Someone asked on misc.kids.breastfeeding if itbis possible that a baby is
allergic to breastmilk. Someone posted the following. Is this true?

Annelies
==========

Beth Kevles wrote:
>
> Yes, it is possible to be allergic to breastmilk (although it's so rare
> that it's generally not a diagnosis workth contemplating.)  However,
> I've corresponded with parents of babies who are allergic to casein, a
> necessary component of ALL milks, inclding breastmilk.  (I think I
> corresponded with parents of both such babies alive in the world today
> :-)   So anyway, it IS possible.
>
> It's more likley that the baby is allergic to some ingredient in the
> mother's diet OR in some product (ie soap) that is routienly on the
> mother's breast.  However, it may be sounusual an ingredient that the
> mother will not be able to track it down.  In this case, the baby is
> EFFECTIVELY allergic to her mother's milk.
>
> Fortunately, babies can thrive on formula.
>
> If mom did an elimination diet and the baby was still having trouble
> with breastmilk, then I would not hesitate to move to formula.  I would
> also start allergy testing of the baby at a suitable age and be VERY
> careful when moving to solids.  There clearly is SOME problem here,
> after all.
>
> --Beth Kevles
>   [log in to unmask]
>   http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic