dangers of soy. It's still a pretty controversial topic. If you google it, you'll find articles saying that feeding a baby soy formula is like giving them 5 birth control pills daily and is considered child abuse. Obviously, everything has to be taken with a grain of salt but most doctors agree that soy formula should not be first choice. Families with a history of thyroid poblems are especially urged to avoid.

challi

Thu, Jan 25 2007, 4:34 am

Ima'la where do you get the calcium suplements here? What are they called? Also, does anyone know exactly which foods are good to replace those fats that toddlers need. I also don't think that its a problem with lactoe intolerance as that is usually just gastro-intestinal. This is a whole body problem. I have a close family member who is a allergist too. I asked and he said I could test dd but it may or may not show up. If it doesn't it could still be a problem so he just said go ahead and try it. The difference is amazing. However, since he doesn't usually see that many young kids he wasn't 100% sure what to fill her needs with. So I've turned to here with some first hand experiences.

mom2six

Thu, Jan 25 2007, 1:25 pm

We get calcium tablets for dd in the Kupat Cholim pharmacy. Many people use calcium fortified orange juice but not sure that's available here. For fats, some parents drizzle canola or olive oil on whatever their kids eat. Most kids don't even notice it.

If you check out www.kidswithfoodallergies.org you can get answers to all of your questions. They also have an excellent recipe database which is searchable by allergens.

su7kids

Sun, Jan 28 2007, 6:24 pm

challi wrote:

Ask your doctor's office if they have a nutritionist you can speak to. fFor example, calcium comes from some green vegetables, fats, from many other places. I didn't raise my kids on milk -- also a sensitivity to milk -- and I have to say that KEIN EIN HORA, they are incredibly healthy. We hardly ever visited the doctor.

It definitely can be done, you just have to get her a well balanced diet.

Mitzvahmom

Sun, Jan 28 2007, 6:28 pm

same here... B"H kids are doing well..

They still have milk every once and a while, but rarely.. It's more of a treat than a normal thing. I noticed when we have it at home (though cholov yisroel milk is hard to come by anywayz) my kids get sick easily.

B"H we have rice milk/soy milk sometimes...

mamacita

Wed, Nov 14 2007, 12:20 pm

My dd breaks out in hives from cow dairy, but a friend who has a son with similar reaction recommended goat dairy. So far so good! We can get yogurt, milk and cheese although we've only tried the yogurt.