Dairy sensitivity, anyone with experience/knowledge?

[pumpkinhead]

Hi everyone. Some history: my youngest ds, Kieran, was born with mild laryngiomylasia (sp) that was aggravated by mild-moderate reflux. He was put on zantac at 6 weeks until 6 months. In this time, I noticed that dairy seemed to be a reflux trigger for him, so I eliminated it from my diet. I cut out the Zantac just before the 6 month mark wen I realized that I could essentially control his reflux with my diet. At 6 months I started reintroducing bits of dairy and could eat yogurt and cheese with no reaction from him. At 9 months I started eating ice cream again and it didn't seem to bother him at all.

I kept most dairy out of his diet until now and have recently started letting him have sips of 2% milk as well as yogurt and tastes of cheese. Recently I have noticed that he seems to have small patches of eczema on his upper legs. Now, he has had dry skin patches in the past, but he also likes to shower with my dh who likes to have the water quite warm. I associated it with that and made sure to oil him up well after a shower and it didn't seem to be an issue.

So, I'm thinking that the dairy and the eczema are related. The dairy doesn't seem to bother him in any other way (i.e. digestive wise) and eczema does run strongly in the family on dh's side. Jacob has mild eczema that seems completely unrelated to foods. It appears to be seasonally related.

So, how would you proceed? Just keep away the dairy and call it good? Try to somehow get him tested to see if it's directly related? I have no idea what I'm doing here.

[Caden's Mom]

Hey, pumpkin! It's soccerallstar I would keep away from the dairy. Whenever I eat dairy, DS gets eczema patches and thats it, no digestive problems. If he eats dairy, its hives.

You could get him tested, but I would just avoid the dairy and see if it helps. Testing isn't 100% accurate.

[pumpkinhead]

hey soccerallstar!

I've stopped giving him anything dairywise to see if these patches clear up and go away. I'm wondering if I should reintroduce some in a few weeks and see if they come back?

Solids haven't been a big part of Kieran's diet until just recently. We started trying at 6.5 months, but he was never actually interested until just after his 1st birthday. He'd go through periods where he'd be interested and it just fizzeled. I initially chalked it up to the reflux, but now I'm wondering if it might be a sensitivity thing. I'm hesitant to say 'allergy' but I just don't know.

[nataliachick7]

no, its not necessarily an allergy. my son has reflux and is milk/soy protein intolerant, as are many reflux babies.
here is an article that talks about allergies and intolerances.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~disa/Food%20intol-alergic%20baby.html

[Caden's Mom]

Even if you suspect a sensitivity, I would wait 6months-1 year before introducing it. The excema is what makes me think its an allergy.

[greencat]

We only eat cultured dairy: The homemade goat milk yogurt that has been incubated for 24hrs. because my kids are lactose sensitive and they can not drink cow’s milk. I had to start my son with nut milk yogurt to get the probiotics and enzyme in his sys. Now he can eat goat milk yogurt that has drained the whey out, since he is also sensitive to whey, but getting less sensitive. He'll occasionally eat goat yogurt with no whey drained. He is lactose and casein sensitive. The consequence is eczema, violence, whiney and interrupted sleep at night and increased incidents of ear infection. The kids still can not eat any form of cow's milk. I don't know if they ever will.

So, my advice on dairy intake for milk sensitivity is to culture it long enough to get the lactose out, or drain the whey if you are also sensitive to casein.

[JaneSmith1010]

My co-op dairy lady says that she has people with dairy sensitivity come to her all the time for raw milk. They have no problems with unpasteurized milk or milk products. Also, she only has one client with true dairy sensitivity and that lady just drinks the raw cream by the gallon as if it were milk. I would look into this. www.mercola.com has good info on raw dairy and the problem with pasteurization.

[greencat]

I would start food diary: Write every thing they eat (or you eat, if you are still bfing.) It's a work, but you will see the relation to food and allergy/sensitivities more clearly.

If you suspect dairy, I would make a home made yogurt, but incubate it for 24hrs to get the lactose out. You may want to drain the whey with cheese cloth for a while in the ref. since he could be reacting to casein as well. The longer you drain, the tart and firm the yogurt will become, which my kids will not eat. You may want to try this with goat milk instead of cow's, too. Many kids are sensitive to lactose and casein, but they may be ok if you take the lactose or whey out. Many kids (including mine) can not eat cow's milk/24hr. yogurt, but they can eat goat's.

Besides, yogurt will be better than cheese or milk, since it will contain probitocs which will help digestion and immune system (which will help their eczema.)

My kids gets eczema when they eat the foods they can not digest well. I am on the diet called Specific Carbohydrate Diet to control yeast overgrowth and improve their digestion. They are eczema free now.