Bringing a new baby home is so exciting, you’ve been preparing for months and the nursery is already. You get home from the hospital and show the baby his or her new room and now it’s time for the whole family to settle down, then disaster strikes, your baby gets diarrhoea and starts vomiting after every feed, does your baby have a milk protein allergy?
Being a new mother is a daunting time, your protective side automatically kicks in the minute your baby is born and anything wrong and you go into complete panic mode. So how do you know if your baby has a food allergy? What symptoms do you look for?
Well a milk protein allergy is caused by an allergic reaction to cow’s milk, most babies that suffer from this allergy drink formula rather than breast milk, though it’s not unheard of for babies to get irritation from breast milk, because you drink cow’s milk.
The symptoms can present themselves immediately after feeding or they can even take a couple of hours or days to show themselves, this makes it very difficult to pinpoint whether it is in fact a milk protein allergy or not.
The Symptoms Are Not a Confirmation
When it comes down to the symptoms, these symptoms could be a cause for anything from a simple virus to a food allergy, so the only way to really tell is to have your baby checked by the doctor. The doctor will perform a series of tests and then they can confirm what is causing the symptoms. But doesn’t worry only one in twenty babies under the age from three suffer from a milk protein allergy and of these children, many of them outgrow the allergy by the time they are five years old.
Some of the symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, eczema, skin rash, colic, wheezing and constant crying. Now as you can see from this list, it’s really difficult to pinpoint a milk protein allergy, but if your baby is suffering from a food allergy, it only takes some tweaks to their diet to get them back on track.
Always check with your doctor if you are concerned that your baby may have a milk protein allergy, they will be able to confirm your suspicions and help you manage the allergy until your child grows out of it.
