hi, when my daughter was a few weeks old the doctor told me that she was allergic to something in cows milk formula.. now she is nearly off the breast feeds and drinks soya miljk most of the time.. the doctor wants me to try her again with the regular milk but i am a little worried as i dont know what to do with her if she still reacts to it.. do i take her to the doctors or just sit it out at home or what? anyone with any advice would be helpful! xXx

My great nephews have anaphylactic shock allergy with milk, the hospital said the eldest would be ok with mozzarella cheese in buffalo milk. She dabbed a small bead of the milk on his lip and he seemed fine with it. The next night she did the exact same thing again and it turned into a frantic dash for the hospital. They got him there barely in time, my niece was shaking for three days after that.

Please be very very careful and only try it when someone is with you

Hope it turns out well for your daughter

I have had a dairy allergy from being a baby, I'm 17 now and a lot better then I used to be, I couldn't even be in a room with eggs cooking as my whole face would swell up.

Is it just milk or all dairy products that you daughter reacts to?

my mum used to dab a small amount of milk on the back of my wrist and it used to come up in a red rash to show I was allergic to it, you could try that as it's not as harmful as drinking it.

If you want to know anything at all, I will ask my mum for you as she's a complete expert on allergies now!

Helen

she has only ever tried milk as she is still only 5 months old so not eating much solids yet.. her reaction to it the first few times (5in all before the doctor prescribed her soya milk) wasnt too bad, big red blotches all over skin which were v obviously irritating to her.. doc says it might just have been a coincidence she got them when she drank the milk thou.. :suspect: think if i give her a bottle of it in the morning so ive got all day to watch her we should be okay?

Why does she have to have cow's milk at all?

I'd personally keep her off it until she's alot older. The recommendation is that babies don't drink cow's milk until their a year old anyway.

Either way I hope she's ok. :)

sorry, not cows milk.. ( i think i did say this but..) cows milk formula - regular baby milk.. is made from cows milk, so i am told.

Personally speaking, I would say that if the doctor wants you to try her again (and potentially expose her to something that she could be dangerously allergic to) then I think that the doctor should also take responsibility to have that happen on their premises, where you have fast access to medical help, should you need it.

It is far more likely that the doctor was referring to an 'intolerance' rather than an allergy when she was younger (such as my intolerance to cows milk which causes eczema in various places but doesn't give anaphylactic shock symptoms), but either way round, to expect you to do this without support is unrealistic.

Unfortunately anybody can have anaphylactic shock at any point, so that's no guarantee of you daughter being safe, but their little lives are too precious to take any unnecessary risks of this nature. Talk to your GP.

Crossed fingers that it all goes off well, and that your daughter grows up healthy and happy.

Originally posted by medusa666
It is far more likely that the doctor was referring to an 'intolerance' rather than an allergy when she was younger (such as my intolerance to cows milk which causes eczema in various places but doesn't give anaphylactic shock symptoms)

yeah i think that is what he meant.. even if he didnt really explain (at all).. personally i think it is much more likely to be that than an allergy.

..thanks for the advice though everybody X

And I hope she grows up a happy n healthy lil girl.

If she does turn out to have a milk allergy, soya milk is actually quite nice, and you can also get little yoghurts and custard and things for when she's older.

You just have to watch out for the ingredients in food, would you believe they actually put milk in crisps and things!

Hope she's ok!

xxx

I don't like soya milk very much, so I get sheep's milk, which tastes so much like cow's milk that nobody visiting my house has ever noticed that they aren't getting cow's milk in tea and coffee. I also have a friend who prefers rice milk.

Either way round, there are lots of alternatives should you need them, so just worry about the allergy part.

Hi honey, did you know you can get goat's milk formula?

But moreover, why don't you keep her on the breast milk if at all possible? If babies need to have milk (which they do at this age) it makes sense for her to have human milk. Both my toddlers are still breastfeeding and boy does it make them smart! Failing that, there is always organic cows milk formula which might have a few less (like a lot less) nasties... Look forward to your reply.

And as for a coincidence :suspect: - too right!

I was told by the health visitor that they don't advise babies drink goats milk anymore, dont really know why though.

I do still breastfeed in the mornings and at night, but as she is in nursery during the day now somedays it isnt possible for me to feed her all day from the breast so i had to cut right down and get her onto bottles during the day..

As for the cows milk formula.. i rang the doctor the other day, and was once again advised to just try it and see what happens.. so i did. the first bottle went okay, until i was in town on my way to colleg and she brought every last drop of it back up. (new coat and clothes had to be purchased as it was freezing) the second bottle of it that they gave her at nursery stayed down okay and looking at her arms and legs i couldnt see any rashes so i thought she mush be okay with it.. got her undressed for bed.. red blotches all up her chest, neck and back. also she was boiling hot even with no clothes on. not as bad as she was last time but still not great. now i dont know wether that means she will just get used to it or she shouldnt have it or what. dont really want to risk downg ANY harm to her at all though!

Immunology and allergies were part of my degree, and the answer is- unless you have a reason to believe otherwise, once you have an allergy you keep that allergy. She's too young to tell you but that rash makes you hot and itchy and very uncomfortable. If she grows out of it it won't be by repeated exposure right now, It will be by stopping pressing the 'histamine reaction' button and letting her immune system grow up a bit before you try it again.

Take photos if you think that you'll need proof to convince your GP then report back that you won't be trying cows milk formula for at least another 6 months. They will have no option then but to support you in the soya milk decision.

I'd pick a happy and smiling baby over a blotchy and uncomfortable baby any day of the week.

Hug her off me (I can't have my own so I just hug everybody else's)

thanks. The health visitor told me the best thing she thought was to get her tested properly when she was at least 1 year old. However the doctor did seem to think that she would have 'grown out of it' by now so as she usually gets the soya milk on prescription (its so much more expensive than regular milk!) i thought i best try it. if he doesnt believe me (which i dont think he does) then i think i might just continue to buy soya milk anyways, as it seems the best thing for her at the moment.