Advice for introducing dairy solids to a LO whose had dairy sensitivity during BF.

Hi ladies

Hoping to get some advice, please.

DS2 has had a reasonable level of dairy sensitivity while he's been BF. The most he is able to tolerate is a tiny bit of milk in my tea and coffee and butter on my toast, sandwich etc. Any more than that and he suffers terrible wind and gets a bit spewy. Especially if I've eaten cheese.

Does this mean he'll always have a sensitivity?

Just wondering if I should hold off on giving him his own cheese or yoghurt for a little while longer? Do I risk making it worse?

Thanks so much

I think talking to a dietician that specialises in food sensitivities could be a good idea. They should be able to help with a strategy. They might also be able to narrow it down to just one of the CMP (cows milk proteins) which would mean that some dairy would be ok. I certainly would only introduce dairy slowly if you are going to start, and if cheese seems like a problem, maybe start with yoghurt instead.

Yes. Talk with a dietician to figure out the best way. Good luck!

We did a bit of trial and error, on the advice of a paed who specialises in allergies.

Both my DDs have intolerances to varying extents. DD2 was terrible with solids so it took a lot longer for her to start getting exposure to this sort of thing anyway, but we found that she was actually able to tolerate a lot of dairy to the point now where she survives to a large extent on milk and cheese.

DD1 on the other hand will not touch dairy, with the exception of a small amount of cheddar cheese on rare occasions. She refuses milk, butter/margarine, yoghurt etc. Some advice the paed gave us turned out to be true - little ones will instinctively refuse foods that may not agree with them.

Hi,
I can't see from your post how old your baby is. No, don't introduce foods he is allergic to or intolerant to! it can wait - he doesn't need them. Is he still breastfeeding? If so stick with it - it's worthwhile. Your family will often be the clue - it is likely that he will have intolerances similar to you. Does anyone in the family get eczema? Asthma? Has he got eczema?
By and large children with allergice/intolerance issues where there is no strong history of allergy improve with age, so that by the time they are two or so years old they can tolerate dairy. However, dairy is not the "essential" food that is marketed to us. People do fine without dairy.

Wow- thanks so much everyone!

Barb, he's 8 months old and still BF. He's eating some fruit, veg, rice cakes and bits and pieces of whatever we're having and doesn't appear to be having any adverse reactions.

Here's the important bit, My DH is asthmatic, gets eczema and is allergic to animal hair and pollens...pertinient info, should have put that in my first post!! Also, DHs nephew is anaphalactic (sp) with nuts. So, yep, STRONG family history!

As for dairy, I feel heaps better since all but eliminating it...less constipated and less bloating. Also DS1 will only eat dairy under duress so maybe he knows something that I don't and I've been a bad Mummy not listening to his body :( DD loves dairy but has always had mushy, pale coloured poo since we stopped BF at 18 months.

Hmmm...thinking I'll take us all to the Dietician and get tested.

Thanks again!

I would wait till he's at least a year or even two years old for any dairy. I'd work on healing his gut and then when you start I'd start with ghee, then butter. Then wait at least 3 months with those before trying homemade yoghurt & sour cream, cultured for 24 hours to remove the lactose.

It sounds like all of you could benefit from healing your guts- look into GAPS.

If your bub is only 8 months old then I definitely second meow's suggestion of waiting longer before starting any sort of dairy. DD2 was about 18 months before we started dairy with her, and DD1 2 years.

Meow- what do you mean by healing his gut? Why ghee then butter? Interestingly, butter is the only dairy he tolerates from me.

I just had a quick look at GAPS. First thing that struck me is that DS1 has serious learning/developmental delays!! Actually, he's been diagnosed mild ASD. He's improved heaps with a year of homeschooling, intensive OT and, now, support at a great school but maybe his diet is the issue! I'm religious about preservatives and numbers in our food but perhaps I could be doing more. The problem is that I share-care him with his Dad who is as religious about consuming as much processed food as possible :(

most children with a dairy intolerance will outgrow it by 24 months and as long as he has a good diet and is still breastfeeding then he shouldn't be lacking in any nutrients without dairy. A dietician will be your best person for advice though. Good luck :)

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Meow- what do you mean by healing his gut? Why ghee then butter? Interestingly, butter is the only dairy he tolerates from me.

