Milk protein allergy and starting solids

[Meggles]

Hey guys

I've not yet started my little guy on solids (a few weeks to go - I'm excited!) but he's been on a prescription formula for months because of a CMP intolerance/allergy.

Apart from the obvious milk and cheese etc, is there anything I should not give him when we start, because of this?

Any tips would be great

[ches]

Depending how sensitive he is, you could be in for a tough ride. Read labels on any prepared food - even bread has milk in it. messtins and gali have severely CMPI kids and I'm sure one or both of them will be along soon.

[Meggles]

Depending how sensitive he is, you could be in for a tough ride. Read labels on any prepared food - even bread has milk in it. messtins and gali have severely CMPI kids and I'm sure one or both of them will be along soon.

That's the thing, I guess it's hard to know how sensitive he is until we get a negative reaction, unfortunately

Thanks for your reply

[elaruu]

How did you discover the CMPI? As in what type of reaction did your son have? My son is still quite severely CMP allergic at 3 years old. We only found out when he was 6 months old when he first had some cows milk on cereal. He had an immediate red blotchy rash on contact. So we avoided anything with any milk at all in it. Some CMPI people can tolerate butter (not mine). I think that's more if it's an intolerance, rather than an allergy. I'm not sure about that though.

So, to start with I'd definitely avoid giving your son any dairy. It's not really that difficult in the early days as there are plenty of things to be starting off with. I haven't actually found that many breads with dairy in them. Just check labels on any pre-prepared foods.

After a while I'd try dabbing some milk on his skin to see if he reacts to that, then you'll know how allergic he is and you can go from there. Have some Piriton handy just in case of a bad reaction. My second son, who is now 1 (today!) seemed to be reacting to dairy through my milk, so I cut dairy out of my diet from when he was about 8 weeks old until about 5 months, when I reintroduced it and he was fine. I tried the dabbing milk test a few times from about 6 months and he never seemed to have a reaction. I started giving him dairy foods at about 8 months but he doesn't really have it that much because of my 3 year old's allergy.

Good luck! I hope it turns out that his allergy is not too severe, or even that he's grown out of it already!

[elaruu]

Ahhh, just saw your other thread and realised you're Australian. Me too! You don't get Piriton here, only in the UK. I think Phenergan is what they use here instead. Maybe talk to a pharmacist. It's a different drug that's what the pharmacist gave me when I was asking for something similar. I have only recently returned to Australia from the UK (my kids were born there).

[Riotproof]

I'd be asking your allergist.. but egg and soy are commonly linked to CMP allergy. That's not to say you should avoid them, but be careful for reactions and not giving two allergenic foods too close together.

They do tend to say don't delay for too long because if there is a reaction it's likely to be worse, but of course any cows milk should be avoided. Ches is quite right that it can easily hidden too.

Oh and make sure you read up on the symptoms anaphylactic reactions too..

Zyrtec is what I use when there is a reaction. I don't bother for just a spot, but full on hives etc. Again, that's the sort of thing that your allergist can advise on.

[gali]

So ... what symptoms does he have? Who is prescribing you the formula ... have you had any help from a specialist or 'just' a GP? What formula is he on? Do you like cooking?!

Ladies ... my hubby is Aussie ... do you think we have found a hitherto undiscovered link between Aussie genes and CMP allergy/intolerance?!

[elaruu]

LOL! Good theory, gali! Or it could just be that Aussies were the only ones up at the time this question was asked......

[Riotproof]

LOL! Good theory, gali! Or it could just be that Aussies were the only ones up at the time this question was asked......

There is that. Though apparently we do have a very high rate of allergies..

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-04-06/a ... ic/2628058

[Meggles]

Thanks so much for all of your replies

He's on Neocate which is a fully elemental formula - we tried the hydrolyzed ones with the protein broken down but it still wasn't enough.

He hasn't had any skin allergy reactions, but suffered with bad tummy upsets - he really struggled with gas and poops and screamed pretty much all day until he was 8 weeks old. (That really helped with my PND!!)

We had tried hypoallergenic, lactose free etc but no luck. He's been great since being on this formula. Still had the occasional screaming fit with wind but I think he just gets cramps sometimes.

He's under the care of a Paediatrician, not just a GP. We have a follow up appointment this week actually so will chat to him about solids.

My hubby has nut allergy so I was planning on being somewhat careful about introducing eggs and other potential allergens anyway.

[gali]

If you are under the care of a paediatrician then I'd be asking them for advice on how to proceed about introducing potential allergens as only they will know the full implications of the specific type of allergy/intolerance your LO has. The symptoms you describe are not ones that I recognise from the type of allergy that my son has (immediate vomiting and wheezing after even a drop of milk, urticaria and angioedema after skin contact with milk).

Be prepared that your paediatrician may advise you against doing BLW if they are not fully up to speed with what it is. I remember being advised that I could make fish pies and pasta sauces with Neocate ... vomit. I don't think so! I want to sit and eat with my kids and I am not eating that!

In the early days of BLW you can offer the same foods that you would do in an allergy free puree weaning method just alter the format in which you present the food to baby ...

Breakfast - fingers of toast with dairy free marg (Nuttelex in Aus do I remember?) and big slices of e.g. melon, peach, banana
Lunch - salt free rice cakes/corn thins spread with avocado or hummus (make your own without tahini if you are worried about nut allergy and salt levels)
Supper - roast chicken, roast potato and pumpkin cut into big chip shapes, broccoli with the 'handle' left on

[messtins]

Hi. My son is dairy and soya intolerant. We were told we couldn't BLW because of his intolerances but I think that is nonsense. I would avoid the "big four" allergens to start with (milk egg wheat soya) and introduce the last three seperately when you are ready so you can see any reaction. We were told not to try dairy or soya until M was one. We were aware of the dairy/soya problems before starting solids and the only other thing we've had an issue with is beans/pulses (probably linked to the soya).
I post a lot on the Little Refluxers site where there are many mums who have kids with reflux linked to underlying intolerances so starting solids is a frequent question. There are two schools of thought - either you introduce one new food every 4 days and watch for reactions, building up a list of "safe" foods, or you do what I chose which is to BLW with a wide variety of foods. My theory is tiny amounts of lots of things allows then to build up tolerance and is a more natural way to eat - my tummy would rebel if I ate only butternut squash for 4 days. I appreciate though that if you are having issues with foods it is easier to spot what is a problem if you build up gradually. This document is quite helpful in terms of what is "low allergen" http://www.littlerefluxers.co.uk/forum/ ... c-food-i...