BABY HAS ALLERGY TO DAIRY ?HOW TO GET MORE CALCIUM IN DIET

NIKKINOOS · May 5, 2011 9:21AM

Aternoon ladies,

Finley has really been suffering with eczema for months now and despite numerous trips to the doctors we have got nowhere. We have tried so many creams and things such as changing the washing powder, trying Oilatum in the bath (which made his eczema worse), cotton clothing etc. Anyway, we were given the number of a Kinesiologist by a work colleague and we went to see her yesterday. She said that Finley has a dairy allergy and needs to go onto non dairy things. I have changed his formula to the SMA Wysoy formula so far. However i was wondering how we get calcium into him if he can't have dairy?! I have got some non-dairy cheese and yogurt and was thinking of getting some milk to make up non-dairy cheese sauces but is there any calcium in the non-dairy stuff? Sorry, that may sound a really stupid question! If not, how would i get more calcium into his system? Any advice would be grateful!

Thank You!

x

Natalie_1024 · Apr 29, 2011 9:13AM

hiya, there's a bit on here:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/focus/nutrition/facts/vitamins_minerals/mineral.htm

Hope it helps, take care

xx

iwantanotherpls · Apr 29, 2011 3:08PM

Hi Lizzie has a dairy allergy. firstly how old is your LO? I only ask as soya formula isnt good for babies under 6 months. lizzie was first put on soya at 17 weeks and then very quickly taken off it when hv informed the gp!

anyway lizzie has never had any problem with soya products so she has soya milk on cereals (well she has it as a main drink now she is 16 months and fully weaned) she has soya yogurts and soya custard. also use soya milk in mashing potatoes, and also "pure" dairy free spread instead of butter,i add it to mash pots,in jacket spuds and on toast,in sandwiches ect. in replacing most dairy things with the soya alternitive the calicum intake will be fine. you can also buy dairy free cheese from holland and barratts.

I would urge you to just ask gp for a referal to a peadiatrican as they are fab! they wont fob you off and you are within your rights to been seen by one if you want to.

Lizzies consultant rang and spoke to me on the phone after she developed an intollerance to her prescribed formula so i wouldnt have to wait for ages for an appointment!

any other questions just ask xx

NIKKINOOS · Apr 29, 2011 4:14PM

Thanks for your replies ladies. DB, i've had a quick look on that website and wasn't aware of the things other than dairy bits and pieces that contain calcium so thank you, i'll stock up!

Loobysmummy, my LO is 9 months old so presumeably he is ok on the soya formula? To be honest i made the decision to switch over before even speaking to my GP, oopsy! I went on a bit of a shopping spree today and have bought the 'Pure' spread and the dairy free cheese form Holland and Barrett that you mentioned. I also got him a soya yogurt and will get him some soya milk to make up a dairy free cheese sauce. So is there enough calcium in those things to make up his intake? Sorry to sound a bit dippy, lol!

The GP has referred us onto an eczema specialist and we are waiting for an appointment to come through. He also mentioned seeing a dietician if we decided to go down the dairy free route which he wasn't keen on at the time. I think i'll see how he goes next week and then if it makes a difference being off the dairy then i will ask to see a dietician. Fingers crossed we get somewhere soon with it all. x

mrsmermaid · Apr 29, 2011 7:27PM

Please be careful. How did this person make this "diagnosis?" What qualifications does she have? What testing has been done? There are so many people depriving themselves and their children of vital nutrients as a result of a consultation with a supposed "expert."

I know you are desperate and want to do the best for your LO but if i were you i would wait to see the dermatologist. If they feel that dairy product should be excluded then they will surely arrange for you to see a dietician and discuss supplementation/vitamin/mineral intake etc. Nobody wants to exclude such an important nutrient intake unless there is no other option.

There is some concern about giving babies (particularly male children) soya milk as it contains plant oestrogens (similar to female hormones). Although i don't think there is any firm evidence that there will be any future problems for children who have been given soya milk.

iwantanotherpls · Apr 30, 2011 2:41PM

Lizzie sees the dietican and to be honest we spent more time in the waiting room then in the actiual appointment,lol. she was a fab resourse for where to get products from and her advise was to advoid the foods we know cause problems (although we got a diagnoses from the pead) and to cook everything from sracth so we know what is in it. we were told that a fully weaned child (lizzie was over a year by time we got the appointment!!)who is eating plenty of fruit and veg (and even with allergys to strawberrys and mangos, there are plenty of fruit she can eat) should not need any vitamins extra but you can check with your gp. lizzie was on nutramigen milk which had the added extra vits and mins, altho now is on soya and we havent been told any different.

i hope your ezemca spealist can help you. lizzies problem with dairy is exactly that-really bad thick skined ezecma!

I feel for you as i remember exactly what its like when you feel like your banging your head against a brick wall and no-one will listen to you when, as your LO's mummy, you know best

NIKKINOOS · Apr 30, 2011 3:38PM

mrsmermaid, i completely understand where you are coming from and i appreciate your advice. I'm going to try this whole non-dairy thing for about a week as i wouldn't do it for longer without speaking to someone. I will then get in touch with the GP on Tuesday and ask to be referred onto a dietician anyway and take things from there.

