> Does anyone have a child who out grew a milk allergy? I keep hearing she
> may out grow it but I don't know wether to believe it or not.

Don't hold your breath. My son was diagnosed with dairy allergy at 7 months
(it was severe enough that we didn't even need skin testing - don't know if
that's better or worse). We were told by his GP that he'd "likely outgrow it"
by 1 year old. At 14 months when 1 Tbl milk sent him into severe anaphylaxis,
his GP said, "Maybe when he's two". He's two now, and even a HINT of millk
proteing gives him immediate hives. His GP says, "Maybe by the time he's
12...".  We ARE seeing an allergist (who immediately laughed at the GP's
hopeful prognosis).

Bottom line: PRAY that your child will outgrow the allergy, but DON'T
expect it. Learn everything you can about the allergy and read EVERY
label EVERY time. Ingredient lists change frequently. Learn to live
without the dairy in your child's life. It's not that bad. The main
thing we had to watch out for was making sure that our son gets enough
fat and calcium in his diet. Calcium is easy, since there are decent
supplements (although calcium from food directly is "supposed" to be
better). But fat is another issue. He cannot have any nuts, eggs or
dairy, and I didn't want all his fat to come from oil-based sources.
His weight has always been light. So he is STILL on soy formula -
and we boost the amount in the mix by about 1/3. We also give him
extra snacks during the day and evening since so many of his foods
are fairly low-calorie. He gets the equivalent of an extra meal
a day.

That said, once you start looking around, there really are a LOT of
options available for your child (particularly if you are fortunate
enough to live in a metropolitan area with decent selection). Scour
the health-food stores for snacks (but watch out for casein - it's in
many health-food items).  Use rice milk or water and dairy-free
margarine (I use Fleishmann's unsalted) in place of milk in recipes.
The only recipes I haven't been able to adapt with the same consistency
and taste are cream-based casseroles. I'm learning to live without them.

Some surprising foods that contain dairy include: bread crumbs, fruit bars
(like Nutra-Grain - but ALL normal manufacturers have dairy), some lunch
meats, some sausage, some hot dogs, some white breads, Cool Whip, the
batter for most fast-food chicken nuggets. If you can't directly read
the ingredient list, DON'T TRY IT.

Some surprising foods that DON'T contain dairy include: Kellogg's Apple-
Cinnamon (and many other flavors) Pop Tarts, cream-style corn, some
cake mixes (Mrs. Mannichewitz (sp?) makes a yellow cake with fudge frosting
that is Kosher for passover and dairy-free!), some semi-sweet chocolate
chips, Ritz crackers (although I believe they are processed on the same
line as other products containing dairy - but my HYPERSENSITIVE son has
no reaction to them), most oatmeal-raisin cookies (a good source of fat),
some suckers and sweettart-like candies.

Hope this helps and good luck! Whenever I get too overwhelmed or depressed
about Kyle's allergies, I just remember: he doesn't have AIDS or leukemia
or cancer or a failing heart. He WILL survive this and it could be MUCH
worse.

Theresa Ray
Mom to Kyle (2) allergic to dairy, bay leaves, eggs, blueberry, penicillin,
restricted from all berries, nuts, fish and shellfish.