Last week I wrote a blog on cow’s milk allergy, which I had quite a bit of response on. I thought it is useful to follow this up as promised with a blog entry on what to do if you suspect your child has cow’s milk allergy. First of all, please do NOT remove cow’s milk out of your child’s diet without consulting with your doctor to establish whether there are other causes for the symptoms that your child is exhibiting. If a cow’s milk allergy is suspected an elimination diet of cow’s milk may be recommend to see if the symptoms improve. This should ideally be done under the supervision of a dietitian. I know that I often get complaints that some of you do not have dietitians in your areas or that there is a long waiting list to see one. It is worth the wait as cow’s milk provides a lot of essential nutrient especially if in the young. The British Dietetic Association has some Fact Sheets that have been put together by the Food Allergy Specialist Group, that provide information, but they do not replace an individualised dietetic appointment.
I wanted to broadly discuss general treatment models for cow’s milk allergy. If you are breastfeeding your baby, please continue breastfeeding and get advice on how to optimally take out cow’s milk out of your diet without compromising your nutritional status and reducing breast milk quality. It is highly likely that a calcium and vitamin D supplement will be required. In some cases your doctor/dietitian may recommend that you remove not only cow’s milk but soya and other food allergens. Again, this should NOT occur unsupervised.
If your child is not on breast milk, but on formula milk you will be recommended a hypoallergenic formula. You get two types, an extensively hydrolysed formula and an amino acid formula. The majority of children with have full symptom improvement on an extensively hydrolysed formula, which is made from short chain peptide (cow’s milk protein chopped up in smaller building blocks) that your child’s body will not recognise as an allergen. In a small number of children an amino acid formula is required. These are formulas that contain amino acids only, the smallest building blocks of protein.
Its important to note that these formulas taste different, smell different and yes, will lead to your child’s stools to look different – dark green in the majority of cases. If they spit up, the smell of this will also be different and it will have a different texture. This is absolutely normal and related to the fact that these milks have smaller pieces of protein or amino acids.
Whilst writing on hypoallergenic formulas, its crucial that parents also understand that any milk from animals on 4 legs (goat, sheep, buffalo, donkey) should be avoided as the protein is very similar and over the counter milks like for example oat, quinoa and coconut milk should only be offered after 1 year of age and ideally after a review by a dietitian. You can though use them in cooking from 6 months of age.
I would like to finish off this blog entry by saying that what I have written above does not replace professional advice cow’s milk allergy and nutritional management. Advice is ideally tailored for the individual.