milk, egg, wheat allergy in baby - anyone else out there?

[urchin]

Hi. Just got back from Kings after a wheat challenge(!) to which my seven and a half month old baby unfortunately had a positive reaction to. He went to casualty a couple of weeks ago with anaphylactic shock to a fromage frais yoghurt and has since had skin prick tests which showed him allergic to milk, eggs and possibly wheat (which was confirmed today). When a newborn he had to be fed formula through an Ig tube because he wouldn't feed and became hypoglacaemic but after a tough ten days managed to get him entirely on breastfeeding, which he has been exclusively fed on since, with the addition of baby rice/porridge, veg and fruit after 6 months. We are waiting for results of a blood test taken today which will show if he can have soya, fish and nuts (fingers crossed) and further down the track will be tested for other foods. Have to admit to feeling very forlorn - I'm devastated for him and hoping to find someone in a similar position and/or any encouraging stories.

[Fuschia]

Is it a cows milk protein allergy? I believe children often grow out of that, I was allergic to it, but grew out of it.

[Ko]

poor you and poor baby. how horrible to have to go to casualty. it must have been scary for you - big hugs xxx

i was also allergic to cows milk as baby and grew out of it. drank goats milk instead. as a child at nursery i had to miss out on the breaktime bottle of milk and have a glass of water instead!

have they told you if baby might begin to tolerate these things at a later age? the one consolation you may have is that nurseries and schools are more clued up on allergies these days i think as allergies seem more common.

let us know how it goes xxx

[Fudge]

Urchin good luck with it all.

My baby had a dairy allergy which took ages to diagnose which meant vomiting 24 hours a day (most dishearting seeing all the effort of breastfeeding being thrown away). I was then put on a no dairy diet.....I have to admit that dairy is in virtuallly everything....but I soon worked out what I could/couldn't eat and it was all worth it as it resulted in virtually vomit free days. When moving onto solids we had to avoid all dairy and special non dairy / non soya milk was prescribed. At 12 months soya and dairy were introduced very slowly and now at 1.5 years she is eating a full dairy diet.

It is tough and upsetting when so young however try and remain positive it is all about adjusting to a new way of eating. I thought that not being able to eat chocolate and all those yummy cakes which one can indulge in when breastfeeding would be a nightmare....however there are alternatives and I found foods which I would never have before tried.

The nursery were very good and also took it in their stride and I found the consultant and dietician at Kings excellent.

Fingers crossed that your baby will grow out of it and keep your chin up.

[urchin]

Hi Fuscia, they didn't specify, just said was a milk allergy - but hopefully he'll grow out of it too, thanks for message.

[urchin]

Thanks Ko. I was hoping he might be able to have goats milk but they said he couldn't because in almost all cases of cow's milk allergy goats is also a problem. They did say he might grow out of the milk allergy though by the time he reaches school age but slightly less likely on other ones such as wheat. But we hope he proves that wrong! And I think you're right, there is much more awareness now so I'm sure we'll find supportive places for him.

[urchin]

Hi Fudge, thanks so much. Brilliant that your baby grew out of it. We've also found allergy team really good so far at Kings. They want us to try and introduce a formula called Neocate, I don't know if you're familiar with that? We haven't had a great deal of luck with is so far, which after we tasted it, didn't surprise us much as it smells and tastes vile. He took a bit when massively hidden with my expressed breast milk but they said it might be tricky to get him to take it after 6 months of age because he has had other nicer tastes and is used to my milk. They favour the hard school of forcing the issue with him, saying that if he's hungry he'll take it and to show him who's boss but we're very reluctant to do that at this point. There is so much that he can't have it feels a bit much to take away breastmilk he does like and force him to have something he doesn't like. I guess it's a very early stage in the journey though and if the blood test results show him tolerant to soya we'll have other options. Aiming for chin firmly up! x

[Ko]

it can't be easy when he's so young but i have heard that the allergy unit at kings is good. someone else has posted about a nut allergy in the last couple of days and that had quite a few helpful replies. xxx

[bli]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your problems, but just wanted to say I sympathise and it will get better - basically once you get used to it and find the right alternatives for you. My daughter was allergic to cows milk protein and egg, reacted at 6 weeks, diagnosed at six months, and now at five, has just been cleared of both!

