Infant Reflux and Dairy Foods?

Question

Our two week old daughter (being breast fed) has Reflux - the dr just put her on Zantac to see if it helps. He said I may want to consider going dairy free for 1 week to see if it has an effect, as sometimes it does. IF going dairy free helps her, does this mean she's allergic to mlk and will be her whole life, or does it just mean that while she's dealing with the Reflux thing (that will hopefully go away by the time she's 1) it helps, but that eventually she'll be able to have milk? THANKS! :-)

Answer 1

Various studies have shown that up to half of all cases of infant reflux have a milk allergy as the root cause.

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1230.html

If she is allergic to milk, you'll have to cut out not only dairy, but all products that contain any milk in them.  Milk is in everything!  Look for casein and whey in the ingredients.  Those are the milk proteins that people are allergic to.

My son's reflux was caused by his oat allergy.  Different allergen, but same result:  vomiting, chronic sinus congestion, frequent ear infections, etc.  His allergy caused the vomiting.  The vomiting caused all the other symptoms.

If your baby IS allergic to milk, she'll most likely outgrow it before she turns one.  Most kids who are still allergic by 1 outgrow their allergies by age 3.

EDIT:  The food you eat doesn't have any affect on the amount of lactose in your milk.  Is giving up dairy won't help your baby if she's lactose intolerant.

Answer 2

As heifer21 said, an allergy to dairy is pretty rare but sadly my 3 month Daughter is allergic to dairy and if I had breastfed her, I would have had to eat dairy free. She has been on 4 prescription milks and even now on a completely non dairy, non cows milk protein milk she is still showing signs of allergy in the form of eczema etc

She also has reflux and is on Zantac (it hasn't really helped her) but reflux and nasal congestion can be caused my lactose intolerance so that might be why your Doctor has suggested going dairy free for a week to see if it helps. For what its worth, it is REALLY hard to go dairy free and breastfeed as you would be AMAZED at how many things have some type of dairy in them - even McDonalds fries have milk protein on them.

Depending on whether your Daughter just has reflux or lactose intolerance or a milk allergy depends on whether she'll outgrow it. Reflux is something she will definitely outgrow and most babies with a lactose intolerance usually outgrow it somewhere between 18 months and 3 years once they've been challenged. Complete dairy allergies are a little different and can last a lifetime :-(

Best of luck but try not to worry too much at this stage, just go with what the Doctor has suggested and I'm sure that will make a difference. Oh and just so you know, Gaviscon Infant powder is GREAT for reflux in little ones.

Answer 3

Probably not allergic to dairy, but lactose intolerant. An allergic reaction to dairy is actually rare, but pretty severe. But dairy can cause reflux problems if your baby is intolerant.