Nursing with a Sensitive baby... (milk allergy post)

Ok, so I was thinking today about how moms I know out there that are nursing (like me) a baby with allergies or sensitivities. Now, because of having allergies myself, I know how difficult it can be to find foods. AND if you're not accustomed to food allergies, nursing a baby with allergies can be daunting, overwhelming, and down right depressing. So, I decided to make a post to help the mommies out there that are nursing and are in need of a little "Allergy Momma" nudging in the right food direction. This will be several different posts, as there are a lot of different allergies that lil ones can have, and I'm just going to touch on the basics of milk today, so if you do need/want more info on a particular topic, please feel free to email me with one you'd like me to go more in depth on. :) Alright... We're going to start with the most common culprit "dairy".  Now, between our pediatrician, our GI specialist, and good O'l Le leche league, we have come to understand timing  a lot better. When I was first nursing, I thought "Ok, LO can't handle dairy, lets just take it out for a few days and see how she does". I would see a small amount of improvement, but not a ton, and therefore would not be convinced that it was a dairy issue. Unfortunately, allergies in babies (and even children and adults with more complicated dietary needs) take about 6-8 weeks before being completely out of their system. So, what this means is... if you are testing your little one for a dairy allergy (or any allergy for that matter) it's going to take 6-8 weeks before true results in upward trends will be seen. Isn't it amazing that we can see negative results within a very short period of time, but it can take 2 months to see the full result in the positive trend. So, with dairy and nursing, you are going to need to be off of ALL dairy products for 6-8 weeks before seeing a full change. Don't get me wrong though, you may see a bit of improvement right off the bat, but the improvements in eczema, bowel issues, gas issues, vomiting etc, will not be seen fully for about 6-8 weeks.

There are MANY different points in so called dairy allergies (common signs of dairy allergy in EBF exclusively breast fed baby are: green poop, slimy or mucous poop, lacking the seedy grains of white like substance -Lack of seediness can also be a sign of not having enough fat in your diet-, extremely gassy/irritable/uncomfortable).  Many of which could have your lil one in a fit.  My idea of a correct looking infant/baby poop that is NOT eating solids yet and is not on formula is the texture of applesauce or there abouts, the color of mustard on the orangier side, and the smell of buttered popcorn, haha. If your LO is outside of this realm of poop for more than a few days, contact your doctor. It is CRUCIAL to keep your doctor in the loop all the time, that way if there are any issues, you aren't spending hours explaining everything to your doctor. They like to know what is going on, and can better serve both you and your children if they know their history. Normally they will run a few tests on a stool sample you provide when possible to rule out some stuff, and look for carbohydrate/sugar levels, blood, and proteins in the stool. When you get weeks into testing multiple times a week, they normally start looking for things that are more in depth (Celiacs, Imunoglobulin deficiencies, parasites, and some other more rare issues if baby has been out of the country at any point. Anyway, I'm off track...Where were we...
One of the most important thing I cannot stress enough, is knowing the hidden names for dairy contents, and what part of milk your little one cannot handle (if there are any they can). Some of the common, hidden, and even some uncommon names for different dairy "items" are the following:

(Thank you GoDairyFree.com)

  • Acidophilus Milk
  • Ammonium Caseinate
  • Butter
  • Butter Fat
  • Butter Oil
  • Butter Solids
  • Buttermilk
  • Buttermilk Powder
  • Calcium Caseinate
  • Casein
  • Caseinate (in general)
  • Cheese (All animal-based)
  • Condensed Milk
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Cream
  • Curds
  • Custard
  • Delactosed Whey
  • Demineralized Whey
  • Dry Milk Powder
  • Dry Milk Solids
  • Evaporated Milk
  • Ghee (see p109)
  • Goat Milk
  • Half & Half
  • Hydrolyzed Casein
  • Hydrolyzed Milk Protein
  • Iron Caseinate
  • Lactalbumin
  • Lactoferrin
  • Lactoglobulin
  • Lactose
  • Lactulose
  • Low-Fat Milk
  • Magnesium Caseinate
  • Malted Milk
  • Milk
  • Milk Derivative
  • Milk Fat
  • Milk Powder
  • Milk Protein
  • Milk Solids
  • Natural Butter Flavor
  • Nonfat Milk
  • Nougat
  • Paneer
  • Potassium Caseinate
  • Pudding
  • Recaldent
  • Rennet Casein
  • Skim Milk
  • Sodium Caseinate
  • Sour Cream
  • Sour Milk Solids
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • Sweet Whey
  • Whey (milk proteins)
  • Whey Powder
  • Whey Protein Concentrate
  • Whey Protein Hydrolysate
  • Whipped Cream
  • Whipped Topping
  • Whole Milk
  • Yogurt
  • Zinc Caseinate


Now, There are TONS of  new food items (nearly daily it seems) for those of us who LOVE our dairy, but cannot eat it because of nursing a sensitive LO. Daiya cheese i a great cheese alternative (see a former post for more info on it). I'm going to rattle off a few of my favorite dairy free/soy free items that the typical dairy consumer wants, so hopefully you'll be able to find these alternative at your local market.

Instead of Milk: So Delicious Coconut milk, we like all three varieties (unsweetened, original, and vanilla) but they are all good for different things. We like the So Delicious brand best, though it tends to be a wee bit more expensive. Coconut milk is similar to the consistency of whole milk. Nice and thick (I love Vit D milk). It is great for baking with, and makes for LOVELY cakes! Even when I could have dairy, I still made my cakes with canned coconut milk, and LOVED it!

Instead of Butter: Earth Balance spreads. I get the red label one and Coconut, as these are dairy and soy free. For the "red label" It is clearly marked SOY FREE on the outside, and all of their butters (that I know of) are dairy free. This is the closest I have found to butter, in both taste and texture. It's actually quite similar to margarine, consistency and taste wise. In other words, it isn't butter, but it gets you close enough to be able to eat toast, make food that calls for butter, and not affect the taste to much. :) As for the Coconut spread, I'M IN LOOOVE! This stuff is soo good in anything that would be ok with a sweet or somewhat fruitlike taste in it. I love it in my steel cut oats, and on toast (with mango peach apricot jam by E.D.Smith), sauteed with sweeter veggies like carrots, and in or on muffins, cakes, pastries. It's wonderful, and has a very delicate and pleasantly mild coconut flavor.

Instead of Cheese: Daiya cheese. They have a pepperjack, cheddar, and mozzarella. We've only ever had the mozzarella, but it was yummy and melted well. These are dairy and soy free!

Instead of Yogurt: We have two favs! We LOVE the SoDelicious brand of coconut milk yogurt, but at 1.99/6oz we don't indulge too often. The greater majority of the time, we get an almond milk yogurt called Amande

Instead of Mayo (which normally is just egg, but occasionally contains milk/soy): Earth Balance Mindful Mayo

That's all that I can think of for subs on milk products. If you need help finding a good substitute for something that I haven't listed, feel free to ask!

I am not an advocate for rice milk or rice milk products. They tend to be lacking in nutritional value, taste/flavor, and any quality that would make them a good substitute when baking. The rice yogurts I have tried were awful (but this isn't to say there aren't some good ones out there, I just haven't found any yet).

All of the items listen above are free of milk/wheat/gluten/soy/egg. There are many choices out there if you are only suffering from one allergy, but we have to avoid all of these, so these are the yummiest/Best options for us.
This has become quite a long post! Continuing with the wheat/gluten, soy and egg allergies on other posts. Check back soon for these posts, and good luck!

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous22:19

    Love the blog! Please keep it up! It's great to have friend to help guide us through food allergies!
    -Shan

    ReplyDelete