King's allergy clinic were great all the way through, and the dietician was really supportive with suggestions on how to get my daughter to accept the vile tasting Nutramigen formula she switched to at about 10 months old (it took a while, but mixing some fruit juice in for a few feeds made the difference). So do ask to see her if you're concerned about that or need more advice about diet, recipes etc.

Anyway, while allergies definitely made our life more difficult (eg eating out, or going on holiday meant more preparation) once we worked out what worked for us, it wasn't as devastating as it first appeared and was very manageable in everyday life. Even birthday parties were fine (I always used to keep some dairy and egg free fairy cakes in the freezer so could whip one out to take along so she wouldn't feel she had missed out). And apparently most children grow out of egg and dairy allergies (don't know about wheat)

So good luck, and hope you get some clearer results soon....

[Gubodge]

My three year old was diagnosed with egg, dairy, sesame and nut allergies when she was about 9 months. As I said on the nut allergy thread, it's a big shock, but you'll soon get used to dealing with it. And having it diagnosed so young, he won't realise he's missing out. I'm afraid some of my suggestions will be no use at all to you if he does have an intolerance to soy as well, but if not (finger's crossed) you will become very familiar with:

Pure margarine (Sainsburys, waitrose) - available in sunflower or soy varieties

Tofutti cream cheese (SMBS) - the only remotely edible cheese substitute. Anything else has my daughter scraping her tongue to be rid of the taste)

Alpro soy yoghurt (Most supermarkets) - But check the lables if you particularly want them fortified with calcium, some flavours aren't.

Free-from chocolate buttons (sainsburys)

Divine mini eggs (Herne Hill oxfam shop)

Thorntons dark chocolate money (a life saver, her first christmas I made my own from melted 70% cocoa solid chocolate and some cleaned out milk choc money foils.)

SMBS also do rice flour pasta and other allergy friendly foods. Goodie Bars are also refreshingly free of most nasties and are good for a treat. But you will get very good at studying the fine print on everything.

I have an excellent cookery book. Can't remember the name, but is by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, and gives all sorts of substitutes for cooking. A lot of allergen-free cook books I looked at were a bit too american and didn't relate too well to my normal cooking style.

And to end on a good note, I know several children with egg and dairy allergies who have outgrown them by the age of 5. and my daughter (three last month) ate a piece of a biscuit with milk proteins in yesterday and didn't have her normal reaction, so it looks like she might be shaking the dairy one off too. Feel free to PM me if you want anything more.

[mich]

I just found out last Thursday that my daughter has a milk intolerence, she is now 17 months old and this has only just been diagonosed. She was formula fed as a baby and had no problems keeping the milk down but as soon as I switched her to cow's milk she spent her days vomiting, whilst waiting for her appointment to come through at the allergy clinic (she's with Evelina Children's Hospital) I switched her onto Semi-Skimmed milk and whilst she was still vomiting it wasn't as servere as it was with the full fat.

Like mentioned in an earlier post almost everything contains milk or lactose, so this last week I have been trawling the local supermarkets looking for alternatives, especially some crisps which taste like her beloved Quavers did, she's really not enjoying Hula Hoops. Unfortunately my daughter will only except the Soya Milk if her weetabix have been mixed in with it. I have even tried putting strawberry flavour milkshake powder in and she still won't accept it. Sainsburys sell Alpro chocolate or strawberry flavoured milk which I thought that she might like but she takes one drop and throws the cup across the room, does anyone else have any other tips that I could try. And I'm really not up for just giving it to her and she'll soon get used to it, it's heartbreaking to hear her sobbing at bedtime because all she wants is her bottle of warm milk. I also manged to find so frozen sausage rolls in sainsburys (which daughter likes to have at lunch with ketchup) which didn't contain any dairy!

A little tip that you may find useful if you have any allergy sufferers in the house is, my daughter has a shelf in the cupboard, the fridge and a drawer in the freezer which contains all foods that she is allowed to eat. At least then you don't have to dig through everything and keep reading labels when trying to rustle up a meal espically if your in a hurry. It was also handy when my friend was babysitting her for me the other day, that I could just turn around and say that anything on those partiular shelves were fine for her to eat, it def put my friend at ease, and me as well for that matter.

She is going to be kept off milk for 4 months and then we got to go back and see the dietician. Hopefully this may also do my waistline some good as I don't like to eat chocolate, biscuits etc in front of her which she won't be able to eat and found this week my shopping trolley looked much more healthier!!

[Fuschia]

Mich: could she have oat milk? I have always found that is the most palatable non-dairy milk.. rice milk is quite nice too. I hate soya milk.

Oat milk is no good if gluten-intolerant but should be Ok otherwise? It's carb based rather than protein, but as a bedtime comfort it might do the trick?

x

[Pickle]

My 5 year old nephew has a serious allergy to eggs, dairy and nuts - he goes for regular allergy testing and things don't seem to be improving for him yet, but I know the consultants are optimistic that he'll certainly grow out of the egg and dairy allergy.

My sister in law now copes with ease, having had to first change her diet when she was breastfeeding him. He also refuses to drink soya milk (don't blame him, horrible stuff) but is happy drinking rice milk instead. The whole family use "Pure" margarine substitute, and at 5 he's pretty good at knowing what he can and can't have.

Good luck, it must be a confusing time for you x

[candj]

Hi Mich,

I've been doing research as I have a friend coming for a visit with her lactose intolerant/gluten intolerant boy and did manage to find the Sainsbury's "Free From" range that contains no dairy (as well as gluten). Unfortunately, it's limited to fish fingers, chicken nuggets and a small amount of other things, but at least it could be a start if you need something quickly. It's found in the frozen section and also the back wall of "healthy" foods where they have biscuits and crisps, etc.

Also regarding the milk, have you tried hazelnut or almond milk? My friend's son is on that (he's nearly 3) and seems to enjoy it.

Hope this helps a bit,

-C

[urchin]

Gubodge,

Thanku so much for your message. I so hope he can have soya so he can have some of the things you mentioned. It's reassuring to see there are treat foods out there because that was one of my worries, not being able to have the fun foods in life. You've saved me so much time with where to get them all, thank you again and I'll have a search for that recipe book you mentioned xx

[mich]

Fuschia and Candj, Thanks for your suggestions I will definately try them x

[Gubodge]

Mich, Good tip about the fridge shelf. My parents are coming to look after my two this weekend and I know my mum will be fretting about feeding A, so I'll rearrange my shelves for them tonight.

Sympathies with the milk. I too have tried every possible milk drink, including chocolate and strawberry milk, to no avail. I'm lucky enough to be breastfeeding still though, but am seeing that as a bit of a double edged sword now she's three. It's great to know that she's getting the calcium, but I can see us being the subjects of a channel 5 documentary if I carry on much longer.

[Zaardvark]

Hi,

Our daughter was/is milk and soya (she is now 4 and, we hope, growing out of her milk allergy).

Is he is not soya there will be a lot of things he can have as there is a whole world of wheat and dairy free soya based products, if she is then it is not the end of the world by any means. You will have to do a lot of experimenting/learning new recipes and invest in tupperware. Visit smbs food on LL to source some things and simply buying and cooking from first principles your food will help lots.

Rice milk is okay to give to kids but there have been recent scares about it containing trace arsenic which mean it should not consistently be (imvho) their daily drink. There are calcium alternatives such as this stuff http://www.health4youonline.com/health_supplements_biocare_calcidophilus_20390.htm.

Best

Z

[nicolemodesti]

Hi,

I have a book called 'Cooking Without' by Barbara Cousins. It has recipes free from added gluten, sugar, dairy products, yeast, salt and saturated fats. Although it does contain some recipes with eggs the majority are without or suggest using an egg replacer.

I buy all my wheat, dairy free products from Sainsburys or Holland and Barrett. In Sainsbury's the free from range is quite good, and they even have small pancakes,pitta,pizza bases, etc. The best pasta I have used is Orgran, which is an Australian brand, and they have rice and millet pasta, corn pasta, etc. Just find that it cooks better and is tastier.You can even get orgran tin spagghetti! As for chocolate they do a free from bar but try to get the Dairy Free bars or buttons (in a purple wrapper). For desserts you could try the Alpro Soya (if allowed) - Vanilla, Caramel or chocolate which are found near the milk (not in the cold section) As mentioned the Toffutti is excellent and you can also find tofu cheese slices, which I find in Holland and Barrett. The Pure soya butter is better than the free from range.Sainsbury's do wheat free frozen foods and my 10 year old stepson didn't even realise that he was eating wheat free fish fingers the other day!!

Good luck with it all!