Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Milk Allergy


Thank goodness for Grandma Honey! Kailey has had a cough mostly at night for about 2 weeks now, we have been using an inhaler daily and it really isn't helping. My Mom mentioned something about not giving her milk before bed, and it worked! NO COUGHING at all! So, over the weekend we did a few "tests" with milk and sure enough Kailey has a milk allergy. She just starts with this horrible cough and it sounds like she is trying to cough something up. Thankfully, I nursed her a long time, so she can handle the allergy better. We have started to give her soy milk and soy yogurt. She can still have foods with milk as an ingredient, but we just need to limit the amount. She still eats cheese (in small amounts) and does fine. Most kids outgrow the allergy so we are not too concerned. One of my brothers also had a milk allergy and outgrew it quickly and now he loves milk!


The great news is that we are hopeful that Kailey doesn't have full-blown asthma- I did not like the idea of Kailey having something chronic. So, if we are right about this allergy we may be able to rule out asthma! However, she still may have exertional asthma, but time will tell on that.


So, next time you see Kailey please don't give her a big glass of milk--unless it is soy milk!!

1 comment:

  1. I found your site in Blogosphere.

    I had the same problem with my daughter. I nursed exclusively till about 7 mos and never used formula until after the first year, and then only if I absolutely had to. Even still at 4 years old, she gets an occaisional "snack". I am certain that has to do with her good health, cognition and independence.

    But there was a time when I was sure she was suffering. She had what everyone called the "Daycare sniffles" but I was sure it was something else. When we went to visit my Family in Dallas, my parents commented that I wasn't feeding her right because she was always "sick" with a runny nose and cough.

    I was talking to a girl who mentioned that gluten and dairy affected her hearing. Her sinuses would get plugged and she couldn't hear.

    That's when it hit me - Dairy, Casein, Gluten ... sinuses ... runny nose, horrible cough ...

    My daughter has been drinking enriched rice milk ever since. Once in a while I add a lactose free protein powder for added oomph. I use rice milk because my sister in law freaked me out about the effects of soy on young children. The Dr says it's fine.

    My parents still comment on how I feed her, but my daughter no longer has a runny nose or cough.

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