Whole Milk Reactions?

Nicole,

My daughter had a similar reaction to cow's milk. She had more frequent and very runny bowel movements, and she threw up quite a few times. We had her tested for dairy allergies, and sure enough, she's allergic to dairy. We now give her rice milk, which she really likes! (We tried giving her soy milk, but she had the same reaction to the soy milk that she had to the cow's milk.) My only concern was whether she was getting enough calcium, since she can't get it from dairy. Her pediatrician told us not to worry, that if she has a well-balanced diet and drinks enriched rice milk, she should be getting enough. He said we could give her Poly-Vi-Sol if we wanted, but it isn't necessary.

Good luck!

Cecily

As the mother of a child with a milk allergy, it sounds exactly like a milk allergy (sure, it could be something else too), but I would stop the milk intake and see if the symptoms subside.

If you have questions about milk allergies and dairy alternatives, I would be happy to share them with you. We are living dairy free for a reason in our house because of my oldest son.

Good Luck!
B.

My daughter reacted to whole milk, and there was no doubt about what was happening. Her bowel movements went from dark and formed to frequent, explosive, watery and orange. (Sorry, eew, I know). She also ended up with a bleeding diaper rash. This happened within 24 hours of the first 4 oz bottle of milk. As soon as we stopped giving her cow's milk and went to soy milk, it all cleared up within a day or two.

If their bowel movements aren't irritated or otherwise strange, and just more frequent, that could be due simply to a change in their diet, not necessarily an allergy to it. It will even up. If they were formula babies, formula is binding, so getting that out of their system will speed things up. And colds are going around again, so give the runny nose some time. Did you just have a party for the kids? Who knows what they were exposed to! (My daugther got sick right after her 1st bday party. It was awful.)

Good luck!

Hi Nicole,
Both my children (ages 4 & 2) drink Silk Soy Milk. I started them both on cow's milk after nursing and found that they were both very congested and almost asthmatic. As soon as I switched to soy milk, they cleared up immediately. They love cheese, ice cream and other dairy products, but we are still drinking soy milk! Another positive attribute to soy, it has less sugars than cow milk.
Good luck!