We discovered my son's milk allergy at 5 months and I continued breastfeeding him
until he was 19 months.  I eliminated all dairy from my diet during that time
as well.  I did keep taking my prenatal vitamins (Nestabs FA), I'm not sure if
they contain lactose but wouldn't be surprised if they did.  However,
breastmilk will contain lactose (lots of it) whether the mother consumes it or
not (and this IS a good thing for babies). It has been discussed on this list
before whether or not lactose in meds would even pass through to breastmilk
since (if ?) it didn't contain milk protein.  Of course this is a completely
different issue from giving someone with dairy allergy a lactose containing
med directly.  And since you have found a dairy free alternative stay with it.
Just make sure you are getting enough calcium... most multi's, prenatal or
not won't have much.

My son is currently 23 months and I have no idea if he has outgrown his milk
allergy.  We won't due any type of milk challenge (at the allergists) until at
least 30 month.  But my husband did outgrow his milk allergy.  He is
repulsed of drinking a glass of milk directly, but has no problem with ice
cream, cheeses etc.  The allergist told us that his best chance of outgrowing
it was to go a couple years without any milk at all... so we don't do
experiments.  Plus I wouldn't want to test anything on him until he is verbal
enough to let us know of any not-obvious reactions.

I certainly believe that extended breastfeeding will help him both maintain a
good diet and possibly outgrow allergies.  You asked about switching to
formula, but he could also be or become allergic to soy.  This could make
things sorta difficult for a few months (I know there are others on this list who
can attest to that).  Once he is eating a variety of solid foods it will be easier
to decide whether to cut back or discontinue nursing.  By 19 months my son
was only breastfeeding a few minutes a day.

Of course most of the people here have not outgrown their allergies... but
that is why we're here!

Denise


Carrie Berner wrote:

> My 8month old son was just diagnosed with a milk allergy. Because I am
> breastfeeding him I have eliminated all dairy from my diet. I also had to
> stop taking the prenatal vitamins because I found out they also contained
> lactose. I finally found a vitamin which is guaranteed to contain no
> wheat, yeast, soy, corn, sugar, starch, milk or eggs. It is manufactured
> for U.S. Nutrition in NY.
>
> I would like to hear from any other mothers who had an infant with milk
> allergy. The doctors say many babies outgrow this by 1year. I am wondering
> if you were able to continue breastfeeding or if you switched to formula.
> If so how did this work out for the baby?
>
> Thanks, CCB