X-post: Late-onset of sensitivity to dairy in breastmilk?

[UrbanSimplicity]

Hi, I posted this in the bf forum, but figurd it's better here. I cant believe I've never been in the allergy forum, as I am overrun with allergies!

Here's our situation:

Mt dd developed her first diaper rash around 7 months that I attributed to teething, and we tried all sorts of things to get her some relief but nothing seemed to work. It was one of the reasons we began EC at 8 months.

She is now 12 months and the rash was still present despite her hardly ever having a wet bottom, and despite all of our efforts (different creams and lotions, tto, vinegar, stripping dipes, and 2 rounds of antibiotic lotion from ped.) And it ITCHES her; she'd look at me and whine and ITCH.

So, I figured, let me cut out dairy, and it was gone in 4 days. A few days later I saw her start to itch again and I realized (duh) that I'd eaten a big milk chocolate bar the day before.

I feel bad because she *screamed* for the first 2 months of her life, well, during the day anyway, but then slept like an angel 12 hours at night (nursing, of course.) So now I wonder if dairy was the culprit, and feel sad I never gave it a try. But since she has hardly ever spit up and slept so well, I never thought she was crying due to digestive discomfort.

Also, the only dairy my dd ever had herself was some kefir of mine she was eyeing (at about 10 months).....20 minutes later she had diarrhea with a little blood in it.

One more thing: she also has developed very dry skin patches on her trunk, beyond what you'd expect during winter. Anyone think that's related? Doesn't seem to be going away with my new dairy-free diet.

Can dairy-sensitivity just develop? How?

If you don't eat dairy because of your dc's sensitivity, do you eat butter? yogurt? kefir?

how long should I wit before trying these things?

and, most importantly, does this mean my dd will have a problem with milk into her childhood years, or does this sometimes pass early?

Thanks for any info, also if anyone has a link to a good thread about this it would be much appreciated!

[wendy1221]

Cut out all dairy products. No butter, kefir, nothing. Read labels carefully to make sure there's no hidden dairy.

Her allergy sounds fairly mild (being that it causes GI distress and eczema, not hives and anaphylaxis) so she is more likely to outgrow it. Be very carefull b/c each exposure can further sensitize her. In a year or so you might be able to try dairy again and see how it goes.

[JaneS]

Did the rash correlate with solids?

I beleive that first the gut flora gets damaged or not laid down properly (commonly resulting in colic) due to mama's flora, antibiotics, formula supplements, vaccines, etc.

Then the allergies start. A babe is not born allergic.

Yes a babe can grow out of an allergy but that means correcting the gut damage.

Yes, eczema is related to allergies. And it doesn't mean dairy is the only one she can have. If she still has gut problems, new allergies can develop to what she is eating now. Or not. My DS tested allergic to several foods he never had!

[JaneS]

Oh and this is based upon our experience that was similar (colic, then diaper rash from hell and eczema starting with cereals as first foods).

[UrbanSimplicity]

We didn't start solids till 9 months since I am so allergic. And even now she only has very little---just veggies and lentils, some beans. She's basically vegan, but also no cereals, soy or fruit. (just bananas).

I hope/don't think it's a gut problem, although there was that one incident with the kefir.

We havent done antibiotics, etc.

The rash on her bottom was very eczema-like, but the other dry skin patches are not.

So I've been having more goats cheese than usual since the new diet and now she has some redness around her mouth. So i'm gonna drop that too till this all gets straightened out.

I really hope it's not wheat too---between that and dairy and my own allergies, I will be able to eat nothing!