Milk Allergy

One of my boys has had exzema on his legs for awhile and it's been getting steadily worse. I finally took him to the doctor again and demanded allergy testing. We just got the results and found out he's allergic to milk.

The pedi said he could grow out of it eventually. In the meantime, I am tryying to figure out how to cut out all milk and milk products. We just switched his sippies to Rice and Soy milk and moved to soy cheese. He actually seems to like it a lot better and I am thinking maybe because it doesn't upset his stomach.

Is there anyone else dealing with this allergy who can pass along some tips? Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to cut out every single thing that has milk in it? Like no milk in mashed potatoes? No dishes with milk of any kind?

2. How soon did it take for your child's symptoms to clear up once you stopped using dairy products?

3. Can I use soy or rice milk as a subsititute for milk in any dish that calls for milk?

4. If your child is a little older - did they grow out of it? If so, what age?

5. If your milk allergy child is one of your twins, did you put the other twin on a dairy restricted diet too? I am thinking that I will just eliminate all dairy in the house so that the allergic child doesn't feel like he's missing something - did you do this?

Any other tips you have to ease this transition would be great.

Thanks!

 

My two have a soy and milk intolerance(I think Jake moreso, than Emma), and I have also put them on the Rice Milk. Jake stopped spitting up, almost overnight, after I made the switch to rice. I do still give them yogurt and cheese per my peds advice. It doesn't seem to effect them like the milk and soy milk did. I am not sure on using the rice milk in recipes.

 

As your son has eczema, as well as positive allergy testing to milk, then he's actually allergic to milk ... not just intolerant. Therefore, all milk products need to be eliminated. And allergists actually believe that the more thoroughly the allergen is eliminated, the sooner the allergy will be outgrown. So, in answer to your questions:

1. Yes, cut out all milk. No dishes or food products with milk of any kind.

2. After we eliminated milk and eggs from Katy's diet, she showed improvement in her eczema within several days. She still gets eczema, but it's markedly improved.

3. I can pretty much use rice or soy in place of milk for any recipe and it turns out well.

4. We're still waiting ....

5. I do have Bella drink soy milk like Katy. There is no cow's milk in the house. I just feel the risk of Katy getting Bella's sippy is too great. Bella also eats soy yogurt like Katy. The only food I let Bella have is cheese. Katy knows that she can't have cheese. She'll point to Bella's cheese and say "No cheese. Makes you sick." I also let Bella eat pizza and mac and cheese if we are out at a restaurant. But for the most part, Bella and Katy have the same diet.

You need to be sure to eliminate butter and margarine too. I have really only found a coupld of truly dairy free margarine type products -- Earth's Best makes a spread and sticks that are vegan (so no animal products whatsoever). Fleishmans also makes a dairy free margarine ... but not all of their margarines are dairy free, so be careful. I've noticed that the salt-free sticks are dairy free, while the salted ones are not. Who knows why. At any rate, when looking at packages, if it reads "parve" or "paerve" then it is dairy free. If there are any ingredients such as casein, whey etc, it has dairy.

Be careful of commercial bread, too. Many brands do have milk. So check all ingredients carefully.

Good luck.

 

:hug99: I'm sorry your going through this.

Is your DS allergic to cow's milk or the lactose in cow's milk? My girls are allergic to the lactose, so I switched their milk to a lactose free milk and things got better, but it didn't clear up completely. I ended up switching them to 2% and that finally did it for us.

1. Do I need to cut out every single thing that has milk in it? Like no milk in mashed potatoes? No dishes with milk of any kind? I use lactose free milk for everything. But with us since its the lactose issue cheese and yogurt isn't a problem because there isn't enough lactose in it to bother them.

2. How soon did it take for your child's symptoms to clear up once you stopped using dairy products? Immediately after I switch them to lactose free and 2% milk

3. Can I use soy or rice milk as a subsititute for milk in any dish that calls for milk? Yes

4. If your child is a little older - did they grow out of it? If so, what age? N/A

5. If your milk allergy child is one of your twins, did you put the other twin on a dairy restricted diet too? I am thinking that I will just eliminate all dairy in the house so that the allergic child doesn't feel like he's missing something - did you do this? Both my girls have issue so they both have the same diet.

 

Is there anyone else dealing with this allergy who can pass along some tips? Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to cut out every single thing that has milk in it? Like no milk in mashed potatoes? No dishes with milk of any kind?
Sarah was lactose intolerant. It would give her screaming diarrhea. The diarrhea would burn her and leave behind a nasty rash and she would scream. We cut out every single thing with milk in it from about 9 months on.


2. How soon did it take for your child's symptoms to clear up once you stopped using dairy products?
About 24 hours


3. Can I use soy or rice milk as a subsititute for milk in any dish that calls for milk?
yes

4. If your child is a little older - did they grow out of it? If so, what age?
yes. By a little after 2, Sarah could have milk processed into things. By her third bday, she could drink skim milk and eat yogurt. Today she drinks 2% milk, eats yogurt, cottage cheese, pizza, everything.


