Pat Gima wrote:
 >I have often told mothers whose babies exhibit dairy sensitivity to avoid
dairy in
 the next pregnancy and they might avoid the sensitization.  I never had
anyone tell
 me if it, in fact, worked for them.  I keep saying it because it makes sense
to me,
 but I'd like to know. >>

I've worked with a mother that gave a clear example of this.  First baby has
severe asthma, despite being breastfed.  Reacted violently to milk the mother
drank and was hospitalized several times before the 1st birthday, even not
expected to live on 2 occasions.  Is not a healthy, but very allergic
preschooler.   Mom was very smart, finding the good doctors, doing lots of
reading.  During the next pregnancy she did not touch a drop of milk or milk
products.  She had me lined up to see her daily after birth to make sure
breastfeeding worked from the start and baby would not receive even a drop of
formula or anything else but mama's milk.  All went well, but baby #2 had
severe colic.  This time it was the orange juice that she was drinking by the
quart.  It turns out she replaced the milk in her diet with calcium fortified
OJ all throughout her pregnancy and sensitized baby to that!

The moral of the story to me is that if there is an allergic history in the
family the child can become allergic to any number of things, especially if it
is exposed to something in great quantity.  It is the tendency to be allergic
that is inherited, not the specific allergy to pollen or strawberries, etc.  I
now caution moms with any allergic history to rotate what they eat while
pregnancy or nursing and not get stuck on any one food or drink like this.

Jane Bradshaw RN, BSN, IBCLC
Lynchburg, VA