Hi All:
Sky just turned a year old almost a month ago and of course, she started drinking whole milk...For a while, she was crying quite a bit, sometimes even screaming and dropping to the floor, and we thought it was due to multiple molar teeth popping up at the same time. Then I decided to try giving her formula for toddlers (9 mos to 24 mos), figuring it would give her the nutrients she needs because she doesn't eat very much (to my surprise). Anyway, as soon as she started drinking Nestle Good Start 2 - the very next day, she immediately stop crying and was one happy bumble bee....I thought hmmm - that was strange....as soon as I ran out of Good Start 2, I got her Enfamil Next Step under the assumption it was the same thing as Good Start 2....well, she started crying and screaming all over again and her diarrhea came back...I got her back on Good Start 2 again and she has been fine since...The difference between Nestle Good Start 2 and Enfamil Next Step is that Good Start 2 is broken down to whey whereas Enfamil Next Start is straight based off of nonfat milk.
I am not sure if she is allergic to milk or if she is lactose intolerant....She is going to see her doctor tomorrow and at the same time, I was in the process to change doctors anyways because this doctor has that HMO mentality that I really do not like AT ALL....But she needs medical attention asap to find out what the deal is with milk....I sure hope he will refer her to an allergist due to heavy background of milk allergy on my family side....
Either way - for those of you moms already have a child or children who are allergic to milk or are lactose intolant, what were your experiences and what have you done with your child - medical wise, drinking and food wise, etc....to avoid what Sky was going through....
Thanks a bunch :)
H~
H~
Mom of 2 Daughters - Kelly (3 yrs) and Skylar (19 mos old)
zoostationu2@hotmail.com
I don't have experience with
I don't have experience with milk allergies, but others (nuts). I have a friend who is a nurse at an allergy office and she doesn't want me to freak out, but wants me to understand that allergies are weird and need to be respected as such. She has me carry BENADRYL to deal with any kind of reaction I might see in my kids, (I questioned her since the packaging seems to deal with sneezing and runny nose, not feeling nauseas and hive-y, but she assured me it should work for both) and I carry an "epi pen" in case there is ever a severe reaction, (trouble breathing)which we've never had, but she wants us prepared for. I am not sure how this translates to a 1 year old, mine are 6 and 8, but I THINK the concepts are the same for all ages. Again, not to worry over, but be prepared for.
We go to Arizona Allergy Associates and they have locations all over the valley. We've been happy with them. Good luck!
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
Hi, We have been dealing
Hi, We have been dealing with this here for a long time. My son was breastfed, but I tried giving him some "regular" (milk-based) formula when he was a few months old. He got constipated and then was fine once I switched him back to only breastmilk. I started supplementing with soy formula, and that worked fine. We did see a dr; and he felt my son was just lactose intolerent, not allergic. We did allergy testing when he was two, and that came back negative for milk allergy. However, he was not getting better. We thought he could tolereate cheese, but avoided all other dairy. Eventunally, though, I guess it built up in his system, and he started having digestive issues every day. If he got anything with a ton of lactose in it (such as someone accidently feeding him ice cream), he vomited. Otherwise, it was just watery stools all the time. Because we could not figure out what was wrong, the dr. eventually wanted to do a scope on him (EKG and Flex Sig). We were really nervous, but needed to know what was wrong. The dr. had suggesed possibly Celiac Disease. Well, the scope revealed he was indeed allergic to milk, even though the testing we'd had done at the allergy dr. showed negative. He has allergic colitis. The most common culprit of that is dairy allergy, but second most common is egg. We don't think he is allergic to eggs, though. He is now on a completely dairy-free diet. It can be in many foods... even crackers, chicken nuggets, etc. so we have to read labels and be careful. He is doing fine now! I would get your child tested and go from there. Good luck! I know it can be a tough situation.
Debbie Akers, a northeast Phoenix mom of three young sons, is a member of the Arizona Republic's Parent Advisory Panel.
Thank you for the responses
Thank you for the responses and wow!!!
Yesterday - Sky saw her doctor and it has been confirmed that she is allergic to the amino acid in the dairy products. We were advised to keep all dairy products from her diet for a couple weeks and then gradually bring it back to see how much she can tolerate. Cheese is something she is not very tolerant of....We were also advised that she cannot be referred to an allergist because insurance companies will not pay for "non life threatening" allergy claims (we couldn't believe it...).
UGH!
H~
Mom of 2 Daughters - Kelly (3 yrs) and Skylar (19 mos old)
zoostationu2@hotmail.com
um, please don't listen to
um, please don't listen to the doctor regarding insurance - they clearly no nothing. I knew my daughter had allergies, so I went to the provider book for my insurance, and looked for pediatric allergist. I told them, my daughter had an allergy to peanuts, but didn't have all the information, and they scheduled an appointment _ no referral needed. So they got her in, did more extensive testing, and provided up information that my daughter who used to allergic to some things is no longer, and that her peanut allergy was the most severe. It's always best to get second opinions when dealing with allergies, some go away, some get a lot worse. Diligence will save you alot of heartache. I want to thank the poster who gave such great info about the tummy issues there child was having, my daughter is seeing a gastro doctor soon, and we suspect an allergy to dairy products. Your symptons are exactly the same.
My daughter is allergic to
My daughter is allergic to dairy as well. We had her tested at 1yo (that's how we found out) and will do it again at 2yo to see if she's outgrown it. I am keeping my fingers crossed because it is difficult making sure she eats the right things. Many times the foods DH or myself are eating at the dinner table have some sort of dairy in it and DD thinks what is on our plates is better than hers, even though it looks the same or similar!
We ran across the same thing as a previous poster...There is dairy in lots of pre-packaged foods that you would never guess so we do a lot of label-reading at our household! Also, a lot of making foods from scratch so she's not eating a bunch of pre-packaged foods anyways.
Good choice, as you have
Good choice, as you have found, Nestle good start is one of the least allergenic cow dairy formulas on the market! Developing children are very sensitive to foods and their immune systems aren't fully developed until age 2. Allergies to foods are common in young children and delaying introduction of common food allergens can sometimes prevent severe reactions. As your child grows she may grow out of this food allergy. Many infants and toddlers have to use Nestle good start or a Soy based formula because they are initially allergic to most dairy formulas but as they grow older most can slowly introduce dairy back into their diets.
wellness@lifesculpting.biz
When my son was a year old,
When my son was a year old, he went through the same thing. He started on dairy and it was nothing but problems. He was vomiting, had many digestive problems, was gassy and fussy alot. We went in to see the pediatrician and she told us to take him off of all dairy.
I never realized that most things had dairy. We found a few stores that carried soy-based products that worked great for him. They had everything from milk to ice cream to cheese... all with no dairy. Granted, it is more expensive but totally worth not cleaning up after the messes dairy led to.