5. If your milk allergy child is one of your twins, did you put the other twin on a dairy restricted diet too? I am thinking that I will just eliminate all dairy in the house so that the allergic child doesn't feel like he's missing something - did you do this?
No, we let Timothy drink his whole milk. Their sippies were color coded. Also we only gave milk under supervision, like at the table with meals. They got water in their sippies otherwise. He would get his cheese, she would get soy cheese. They actually seemed to like having their very own special food. Sarah protested loudly at the store when I put them both on 2% and she didn't get HER milk anymore.


Any other tips you have to ease this transition would be great.
Trust your gut.

Marissa

 

My kids are fine but I have a milk allergy (it gives me congestion, headaches, and itchy eyes) so I'm used to checking the labels of the food that I buy. Do not confuse a milk allergy with a lactose intolerance. They are not the same thing although it doesn't mean that he doesn't have both an allergy and an intolerance. A lactose intolerance causes stomach troubles but it will not cause eczema or any other allergy symptoms. Don't buy a food just because it says it is lactose-free.

I don't eat anything that has milk in it. When I check the ingredients, I make sure it doesn't have milk, cheese, butter, whey, or casein in it. Watch out for the soy cheese, it frequently has casein in it which is the same milk protein that is causing the allergy. You should purchase the vegan soy cheese which will not have casein.

My allergy is probably different than your son's because it was diagnosed by an ENT doc when I was a teenager and it has slowly gotten worse as I have gotten older. I used to cheat a lot but I really can't get away with it anymore. For me, it might take a couple of days for the symptoms to appear after eating milk and it might take a week or more to feel better again.

I have no problem using soy milk for recipes that call for milk. I haven't tried the rice milk, though. I recommend that you find a natural foods store near you. They sell a lot of dairy-free products that are good substitutions.

 

Both my twins have a milk protein allergy,not lactose intollerence, which is very different. All products with milk proteins must be eliminated for the diet which is so difficult! I also have a 3 yr old cheese addict, so as the twins get older they might hate him for it! Sue(above) put it best with the items you need to avoid. Some are so allergic they need to avoid butter as well and butter is also in many baked goods that you buy. There are substitutions for everything in baking, even milk and butter. I have noticed with my boys that if they have anything remotely related to a milk protein they break out severely and tend to be much more fussy. Their Dr. also says they may out grow it by the age of 2 but if it remains after 2 it is likely a lifetime issue. All food allgeries are difficult but managable over time. I hope you don't have to deal with this a long time. Go to your local natural food market for help choosing foods for your allergic one, it helps a lot!

Kelly

 

My friends youngest son has a milk allergy. Unfortunately, his reactions have gotten worse over time--he is now 3, and they have know about it since he was about 9 month. He started by just getting a rash, and the last time he ended up in the ER because he accidently ate something at a restaurant. She has come up with some alternatives for him--we have a great dairy free chocolate cake which she can make into cake or cupcakes just for an occational treat. Chocolate is a no-no unless it comes from cocoa powder that you reconstitue yourself.

Her son is the only one that eats the "special" diet. But she will make pasta, separate his out, then add butter, etc to everyone elses. As for recipes, check out some Kosher cookbooks, anything that is Meat or Parave CAN'T have any form of dairy--hence milk products in it.

 

My girls are 18 months and have allergeries to egg, dairy and wheat. They were on special formula when they were little and when we started the dairy at 1 year it was horrible. We took them off and within 3 days they were back to themselves. Like some others said, you need to eliminate all dairy products. Some hotdogs, deli meat, and french fries have dairy in them so you need to be very careful with everything. McDonald's french fries have dairy. You need to check the websites on all the restaurants you eat ate to check for all items that contain dairy. I also have a lot of allergies so I know what it feels like when you eat something you shouldn't. Some people will say a little won't hurt them but because I have dealt with it, I know how it feels and they usually can't communicate that with us. It is amazing how the whining, clinging, crying went away once we had eliminated all their allergens.

 

You've gotten lots of good advice from everyone. My kids were ALL allergic to dairy, soy, eggs, wheat. They all eventually outgrew everything- the longest one at 18 months. Yes, take out all dairy. If it's not totally eliminated from the diet, they won't outgrow it. And, like mentioned, alot of stuff has secret dairy ingrediants. Breads, hot dogs, even some of the deli meats use dairy enzymes as fillers. You can use any other milk (soy, rice, almond) in place in cooking (I did). Good luck. Soon you'll be used to it and it won't be so hard.

 

Thank you everyone! You've all given me some great advice. This will be a major life shift for us since so much of their food today contains milk or butter. But it will be well worth it if we can help our little guy's eczema clear up.

I have done a little research and discovered that there is a Whole Foods near my work. They have a shopping list prepared for various special diets, including a dairy-free diet. I printed out that list (which is quite long!) and plan to go there after work today. Seeing that list made me feel better - there seem to be a lot of alternative choices out there. I worry about how we will be able to eat family dinners at other houses or to restaurants, but we'll make it work. I sure hope he outgrows it! We plan to re-introduce a little milk around age 3 (2 years from now) and see how it goes.

 

My daughter who is 13 months was diagnosed with a milk allergy as well. The best advice I can give is to be careful of hidden sources of dairy. Most chicken nuggets, breads, and even soy cheeses contain milk derivatives. If it has the word "casein" on it, it is a dairy product. I go to the health food stores to find food for her! You will find a lot at whole foods! Good luck!