I agree that this is not the time to challenge the allergy, and that one
ounce of milk and watching for a couple of hours probably isn't going to
give you a whole picture of the allergy.
    My son is allergic to cow's milk, and depending on the type of allergic
symptoms, the severity of the allergy, the degree of exposure, etc., it may
or may not get better.   My son inherited this from his father, but I am
sure the situation wasn't helped by his getting ABM in the hospital, being
fed with bottles, nipple confusion, so that he had to be fed ABM while my
milk supply was re-established.  His father was weaned at 6 months, when his
mother broke both of her elbows, and until he was 2 years old, didn't eat
much but Nutramigen.  Sometime during his third year, he was able to start
consuming dairy and milk is his favorite drink.
    My son was worse, because of his early exposure, any milk component that
I ate passed through the milk, and resulted in colds, diaper rash, and
projectile vomiting.
    A year and 1/2 later, I have found that I can now consume most dairy
without his showing any symptoms, but I've gotten into the habit of dairy
only being an occasional part of my diet anyway.  (while my husband, the
cause of all this trouble, enjoys his fettucine alfredo and his ice cream
with abandon!  Life's not fair).  My son, however, cannot eat much dairy
himself at this point (an occasional piece of pizza).
    I read of a reintroduction schedule for dairy, and while I thought it
was in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, it must have been in my
classnotes.  It divided dairy products into three categories.  You started
with the first stage, which is least likely to cause sensitivity, monitoring
the baby for five days each stage before moving on, and then whatever stage
causes symptoms, you continue to eliminate that stage and any that are more
sensitive.

    Stage 1...hard cheeses and yogurt (mozarella, cheddar, etc.)
    Stage 2.. soft cheeses
    Stage 3 ..milk, cream, and butter

    You might find it best to work with the mother reintroducing these into
her own diet first, and then the baby's diet.   However, as previously
mentioned by another LC, once I adjusted mentally, I've found little use for
dairy that I couldn't find in rice milk substitutes, etc.
    Even in the best of circumstances, a child is not recommended to have
milk before the age of one.  For a one year old who has been allergic, it
would be much wiser to wait even longer.

Lora Horn, CLE

-----Original Message-----
From: Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]>
To: Recipients of LACTNET digests <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, August 09, 1998 2:55 PM
Subject: LACTNET Digest - 9 Aug 1998 - Special issue