>Could be your child is not allegic to milk, but actually lactose >intolerant? I have had this condition since birth and am in my forties. >Initially the doctors told my folks that I would "outgrow" my reaction >to milk. >Lactose intolerance is often confused with "milk allergy" but it is not >an allergy.... I remember as a kindergartener I got "stomach aches" >every afternoon at the same time. They were from drinking the milk that >was forced upon me in class, but I'm sure that the teacher and the >school nurse thought that there was some deep psychological problem >involved. Not to take away from your point...because you are absolutely right, many times lactose intolerance (sugars) and dairy allergy (proteins) are often confused. I too reacted to milk since childhood and was incorrectly told I would out grow it. In elementary school I would suffer horrible tummy aches after drinking milk too. The school, my doctors and therefore my parents--did think it was all in my head too. The difference ends there, however. The rest of the story was I would go home and some time, usually in the middle of the night, I would wake up while in the process of projectile vomiting (the "delayed" reaction). My poor parents! They went through so many nights of little to no sleep just because no one figured out I was allergic to dairy proteins. Because of this ignorance, I continued to consume dairy products long into my 20's and now I react very quickly. For example, I didn't know Burger King was coating their french fries with gluten and dairy based products. I don't eat fast food generally, but I did have french fries one day while a friend of mine ate his lunch there. A few fries and my skin started itching like crazy (and within 15 minutes I had a major rash going on). I stopped eating the fries immediately and then found out about their "tiny" coating process! Anyway, the point is of course, that it is important to figure out if the child/adult is reacting to the sugars or the proteins--because in the long run it can make a huge difference. If the child is allergic to dairy proteins, it is better to know early on and avoid all dairy proteins so that the allergic response does not get worse over time. Now if I try to "sneak" even a small piece of cheese (the size of my smallest finger tip, for example) I would end up in the emergency room--not worth it! And I sincerely hope that no one else's child will ever have to suffer a similar fate out of ignorance!