One of the varieties of a common food allergy is allergy to milk in children. Most often, this disease occurs in infants, and by the age of two, the allergy is gone. Mom notices that the child is not all right on the condition of his skin, behavior, chair. It can be seen that the baby is worried about something.
Symptoms of an allergy
The baby suffers from colic, it vomits, the tummy is swollen, the stool is frequent and liquid, sometimes vomiting, and after feeding, he cries for a long time and hysterically - these symptoms, which can not be overlooked, can indicate that the baby has an allergy to breast milk . In addition, it can leak tears, discharge from the spout, and breathing becomes difficult. Sometimes streaks of mucus and even blood are observed in the stool. The most obvious sign, which shows how an allergy to milk is manifested, is a rash on the baby's skin. It can appear in any places, but most often the face, the priest and the armpits are affected. Call these signs are not specific, because they can accompany and infectious diseases. If the baby has such symptoms, it is necessary to see a doctor.
Why does an allergy occur?
Physicians have long known that food allergies most often overtake those children whose parents are also allergic. With natural feeding, the milk allergy in infants is very rare. Most of the children who are exposed to this disease are artificers. And the allergy to cow's milk protein is found many times more often than the intolerance of sheep and goats. The fact is that cow milk in its composition has proteins that are not affected by high temperature, so cooking does not reduce its allergenicity. The culprit of allergy is casein, less often lactose, that is, milk sugar. That's why the diagnosis should be performed by a doctor, because the symptoms of allergy and lactose insufficiency are similar.
Allergy to milk in children can be a consequence of the fact that mother breastfeeding, during pregnancy or after childbirth, drank cow's milk. It can cause and other products (shrimp, chocolate, nuts, etc.) in the mother's diet. Therefore, the treatment of milk allergy in babies always begins with the adjustment of the mother's menu.
Get rid of allergies
Once an accurate diagnosis is made, the main thing is to exclude milk and all products containing casein from the baby's diet (and the mother if she is breast-feeding). If a strict diet for allergies to milk does not solve the problem, it is worth thinking about switching to special mixtures, because the usual ones are made on the basis of cow's milk.
Specialized mixtures contain split soy or goat milk proteins. The fact that the mixture is hypoallergenic, should indicate the marking on the package. The transition to a new nutrition for the baby should be done gradually, so as not to aggravate the situation.
Typically, doctors recommend starting to enter dairy products after six months. It is necessary to start with sour-milk products, which are much easier for children to carry. If the allergy makes itself felt, it is worthwhile to wait with the introduction of the protein for up to a year.
By the age of four, the child can completely get rid of this disease, and mom will forget what an allergy to milk looks like forever. However, there are cases that you will have to live a lifeless diet, so do not overstretch treatment.
Parents should clearly understand that rashes and diarrhea are not the worst thing that a food allergy can cause. Failure to comply with a diet can provoke anaphylactic shock or angioedema, which is a direct threat to the life of the child.