[alicenwonderland]

I need some advice.

I started BFing Teddy again yesterday and it seemed like everything was ok. But it's been 24 hours, and now he's having mucousy poops and a facial rash again.

I've been dairy free for almost a week. I'm wondering if i need to be dairy free longer, or if he has another sensitivity.

So my question is...
What symptoms did your child have?
How were they diagnosed?
Did you do an exclusion diet?
How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child?
Did they outgrow the allergy at all?€

[Oriyan]

From what I know -- you need to be "allergen free" for 2 weeks before reintroducing your milk. Even then, it could be something different other then dairy (dairy is always the main go to). We thought J.J had a dairy issue too but it turned out to be eggs. If you want to figure out what he is really allergic to, you need to exclude all the main allergens from your diet -- Wheat, Diary, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Soy, etc. Then introduce one back into your diet at a time and see how he is. Once you introduce something and he gets a rash, you found your allergen. Most allergists won't test him until he is 1.

What symptoms did your child have? Rash all over his stomach (little red bumps) that would itch him like crazy. A more severe allergic reaction caused the bumps on his stomach legs and arms. Benedryl is the cure, but the rash still lingers for 2-3 days.
How were they diagnosed? We did skin allergy testing as soon as he turned 1, that was confirmed by blood testing. J.J has a moderate-severe egg allergy and other unknown allergies.
Did you do an exclusion diet? Once we found out about the egg, we removed egg from his diet.
How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child? As soon as we removed his allergy he was fine. Sometimes he gets a reaction and we don't know from what. We suspect he has an allergy to cottonseed oil (very rare allergy).
Did they outgrow the allergy at all? Nope. We were told if he still is this way by 5, he likely will be for life. He shows no signs of getting rid of the allergy.

We knew he had a problem with my milk because he was SO unhappy. We had no choice but to switch him to formula because there are very few foods I eat as is so an exclusion diet for me was out of the questions. Once he was on formula he improved, but it's been a battle his whole life with milk. My milk caused tons of trouble. Regular formula also caused him gastric issues and issues with congestion (which can be a sign of an allergy). Soy formula made things 75% better but not all the way (still congested). He can't have whole milk, his stomach gets VERY upset and he gets congested. Lactaid milk bothers him too (stomach problems). Rice milk he likes but we think he might have a problem with that too (or certain brands). We are about to try soy milk next as a last resort before trying almond milk.

I hope that helps

[ShannonMVT]

What symptoms did your child have? mucusy poops, greenish poop at times, reflux (not sure if that was related at all, don't think it was but who knows), blood in his stool at one point

How were they diagnosed? Milk protein allergy cannot be tested for, you just go by symptoms. I was never totally sure until I introduced dairy to him as a toddler. He did okay for a little while then got diarrhea with mucus. The diarrhea was more obvious once he was a toddler. I did get blood testing when he was 9 months old and it was all negative. But like I said since the milk protein allergy is not a "true" allergy, you can't test for it, it doesn't give the signs of most allergies and the main issue is GI symptoms.

Did you do an exclusion diet? Yes, I tried for a couple weeks when he was little but it didn't make much difference (at this point my only concern was the reflux). I tried again when he was like 6 months old (and his poops were mucusy), I cut out dairy and nuts and maybe other things? Cutting out the dairy helped (I don't remember how long it took) but he still had issues from time to time and I couldn't ever figure out what it was. He can now tolerate dairy through my milk (starting maybe around 10 months?) but he can't eat it himself. He still has tummy problems to things other than dairy now and then but nothing as bad as dairy and nothing we've been able to pinpoint. (could be just tummy bugs, teething, etc)

How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child? I really don't remember, I was trying so many different things to try and help him. It didn't take that long for the (microscopic) blood to be out of his stool, longer for the mucus to go away.

Did they outgrow the allergy at all? Not yet. Apparently a lot of kids do by 2, but I seriously doubt Matthew will be one of them. His pedi is hoping he will outgrow it by age 4-5.

Sam, one option you could try is hemp milk. Sounds weird, but it has a higher fat content than rice or almond milk. That's what Matthew drinks. There is also coconut milk, but I think coconuts are more allergenic.

[Adriana's Mommy]

What symptoms did your child have? Eczema

How were they diagnosed? Went to a Allergist, but I'm going to get blood work done to see what his "true" allergy is verses the skin test.

Did you do an exclusion diet? Yes, Eggs, Soy, and peanuts

How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child? Right away.. A.J was on Probiotics (he was on a steriod inhalor for his Asthma) and once I stopped his eczema cleared up.. Soy was the culprit.

Did they outgrow the allergy at all? To early to tell..

[fromGirltoMommy]

Yep you have to go 2 weeks for all the dairy to be out of your milk..then I would reintroduce it after a little while longer..

I thought Kenni was allergic to dairy as well, about the same time last year cuz of her ecezma but really it turned out to be the season. In the spring she was looking great..now we have red patches all over our body again

[JediRach]

What symptoms did your child have? green mucousy poops, painful straining during bowel movements
How were they diagnosed? Went to the pedi who had us cut out dairy
Did you do an exclusion diet? Yes
How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child? Full improvement took a little over 2 weeks.
Did they outgrow the allergy at all? Too soon to know.

[alicenwonderland]

Originally Posted by JediRach

What symptoms did your child have? green mucousy poops, painful straining during bowel movements
How were they diagnosed? Went to the pedi who had us cut out dairy
Did you do an exclusion diet? Yes
How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your child? Full improvement took a little over 2 weeks.
Did they outgrow the allergy at all? Too soon to know.

Thank you! This was helpful. Makes me not want to give up hope yet.

[JediRach]

Originally Posted by alicenwonderland

Thank you! This was helpful. Makes me not want to give up hope yet.

Her poops have pretty much been normal since then too, just so you know. Takes up to 1 month for dairy proteins to be completely out of your system but you should see some significant progress within the next week and a half, hopefully.

Teddy is so cute. We need some new pictures!

[ShannonMVT]

I forgot, Matthew had eczema as well. I don't know what the cuase was, but it cleared up only when I used some prescription cream and it has never come back.

[~* Helen *~]

Ryan gets eczema .. no food causes it to flare up .. but chlorine will irritate it, freshly cut grass and the hot weather.

I'm pretty sure allergic reactions happen within hours tho don't they?? .. they tend to with my nieces they do and then linger for 24 hours. one has dairy .. but she is just about growing out of that at the age of 5.
The other has gluten and dairy allergy .. not outgrowing yet as shes 3 months younger than chloe.