Hi, i have a 4 month old daughter who started showing signs of severe protien allergies at 12 weeks of age i.e. diarrhea, vomiting and reflux, eczema, asthma and severe stomach cramps. I recommended my Dr put her on hypoallergenic milk called Nutramigen which he did do 4 days ago, in the first three days her symptoms totally dissapeared but today her eczema has flared up and she has been irratable after her last bottle so i feel i may be back to square one now, how on earth do you pinpoint every allergy???, is this an adverse reaction to her new milk???, could it be that i dressed her in a second hand outfit this morning that may have been washed in biological wash powder???, i just dont know.

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Lynzi

First, nutramigen is STILL MADE OF MILK! It is hydrolized casien, and while many milk intollerant or allergic babies can tollerate it, not all can. The best tollerated hypoallergenic formula tends to be Alimentum Ready-To-Feed (RTF), BUT it is still made of milk, and some still wont tollerate it. Dont be fooled by the "hypoallergenic" label - that just means that the likelyhood of a reaction is greatly reduced, not that nothing will happen.

Soy formula is another option - an many children do very well on this - but be aware that about half of all children that are allergic to milk are also allergic to soy, so if you try this, keep a close eye out for symptoms.

The last option is a formula called Neocate that is synthetically produced free amino acids and is corn based. The company who makes it, SHS International, is based in Great Britian. I dont know how it works there, but here (States) you have to have a prescription to get it, and you can only get it by the case. You can do a search for it and should come up with the site. It is expensive, about the same price or maybe a bit more than the Nutramigen and Alimentum.

My son had anaphylaxis in reaction to regular formula at 5 weeks old. He reacts to hydrolized formulas, and he had a "questionable" positive reaction to soy on a skin allergy test, so that just left the Neocate. I breastfeed mostly, but use the formula once a day and for back up if I am away.

Allergy testing can be done on an infant if they have been directly exposed to an allergen. My son had skin prick tests at 8 weeks and again at 5 months and we got positive results on each. He is scheduled again at 9 months because we have to know what he can be given when I wean him, and we need to track his other allergies (cats, dogs, dust mites). Maybe ask about having allergy tests done to confirm the milk allergy.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask!

Oh, another thing. A baby that has one allergy at such a young age is very prone to others. You sould hold off on starting solids until at least 6 months to lessen the risk for a new allergy (if you like, I have a list of what to introduce when for an allergic child). They are also highly suceptible to developing dog, cat and dust mite allergies (as I so sadly found). I would suggest getting information about how to keep your house as free as possible of dust mites and animal dander. (a good bagless vacuum with a HEPA filter is a good start!)

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Angel, et al