Many a new mom dealing with a fussy newborn (and truthfully, what newborn isn't fussy?), has suspected that her suffering sweetheart must have a cow's milk allergy or intolerance, especially when well-intentioned friends and relatives are as well blaming milk.

If you're breastfeeding or exclusively pumping, you may presume information technology's the dairy in your diet that's causing your footling one to wail; if you're formula feeding, you assume it'due south the cow's milk in the infant formula that's causing the problem.

Although it is i of the more mutual allergies in infants, milk allergies still only affect an estimated 2 to three percent of babies. Confusing the issue further is that many people are unaware of the differences between a milk allergy, an intolerance to milk and lactose intolerance.

To articulate upward the confusion, here's the breakdown on milk allergies and intolerance in breastfed and formula-fed babies.

What's the difference between milk allergies vs. lactose intolerance?

With a milk allergy in infants, a infant's immune system reacts negatively to the proteins in cow's milk. Breastfed babies are reacting to the dairy his mother has eaten (the milk proteins pass through breast milk), while formula-fed babies are reacting to the cow's milk proteins in the formula. In either case, a infant'due south immune system sees the cow'south milk proteins as foreign substances.

Milk intolerance, on the other manus, has nothing to practise with moo-cow's milk proteins or the immune system, and instead has to do with the digestive system. Your child might have loose stools or blood in stool hours or days afterward.

Congenital lactose intolerance is anextremely rare metabolic status that also impacts the digestive arrangement. Lactose intolerance (lactose is a sugar plant in dairy products) more commonly develops in older kids and adults. The few babies with lactose intolerance will usually fare much improve on a formula with lilliputian or no lactose.

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What are the symptoms of milk allergies in babies?

In its efforts to fend off the invaders, the torso releases histamine and other chemicals, which cause allergic symptoms in the body.

Symptoms of milk allergies in babies include:

  • Frequent spitting up
  • Vomiting
  • Signs of abdominal pain, or colic-like symptoms, such as excessive crying and irritability (especially afterward feedings)
  • Diarrhea
  • Blood in stool
  • Hives
  • A scaly peel rash
  • Coughing or wheezing
  • Watery eyes and stuffy olfactory organ
  • Trouble breathing or a bluish skin color
  • Swelling (especially of the mouth and throat)

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance in babies?

Symptoms of lactose intolerance in babies include:

  • Gas
  • Diarrhea
  • Bloated stomach
  • Spitting upwards
  • Irritability, crying or other colic symptoms
  • Failure to thrive and proceeds weight

How is a milk allergy in infants diagnosed?

If your baby has symptoms of either a milk allergy or milk intolerance, see your pediatrician. He or she will probably check for both with a physical exam, an exam of your baby'southward stool, a discussion your family's history of allergies and/or a skin-prick exam.

If your medico thinks your baby may have a milk allergy or intolerance, and then yous'll probably be asked to eliminate milk from your diet (if you lot're breastfeeding) or switch to a unlike formula (more on that beneath) to see whether your newborn's symptoms improve.

After your baby has been moo-cow's-milk-free for about a calendar week, the physician may have you reintroduce cow's milk to encounter whether your piffling one has a reaction to it.

How is a milk allergy in babies treated?

If it turns out that your newborn is one of the ii to iii per centum of babies who has a milk allergy, don't despair. Many children outgrow a milk allergy by the time they're around 1 year onetime, and the majority of babies with milk allergies outgrow the status by near historic period three.

In the meantime, your child'south doc may recommend the post-obit:

  • If your babe is formula-fed: Your pediatrician volition suggest switching to a different formula. Considering many babies with milk allergies are as well allergic to soy (and to caprine animal's milk), the doctor may advise a hypoallergenic formula with hydrolysate poly peptide, which has milk proteins that are already partly broken down, and then it's less likely to crusade a reaction.
  • If you're breastfeeding or exclusively pumping: Your pediatrician will likely recommend that you lot ditch dairy in your diet to come across whether that makes a departure to your baby. Of form, making a major change to your diet is probably the terminal affair you desire to recollect about when dealing with a fussy newborn, but it may very well resolve the result. If you do eliminate dairy, be sure to talk with your medico well-nigh how to make certain you're withal getting enough calcium and other nutrients in your nutrition.