I just had a quick look at GAPS. First thing that struck me is that DS1 has serious learning/developmental delays!! Actually, he's been diagnosed mild ASD. He's improved heaps with a year of homeschooling, intensive OT and, now, support at a great school but maybe his diet is the issue! I'm religious about preservatives and numbers in our food but perhaps I could be doing more. The problem is that I share-care him with his Dad who is as religious about consuming as much processed food as possible :(

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If you would like to know how to do more then absolutely read the GAPS book. Even if you can't do it full time with your older son Im sure he would benefit and you can at least be doing it full time with the rest of you. By healing your gut I mean repairing the damage by eating the right foods (like bone broth with plenty of gelatin) so that you can properly process foods and not suffer food intolerances.

The idea with ghee then butter then other things is that generally it is the proteins in foods that people are "allergic" to. And there is essentially no milk protein in ghee, and very little in butter. There is however quite a lot in many margarines because milk powder is added to them!

When you do start, try cooking with dairy - cooked proteins are usually (the exception is peanuts) less allergenic than raw ones. So a relatively easy place to start would be something like a pikelet, which contains a small amount of cooked milk. And then if there is no reaction you know that you don't have to be super-fastidious about excluding dairy. For many people, UHT milk produces less of a reaction than normal milk.

Introducing things like yoghurt and milk and cheese and so on can wait until later if you are still breastfeeding. But there is a school of thought that says that allergies can be worsened if exposure is left until later, so it would be worth talking to a dietician.

Hi,

Well, in this case - keep away from dairy. it's strange, but the consumption of dairy is a cultural thing not a biological thing. We are not designed to drink the milk of another species - or any milk after weaning. though people of anglo descent usually tolerate it. If you've been to China you would notice that the dairy cabinet that extends the length of the supermarket in woolies barely exists. Asian people don't eat dairy by and large. Babies have a keen sense of what isn't good for them. Most dieticians are great - but they are also a product of culture and some are so used to using dairy as a quick and easy source of calcium and protein they have difficulty assimilating the fact that it's not for everyone

I just saw this thread. My DS has a milk protein allergy but the same as yours could tolerate a tiny bit here and there. Our paediatrician instructed us to trial in diary at 12 months. The process was supposed to be start off with about 1/2 teaspoon and double the quantity every day. We weren't great at the go slow and within a day or two ended up giving him quite a bit. He broke out in eczema much more that he normally gets. We took him off diary and it settled. Within a couple of weeks we tried again to double check if the eczema was a coincidence or a reaction. Sure enough eczema again. The paediatrician has said to wait now until 18 months before trying again. Eczema wasn't the initial symptom when he was diagnosed at about 9 weeks of age. It was fussy feeding including breast and then later bottle refusal back then. I'm told they will outgrow it before about 2 years of age.

A lot of babies with diary allergy also have a soy one. We are kind of lucky because my DS doesn't have a soy allergy so we use some soy products for calcium but the fat content is quite low. I'm not really a fan of soy for babies but it's kind of really the only option we have at the moment.

I assume that you are taking a high dose of calcium tablets and this would mean that your LO is getting a decent amount of calcium whilst being BF.

Thanks so much, Lisa- yep, I'm taking a calcium supplement and heap of Chia seeds as they're really high in calcium, too.

I'm not into soy products, either so I'm including some chia seeds in his little meals for some extra nutrients.

Did your bub ever have really bad farts?? That's another thing I should have included in my original post- before we started solids, he would have the most disgusting smelling farts!! I describe them as being like an unwell adults!!! Just awful. And that's when I was having very little dairy.