Newborns rarely if ever have an allergy to breast milk, board certified lactation consultant Debbie Donovan states. They may, however, have an allergy to substances in the breast milk, most notably cow's milk that you consume in your diet. If you think your baby has an allergy to certain foods you eat, talk to your pediatrician about eliminating foods from your diet. Some babies have congenital disorders that make them unable to digest breast milk, but these are not allergies.
Breast Milk and Foods
While your baby almost certainly does not have a breast milk allergy, he may have an allergy to the foods you eat, although allergies in children aren't as common as people think; around 2 to 3 percent of infants have a milk allergy, according to KidsHealth. While cow's milk in your diet is the most likely cause of allergy symptoms in breast-fed babies, eggs, peanuts and soy products, among others, can also cause allergic reactions. A food can remain in your breast milk for up to seven days after you eat it, explains pediatrician and author Alan Greene, M.D., explains.
Common Symptoms
Allergies to substances that you eat when breast-feeding can cause fussiness, gas, loose stools, vomiting, abdominal pain or bloating. Rashes, hives, facial swelling, tingling lips, or mouth and respiratory symptoms such as difficulty breathing, wheezing or chest tightness can also occur. Allergies can cause a small amount of bleeding from the irritation to the intestinal lining, which may appear as blood in the stool.
Solutions
Cutting out all dairy or other whole categories of food can be difficult. Processed foods in particular often contain a mixture of ingredients that may include the offending substance. In rare cases, you may not be able to completely eliminate an allergen from your diet. In this case, you might have to stop breast-feeding, but this occurs only rarely.
Other Possibilities
If your baby can't tolerate breast milk, he may have lactose intolerance, which rarely affects newborns but more commonly affects children 2 years and older. Giving the baby the enzyme lactase in supplemental form, which breaks down lactose, solves the problem. Never give lactase without talking to your doctor first, since lactose intolerance is extremely unlikely in a full-term newborn, although it can occur more often in premature babies. Babies with an inherited metabolic disorder called galactosemia also can't digest milk. A condition that affects just one in 60,000 Caucasian babies, according to PubMed Health, galactosemia affects a newborn's ability to break down galactose, one of the sugars in both human and animal milk. Many states screen all newborns for this condition.
References
- iVillage; Breastfeeding: Breastmilk Intolerance?; Debbie Donovan; January 1999
- Dr. Greene.com; Milk Allergy; June 2003
- KidsHealth: About Milk Allergies
- PubMedHealth; Galactosemia; April 2009
- iVillage; Can a Baby be Allergic to Breastmilk?; Kathy Kuhn, R.N.; January 2010
- PubMed Health; Lactose Intolerance; July 2010
