Re: Cow's milk protein allergy?
Asked by Izzy

Question:
 

I am in the process of introducing cow's milk to my twins (1 yr old). I started about a week ago by giving them 4 oz once a day. Other than this, they

are breastfed 3x a day (no formula).

The first time they had cow's milk, their faces (around the mouth) turned red and developed hives. They started sneezing, and their noses started running. They had colds at the time, so I thought that may have been the cause. On their 12 month old check, I mentioned it to the pediatrician and he said to keep an eye on it because it's not a common reaction to cow's milk. He said if a child has cow's milk allergy, it usually manifests itself with gastrointestinal problems.

So I skipped a few days and didn't give cow's milk. But then, I tried again and the same thing happens. When the spit up milk, the skin around their necks that the cow's milk touched turns red too.

Now, all this is instantaneous. The red spots/hives appear within minutes of finishing their milk.

Has anyone had this happen to? What did you do? I'd like to hear your experiences.

My Advice: Hi Izzy my baby was diagnosed with Cows Milk & protein Allergy at 10 weeks of age.  Yours appears to sound different, usually a Cow's Milk protein allergy is Gut related. Emily was screaming up to 16 hours a day from about day 2. She was not sleeping at all, she had dermatitis and heaps of nappy rash.  She was born a big bub and was loosing percentiles, and  eventually refused to drink. Eventually after a scream of 12 hours straight I decided after visiting multiple  GP's and local ER's that something must be wrong so I took her to the Royal Children's Hospital  ( Melbourne). She was admitted for 3 days, had multiple tests one of which found her spleen had enlarged 3 times the size ( a response to my poisonous Milk). Apparently the proteins I ingested crossed  into the Milk. Emily was commenced on this super dopper formula called Neocate. The problem they also suggested is the protein groups that cause problems may not just be in Cow's Milk.  Emily's Pediatrician recommended a great Pediatric Dietician ( incidently who was involved in the formation of Neocate). She gave me a method to deal with Emily's intolerances ( also known as Gut allergy).  Emily also has many  other protein intolerances, including the alternatives to cow milk - rice, oats, goat.  Under guidance from the dietician Emily now is enjoying lots of food and now is also on Lactose free milk. It's a long slow process, many Gp's just are not up to date with the complex nature of your concern.

My suggestion coming from a long and challenging battle is see the Pediatrician again, get allergy tests and get a referal to a Pediatric dietician. It's just too complicated to tackle this one on your own.  Incidently her pediatric dietician says many skin reactions are food related as well.  I'm around if you need any more advice on this.  Stop the formula until you get advice.

Suzy.