All,

I conducted a survey about a month ago with 10 questions relating to dairy allergy, when dairy was first introduced, and the diet followed by the pregnant/nursing mother. The results were quite interesting.  Here they are, and my comments follow the results.

1) Who in your immediate family has allergic reaction to dairy and how severe is it?

Asthma/anaphylactic reactions (will be referred to as A/A for convenience): 14
Skin rash/itchiness (will be referred to as S/I for convenience): 7

2) How long was the person breast fed with no supplemental bottles?

0-3 months: 1 A/A, 2 S/I
4-6 months: 5 A/A, 1 S/I
7-9 months: 3 A/A, 0 S/I
10-12 months: 2 A/A, 0 S/I
13-18 months: 2 A/A, 2 S/I
19+ months: 2 A/A, 2 S/I

5 of those categorized as A/A and 2 S/I were given less than two supplemental milk-based bottles within the first month of life. Is 7/21 statistically significant enough to indicate a cause (possibly 8/21 - she couldn't prove the bottle was given, but was highly suspect)? Hmmmm.

3) How long did the mother follow a dairy-free diet, if at all?

1 with A/A children avoided most dairy while pregnant and nursing, but symptoms are less severe than those of older A/A child for whom she did not avoid dairy while pregnant or nursing.

1 with A/A avoided dairy while nursing from 4-6 months (after diagnosis)

1 with S/I avoided dairy throughout pregnancy

1 with S/I was strictly dairy-free from 3 months-1 year.

1 with A/A reduced dairy in nursing diet.

2 with A/A avoided dairy entirely while nursing.

5) When were any foods containing dairy first introduced to the child?

Other than the milk-based bottles within the first month of life stated above, overwhelmingly this answer was > 6 months with immediate reaction to very small quantities of dairy in every instance.

7) What would you have done differently while pregnant, nursing, or during the first two years of life, if anything?

Answers ranged widely from "nothing" to "completely dairy-free for entire pregnancy and nursing".

8) For family members not afflicted with dairy allergy, how long was the person breast fed with no supplemental bottles?

0 months: 3
1-3 months: 2
4-6 months: 1
7-9 months: 0
10-12 months: 1
13-18 months: 2
19+ months: 2

9) For family members not afflicted with dairy allergy, how long did the mother follow a dairy-free diet, if at all?

The mother of the two in the 13-18 month nursing category (same mother - not twins) for question #8 followed a nearly completely dairy-free diet while pregnant and nursing.

Theresa's comments:

WOW! What an interesting bunch of responses.  I'm especially interested in the 7/21 children who were given milk-based formula supplements within that first month of life who later developed dairy allergy (and 5 of the 7 have severe reactions). I'm STRONGLY convinced that dairy exposure via supplemental bottles and/or exposure through a nursing mom's diet makes the allergy more severe and may result in secondary conditions such as reflux or "colic".  I have obviously decided to follow a nearly completely dairy-free diet while nursing, and to do everything within my power to restrict my future child's supplemental bottles (if any) to hydrolized formula or soy (soy scares me - I don't want to run the risk of the child developing a soy allergy too!)

If I knew then what I know now... My son was nursed for 14 months, and had periods of severe eczema and reflux. I did NOT follow a dairy-free diet (I and my doctor were ignorant - I didn't find out the truth or get sent to an allergist until he was 15 months old - and he'd just weaned), but I didn't eat a lot of dairy either (I am mildly milk-allergic myself - resulting in mild asthma and gastro symptoms).

BUT, the issue of whether the pregnancy diet makes a difference is still unresolved.  As an engineer, I just can't understand how consuming dairy when the embryo is still the size of a pinto bean makes any difference in his/her severity of allergic reaction later.  The child's immune system doesn't mature until well after they are born, so I can't understand the mechanism involved in how what I eat affect's the child's immune system response. Yet studies have PROVEN that consuming peanuts during pregnancy (especially the last trimester) CAN cause peanut allergy in the child later, so some sort of mechanism MUST exist.  Due to this, I can "buy off" on avoiding dairy and limiting egg and soy in the last trimester (not hard for me - I'm also allergic to egg and don't particularly like soy).  So when do I cut back the dairy?

Well, I'm 8 weeks along now, and have been trying hard to significantly reduce my dairy intake. It's quite difficult, especially with such ambivalent results to encourage me, but I've been successful so far.  My goal is to eliminate dairy to the occasional SMALL "cheat" by the time I start my second trimester.  After all, if this DOES result in a much milder allergy to milk, it will all have been worth it. I'd much rather have to deal with itchiness and hives than the SEVERE anaphylactic reaction my 2 year old has. My husband  supports our decision (he played a part in it too), but is a little whimpery at losing the cheesy good things at home.  Guess he'll just have to pig out on them at lunch.  I just can't wait to tell my OB/GYN my decision. He's the kind of guy who will think this is a bunch of crap, but he'll go along with what I decide anyway or I'll find a different OB (he's seen my stubborn streak before - I don't think I'll have any trouble with him).

One further note: By choosing to eliminate dairy from my diet for 6 months of pregnancy + 1 year of nursing, I run the risk of becoming lactose intolerant myself.