Comments on: Breastfed baby has milk caused- Eczema- Can I take Lactase? Drink Lactaid? Will this allow me to eat dairy?

By: mandyhornbeck1981

mandyhornbeck1981 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:58 +0000

If milk is giving your baby eczema it’s probably a milk allergy. Lactose-free dairy products still have the whey and casein protein she’s allergic to.

You can go to this site to find "dairy" food that has no milk in it. If your local grocery store doesn’t have a particular product you want, you can ask the manager to stock it for you.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stevecarper/nondairy.htm

And as someone else said, babies usually outgrow their allergies by their first birthday. My daughter outgrew her milk allergy before she turned one and my son outgrew his three allergies shortly after his first birthday.

By: Rebecca C

Rebecca C — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:58 +0000

You can get the lactose-free products, I do not think it’s a good idea to take lactaid though. You can also try Soy products as well. Keep in touch with the pediatrician though and be sure to note what you ate before each outbreak if they continue to occur. Remember that things like this could be milk allergy, not just a sensitivity to lactose and if it IS milk allergy, just avoiding lactose is not going to help at all! Talk with the doctor and make sure you know the facts about what they think it is for sure – lactose, milk, etc….

By: maegs33

maegs33 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:58 +0000

It’s not the lactose that’s causing it, it’s the milk proteins. If it was a lactose intolerance, then your baby would have problems with your actual milk. Since it’s a sensitivity to the proteins in cow milk, lactase and drinking Lactaid won’t help–they don’t have the lactose but they still have the proteins.

The good news is that most babies outgrow it. I’d try dairy again in a couple months.

Aren’t you glad you’re nursing, can you imagine what you’d have to do for him to find a formula he could tolerate?

By: mleanne13

mleanne13 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:58 +0000

yes i had too my son didnt get dry skin he got bad gas and would scream for hours and u couldnt do nothing about it. i found there is just about milk in every thing. i ask a pharasic and she looked for me and said that i could take a lactaid pill but to do it every time i ate they have somethat last all day but she said not to trust them. so i took them when every i ate or even snaked. and he didnt have any prombles. my son has dry skin but he got that from his dads side of the family and i have to do something different every time he gets it to make it go away. it is not fun and he hates lotion i have to give him baths with oatmeal and not too long doc said just enought to wash him up then out of the tub and make sure water isnt to hot or u might have hard water we do and that doesnt help him. well good luck

By: josi

josi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:58 +0000

It is a milk protein allergy not a lactose allergy, so eating lactose-free products wouldn’t work. My daughter was the same way. She had a mild milk protein allergy. Some babies have much more severe reactions such as vomiting, diarrhea, etc… and some moms even have to remove trace dairy from their diets. When I cut the major sources of dairy from my diet, her eczema cleared and she appeared not to have belly issues with it.

The good news is that most babies will outgrow a milk protein allergy. I was able to eat increasing amounts of dairy as the months went by without a reaction. We tried my daughter with yogurt at 8 months and she had mucous in her stool, but no other belly issues and the eczema didn’t come back. By 11 months she was able to tolerate both cheese and yogurt without a reaction.

I know it’s hard to cut out the dairy when you are used to it, but just hold off for a while and try to slowly re-introduce it into your diet. Where your son’s reaction isn’t severe, you’ll probably be able to eat small amounts again soon. Best of luck!

Here is a kellymom page for more info:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html