Dairy Protein Allergy--when and How to Introduce Dairy Back into My Diet

I was allergic to dairy products until I was about 3, so it could easily be until you wean him (stick with the breast-feeding it's worth it). There are so many dairy free options, especially in Portland. Many pizza shops around here offer a vegan pizza, I know it's not quite the same, but many are very good. You can have a soy milk or rice milk mocha (nearly all coffee shops have one of these options). You really shouldn't be drinking much coffee when you're nursing anyway :) You should do a little research about dairy alternatives, some are very good (much better than they used to be). Good luck.

M.
Wow! I hope that what I can say will give you some hope. My son, now almost 10 months was also diagnosed at 2 weeks with the same allergy. I ate only chicken, sweet potatoes and pears for 4 months! Yikes!!! As he started eating solids I noticed he was tolerating diary slowly. As I added more dairy to his diet, I also added it to mine. A piece of cheese here and there, a little yogurt and finally cream in some coffee. At about 6 months or so he and I were both all dairy and he does great. In fact he loves yogurt!
I hope this helps,
Good luck

Hi M.,

My daughter (13 months) is allergic to dairy as well. At this point I am nursing at naps and bedtime and I still can't eat dairy. I tried about a month ago (ate a whole bunch of cheese!) and it was a nightmare. She was up all night crying with diarrhea. I figured there was no way for me to know until I just jumped in and ate it. I can eat soy. Infact she eats a lot of soy protein since we're vegetarians. My pediatrician said not to introduce dairy into my diet until she was a year old.. and that still isn't long enough. I'm sorry that you're going through this.. trust me I know how hard it can be. Maybe think of it as a new way of eating.. a healthful diet change. Good luck!

both my children are milk protien intolorant (though luckily not soy) and I was completely dairy free while nursing my son (he weined himself at 9 months, too busy to sit still that long) and for the month I TRIED to nurse my daughter. At 2 1/2 my son is still very sensitive, and is my daughter 11months. My aunt said her children started to get more tolorant around the age of 3 but all of them have to really limit it (more like one serving of dairy a day only). Its hard but I am just glad they make dairy free chocolate LOL. Good luck, hang in there. Jen

My granddaughter was allergic to the protein in both milk and soy as confirmed by a skin test. When she was a few months old she stopped nursing and didn't tolerate formula. She had to have a non-dairy formula. Once she started eating solids she seemed to do OK with yogurt. (I'm lactose intolerant but can still eat yogurt and cheese, I assume it has something to do with their being processed.) Around 3 years she started drinking milk and eating cheese and seemed to tolerate it OK. Because her asthma and eczema was out of control her mother took her to an allergist who once again did skin testing and confirmed that she no longer tests positive for milk protein but still does for soy. He put her on a regimen of ointments and creams that cleared up her eczema and asthma medications that controlled her asthma. This told us that she truly wasn't allergic to dairy products.

My granddaughter, while being nursed, didn't seem to react to the diary that her mother ate. As another mother suggested you could try adding just a bit at a time of what you crave and see if your son still reacts.

And rice milk is quite good. I use it in coffee and on my cereal.

My 3 yr old son and husband are lactose intolerant big time. they can not even have dairy by-product. My son lost interest in breast milk about 3 month old. My 21 yr old son could only have goats milk, he grew out of that by the time he was 5 yrs.
You might try a little and see how he does.
good luck