If your baby healed...

[Calm]

... how long did you wait before you tested dairy?

My son's eczema is gone, except for the odd tiny patch now and again. They appeared when he started solids, but aren't a big deal, I'm ignoring them mostly and still healing his gut.

I tried gluten and wheat (in my diet) and he had absolutely NO reaction, and I felt I'd wasted too much time before adding it back in. I eat regular sandwiches now and oats and pretty much anything.

But I hesitate with dairy because it lasts so long in the body. If he reacts, I could be looking at a long time before the reaction cools. I don't think we'll have an issue, honestly. But if we do...

The reason isn't cos I wanna bowl of icecream or anything. It would just make choosing food easier, the parts that have "traces" of dairy, or made on machines processing dairy, or that have just a little dairy in the ingredients. I'd like to eat cheese, bad girl, but I'm willing to wait for that.

How did you go about it?

[marlee]

I asked the exact same question in the thread breastfeeding mama's eliminating dairy support group. I am very interest in the answer as well and interested in updates on how it goes for you.

[mtn.mama]

We reintegrated dairy. We use as much raw goat milk as we want, but are pretty careful with the rest the dairy group. We stick to organic, raw and/or cultured if possible, and still rotate it.

We totally follow the crystal's advice about it, as with most foods. I wouldn't say our guard is down about dairy at all. We carefully and thoughtfully and thankfully use it.

My opinion is that raw plain goat yogurt is a good place to start... and to keep it at that level for a good long time, to be sure that your LO is doing well with it.

[Panserbjorne]

you could try a skin patch and put some pure dairy on his skin to see if he has a topical reaction. You could also try muscle testing if you are into that. You could even try a tiny bit first thing in the am and see if your heart rate increases. It would be a small exposure and you could tell if YOU were healed enough to attempt it.

Whatever you do when you test it do so with pure ingredients (test milk or yogurt, not something that contains milk) so that you know.

[WuWei]

Intentional exposure, other than cultured raw goat's milk, I wouldn't do before age two years old, directly or indirectly.

We waited to introduce dairy, with limited "gut healing" protocol, other than elimination diets, until age 4. Ds can tolerate raw milk dairy, raw milk cheese, and pasteurized cow dairy yogurt, and goat's milk yogurt with no issues, about daily.

Now, he could eat pasteurized organic ice cream about once a week, without an issue. Twice a week and he has green poop.

I'd remain vigilant of no processed dairy/casein/whey, until a minimum of one year.

HTH, Pat

[ellasmama2007]

calm, did you trial any dairy? how did it go?

[Chinese Pistache]

We waited almost 2 years, but she's still intolerant. It took a while for the reaction to build up (a few months actually), and once it did, I pulled milk. Then, I tried reintroducing it a few weeks later and the reaction was there after a few days.

When we trial again, next summer, I'll only use a raw milk product.

[FireWithin]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

We waited almost 2 years, but she's still intolerant. It took a while for the reaction to build up (a few months actually), and once it did, I pulled milk. Then, I tried reintroducing it a few weeks later and the reaction was there after a few days.

When we trial again, next summer, I'll only use a raw milk product.

This is exactly what happened to us. He seemed great for the first 3 weeks, and then some slight dark circles, some slightly poor behavior. By 10 weeks it became clear that nothing we could do, no variety of milk products, no enzymes, could help. At the end I was convinced if we continued dairy (raw milk, raw milk kefir, enzyme cheese only), he would have the potential to be put on athma and adhd meds. but it took 10 weeks to see it. I think his gut was well healed but not ready for dairy. The dairy slowly redamaged his gut in that 10 week period.

[Calm]

Were these trials with the children directly, or via breastmilk? I don't plan on giving DS dairy directly for one or two years of age. But in my diet, I'm willing to risk it. Haven't yet, but am getting darned close. He has eaten everything now, everything that can possibly be eaten (except cow and pig meat), even things warned against, like berries. And he has been great. Skin actually got clearer, there's nothing on it at all now. He loves his food, too. Sleeping through (actually slept ALL the way through two nights ago!) We're having lots of food fun! But this dairy thing, me avoiding it, is the only catch now...

I almost ate pizza with DH and DD last night... I'm going to throw caution to the wind if I don't make a move soon. I might try some yoghurt, but I must confess... I HATE the natural yoghurts. I don't like the taste of milk and most dairy, I only like yellow cheeses esp smoked cheese. I hate goat milk and cheese, much to my husband's dismay as he loves feta.

I haven't been able to stomach milk products since I was 3 years old. Butter makes my toes curl, esp if someone is heating it... YUK! Stinks. So in general, I could care less about dairy, but it's in everything in traces, and I love it on pizza and I love icecream (ok, so I lied in my OP) and I love commercial yogurt, or yogurt that is really heavily flavoured (obviously so I can't taste that fetid dairy flavour).

Now, knowing THAT, what should I do?

[mtn.mama]

Hmmm. Knowing that I wouldn't recommend that you trial yogurt (I mean dairy, really I do) without using enzymes. Your body doesn't want it, so its likely you don't process it well. If you want to start with hard cheese, then go for it... carefully and with enzymes.

You asked whether our trials were directly or through breastmilk... for us, it was me drinking goat milk, then DD starting goat milk, me using cow products and then DD starting.

And as with all things allergy, timing is everything. So if you think you're in a good spot, and DD is doing well with everything else (and the crystal says its safe) then I would try it. I think the widest range of diet possible is healthiest if you're non-reactive to the foods...

GOOD LUCK!

[Chinese Pistache]

I agree with mtn.mama about reintroducing it. I reintroduced it to my dd directly (she had weaned).

One other thought, even if your ds is "healed," if *your* gut is still leaky, he's going to get those proteins and he's only 7 mths olf, which is too young for dairy anyway. I'd really wait until he's a year old at least to retrial.

[WuWei]

Cultured dairy has the benefit of prebiotics and enzymes. Hard cheese has 10x more casein than milk, ounce for ounce.

I didn't consume any dairy while ds was nursing. We weaned at age 2.

Pat

[Calm]

Hmm, best I stay off the cheese for a while I think. I have an organic yoghurt here by Vaalia I'm thinking of starting with. It has LGG.

[momofmine]

mtn. mama,
Wasn't there a thread about using the crystal to help you test foods? Can someone give me a link to that?
Thanks!

Calm, I think I'd wait a couple of more months with cheese.

[Calm]

Ditto on the crystal thread link .

I have enzymes here, but I'm too chicken. I keep getting the yogurt out of the fridge and reading it, and turning it over in my hand, glancing at my enzymes...

sigh

Then I put it back in the fridge.

I will follow my instinct on this I think. I'm close, but something is stopping me right this instant so I'm going with that.

[WuWei]

Any chance you could make raw goat's milk yogurt? Then you have so many benefits of naturally occurring enzymes, and it isn't homogenized, pasteurized cow milk dairy. There are so many iterations between those two options, also. I would go with non-homgenized, or non-organic goat's milk, before processed cow's milk anything.

dogmom has yogurt starter that you can make on the counter, no yogurt maker needed. There is one that is especially effective with yeast. (but it is SOUR, I hear.)

Do some daggone milk kefir before you do any other silly ole' dairy!! :

But, goat's milk is so much more tolerated due to the *type* of casein in it. And raw is even more tolerated...

None of that helps you with your worry about inadvertent casein contamination though.

I'm not an enzyme supplement gal. I like whole foods.


Pat

[mtn.mama]

Instinct is GOOD.

Here's the crystal thread link...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...rystal+testing

L