Loobysmummy, i cook all of Finleys meals from scratch so i know exactly what goes in them. To be honest he gags on the jars of main meals as i tried one once when out! The only things i don't make myself are his desserts as i use the jars for that (although not now!) As i said above, i will speak to the GP on Tuesday and see if we can get to see or speak to the dietician sooner rather than later. Hopefully the appt with the eczema specialist will come through soon too.

Thank you both for you help.

-moonbean- · May 1, 2011 8:34AM

hey mrs both mine have eczema and dairy intolerances (well ds1 is now grown out of it) but readybrek is great for added calcium and I make sure ds2 has it every day as it covers most of his requirement x

NIKKINOOS · May 1, 2011 9:12AM

Thank you moonbeam, i'll check out the readybrek then! x

iwantanotherpls · May 1, 2011 1:02PM

yep i second the readybrek- that is what lizzie has most days too x

.scottie. · May 2, 2011 11:14AM

DS has dairy and soya intolerances, so he gets most of his calcuim from his formula (which I use in cooking occasionally) - thankfully he drinks all the calcuim he needs from this amount.

I'd second readybek (only ds also has an oat intolerance :roll

, but other good sources of calcium are salmon, tuna, green leafy veg

HTH

KouklaMoo · May 2, 2011 12:14PM

Hey NIKKINOOS, I just saw your thread and thought I'd pop my head in to see how you and Finley are?

It sounds like you may have finally found the cause of Finley's eczema!! I really hope so you must be pulling your hair out.

Teddy's almost cleared up completely, he was even going to bed "mitt-less" for the first time in 7 months, then last week it started coming back - only a little bit but I'm keeping my eye on it.

Keep us posted on how you get on with the doctor. I've got everything crossed for you.

NIKKINOOS · May 2, 2011 1:29PM

Thanks ladies, i really appreciate all your comments. I've bought some readybrek today and will get him some tuna etc too tomorrow. NinNic, that must be quite tricky if your DS has intolerances to both dairy and soya as well as oats! I guess once you've got your head around it all though it's probably not too bad.

Moo, it's great to hear from you! I'm so pleased Teddys eczema has pretty much cleared up! What a relief for you. What was it that helped in the end do you think? What are you using now? Maybe it's started to come back a little due to the warmer weather? It may well settle back down again now the temperature is cooling slightly. x

iwantanotherpls · May 2, 2011 2:28PM

Hi again. hope you get the intollerances sorted soon and i hope the you get to see the dietican very soon. lizzie was sent for skin prick test due to being intollerant to a lot of things (well we thought intollerant but she is allergic!) she cant have any thing with eggs,wheat,dairy,strawberrys and mangos. she is going to be tested for ceailacs diesea as paed thinks its the gluten rather than the whole wheat-although she is ok with oats (gluten in them too but not everyone reacts to them-how confusing!!)

anyway best of luck with getting it all sorted. how many days have you been dairy free?? have you seen any improvement yet?

NIKKINOOS · May 2, 2011 3:34PM

So how do you know the difference between an intolerance and an allergy? Sorry if that's a really daft question! Also, how did you find out that it was those particular foods Lizzie was allergic to?

Today is day 5 of Finley being completely dairy free. His face was always the worst part of his body and he used to scratch it all and make it bleed etc which then took forever to heal not helped by the fact he kept scratching it and reopening the sores. Then it all gradually spread accross his legs and also his arms. His face is now looking really good and it's a huge improvement to what it was! I can't remember the last time it was this good without using the steroid cream! His legs were starting to improve but he has been a little unsettled and groggy today and so they have gone quite red again. Hopefully they will calm down over the next few days. If it is dairy then i would think it would take a while for it all to clear from his system anyway so i guess i shouldn't expect a miracle and for it all to be gone overnight, although i am very impatient, lol! It's just so frustrating when you feel like your hands are tied.

Hope you get answers soon regarding whether or not it is Celiacs with Lizzie so at least you know where you stand with it all.

mrsmermaid · May 2, 2011 8:31PM

NIKKINOOS an allergy is generally a reaction to something either breathed in, touched or eaten. An allergy can cause a response in the body far away from the part which is touched by the allergen. Eg someone with a peanut allergy puts a nut onto their tongue and they can react with itching/swelling/rash/wheeze etc all over the body as the cells which are causing the reaction can travel in the blood stream to other areas of the body. However you can also get localised reactions only from eg touching nickel if allergic.

An intolerance is a problem with foodstuffs. For example lactose intolerance; the person cannot break down lactose (or only small amounts) so if they drink a glass of milk then they will get diarrhoea and sometimes abdominal pain. Most intolerances cause only tummy upsets, nausea, diarrhoea, (ie gut problems) not wheezing/swelling etc but an allergy can cause similar symptoms so it can be confusing.

Usually with an intolerance the person can still take a small amount of the substance so many people who are lactose intolerant can take some cheese or yoghurt but in small quantities only.

Interestingly enough humans are the only "animals" who are not lactose intolerant as adults. Other animals loose the ability to digest milk as they get older. Also Eskimos are mostly lactose intolerant as they don't need the enzyme to break down milk after weaning as there are no cows in the North Pole!

NIKKINOOS · May 3, 2011 4:20AM

Wow mrs mermaid, that certainly was an insightful reply, thank you. I've requested a GP phone call for this afternoon so will run what i'm doing past them and ask to be referred to a dietician to help us make sure Finley is getting what he needs in his diet. x

NIKKINOOS · May 3, 2011 9:14AM

Well the GP has phoned back and said that we are fine to continue with what we are doing. He said that Finley should be getting most of his calcium needs from the soya formula but to bump it up with things like soya milk, soya yogurts, dairy free cheese as well as green veg etc which is what we are doing anyway. He has now referred us onto an allergy clinic at the local hospital to do more tests and see if they can pinpoint exactly what it is that Finley seems to be allergic too. I feel a lot happier now that i've run it by them and that also Finley will be properly tested. Fingers crossed we get some more definate answers from it, although i have a feeling the waiting list is very lengthy! x

iwantanotherpls · May 3, 2011 2:59PM

i dont know exactly how they make the deicion but i was asked a zillion questions with the paed and its because her immune system coms into it with a allergy!

strawberrys and magos bring lizzies face up red raw-onlt by giving her the food and then noticing her face (and seeing the hv the following day and her face still raw. with the dairy we went through weeks of going back and forwards to the docs until they finally listened and agreed to trial dairy free milk (soya but taken off quickly due to her being under 6 months) lizzie had bad colic and gunky eyes too and this all cleared up within 48 hours of stopping the normal formula.

the wheat is a sore subject,lol. the paed thought that everytime i tried her with wheat (bread,weetabix ect) i was either giving her too much or coinisedently she had a poorly tummy, she had skin prick tests which came up negative for wheat but paed said they were rubbish tests anyway on under 2 year olds! so we have tried wheat products 3 times and everything she has diahrea for about 3 days afterwards!

with the egg, we had already seen the paed about her allergys and he said to get her eating egg and fish as sources of protien, so i tried scrambled egg-well she put it in her mouth spat the whole lot out and then promptly started to swell up!!! knowing she hadnt swolled any,i ran to gp sergery (im 8 miles from hsopital and 2 mins run from surgery!)they quickly gave me anti histimne (not normally for under 1's but not much choice,lol) and i gave it to her bathed her in tepid water to stop her itching. doc rang 10 mins later to see how she was and said he thinks we should take her to A&E as even her ears swelled up! but they wouldnt have been able to do much more than we could other than adeniline and she didnt need it as thankfully hadnt swallowed any egg!- needless to say we never give her egg now and the paed is going to do a hospital test for her on egg (feed her egg whilst on the hospital ward)

nikkiandneil · May 3, 2011 5:09PM

I know other people have mentioned this to you, but i just wanted to say again about soya milk being pretty nasty stuff. It is dangerous at any age, but the reason they say it's more dangerous before 6 months, is because an unweaned baby would drink more of it.

Could your GP prescribe you a hypoallergenic formula instead? You might have to ak them very nicely, as it's pretty expensive stuff (oh the battles I have had getting milk on prescription!) but once it has been prescribed you shouldn't have any trouble getting repeat prescriptions.

Just thinking that you are obviously right to change his milk (IMO - much better to have a healthy and happy child, and run the risk of fertility problems in the future) but (speaking as a mum who gave her baby soya for weeks) I know how terrible you'd feel if he did have problems in the future, when it may have been possible to get him different milk. If that makes sense!?

Also - prescription milk is free, and will save you a fortune!

xxx

NIKKINOOS · May 4, 2011 3:56PM

How scary for you loobysmummy, that must have been terrifying! Glad she's all ok. It sounds like you've really been through it with all her food troubles. Lets hope they eventually grow out of them!

Funnily enough Finleys face got a little red over the last 2 days and he had been eating strawberries and having them in some yogurt so wondering if they might be a trigger also. He had some whilst hubby was here and then hubby nipped to the shops and when he came home he noticed Finleys face was redder than before he went and that was after eating the strawberries mixed with yogurt. Will make a note and mention it at the allergy clinic.

nikkiandneil, i've had a look online and there seems to be so many conflicting messages regarding the soya milk that it's hard to work out what to believe. I've only just started Finley on it and think i'll continue until we've seen someone at the allergy clinic to determine exactly what it is that Finley seems to be allergic too as it certainly seems to be making a difference with his skin so far. We can then take things from there as i won't keep him on it if it's not neccessary. Thanks for your advice. x

BABY HAS ALLERGY TO DAIRY ?HOW TO GET MORE CALCIUM IN DIET

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