Dairy allergy/sensitivity and ear infections

My son (9 months) has started breaking out in hives on his face when
he eats dairy foods. It seems to only affect the skin that the food
actually touches. This has only been happening for the last week and a
half. Foods that he ate before now are causing problems. Specifically,
this has happened with yogurt and various forms of cheeses.

He has also been suffering from chronic ear infections. I have been
giving him yogurt every day for the last few weeks to counterract
digestive problems caused by the antibiotics. It almost seems like he
kind of hit his dairy tolerance level and started reacting to it or
something. ??

My mother-in-law has told me that DH was off of dairy for years as a
kid because they thought it was causing him to have ear infections.
From what I've read though, it doesn't seem like it's believed that
milk causes ear infections anymore. He has had congestion for most of
his life, which I'm sure contributes to ear infections. I've never
been given a good reason for the congestions.

As a newborn, he was sensitive to me consuming cow's milk (vomiting)
but he seemed to grow out of that by 4 months. I'm not sure where to
proceed at this point. I haven't really discussed it with the ped yet
because we've been focusing on clearing up the ear infections. The
hives don't seem to bother him much and clear up within 30 minutes, so
I'm not terribly worried at this point. Is it possible that the
reaction could worsen and lead to a dangerous situation? Any thoughts
or experiences would be appreciated.

Manda

Hi -

From what you've said, it sounds as though your baby may be allergic to
milk products. The rash, the vomiting as an infant, the chronic
congestion, and the frequent ear infections, all add up to a likely
allergy. Here's what I'd do if I were you:

For a few days, maintain a diary in which you write down exactly what
your baby eats (including formula or breastmilk), and the state of his
health for that day. After 5-7 days, eliminate milk ruthlessly from his
diet (excepting breastmilk if you're nursing). Eliminate it in the
obvious forms (milk, yogurt, cheese,, butter, etc) and also in its
hidden forms (casein, whey, milk solids) in processed foods. COntinue
to keep the diary.

After two weeks, look through the diary again. If your baby's health
has improved, you'd got a VERY likely milk allergy. Consult with your
ped, and probably witha pediatric allergist, on how to proceed. And
join the no-milk email list (get instructions on my web site) for
further inofrmation, to get questions answered, etc.

You might have DH go off milk with you, by the way. If he had an
allergy as a child, he may find that even now going off of milk makes
him feel better, generally.

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

wrote in message
om...
From what I've read though, it doesn't seem like it's believed that
milk causes ear infections anymore. He has had congestion for most of
his life, which I'm sure contributes to ear infections. I've never
been given a good reason for the congestions.

DS had recurrent ear infections. He was allergic to dairy but the ENT doc
didn't know it. The ENT doc told me DS could be getting the infections
because he's allergic to something, the most common culprit being dairy.