Rash round mouth after cows milk

[LiLi]

I noticed a while ago when I first tried Matty on formula that wherever the milk dribbled on his chin, he would get red marks. They'd fade within 10-15 mins, and didn't seem to bother him. Because of that I didn't carry on with formula, and he's still BF.

He's fine with yoghurt, cheese etc., but whenever he gets any cows milk on him (for example if I give him a bit of my cereal, and some spills off the spoon), then the same red marks appear.

I've been reading up a bit about cows milk and lactose intolerance, but since he doesn't seem to have any digestive problems after other dairy products, that doesn't quite seem to fit

Any ideas what it could be? Should I try soya milk, or lactose free milk? Are there any disadvantages to these? (One of my friends mentioned a link between soya milk in under-2 year old boys and infertility ).

I did mention it to a GP when I first noticed it, but he didn't treat it like it was any big deal. I'm just concerned that if it's doing that on the outside, then what could it be doing on the inside?

[Bert2e]

You need to find out whether he has a problem with lactose or milk protein - Ashton and Parson's teething granules have lactose in them so you could try them or just try lactose free milk and see if that works OK. I decided that I didn't want to give ds2 (milk protein allergy) soya milk due to the possible links with fertility problems. Oat and rice milk have salt in them and are low fat, almond milk has possible nut allergy problems so we ended up on partially hydrolysed formula on prescription for cereal etc. You might be able to buy lactose free formula - I'm not sure.

The good news is that by 18m ds2 had grown out of his allergy!

Oh and our gp was hopeless - my lovely hv referred us to the dietician!

[Angel and Boo]

You need to find out whether he has a problem with lactose or milk protein

I second this. Lactose intollerance and cows milk protein intollerance are very different things. So read up on that, and then try eliminating one or the other and see what happens.

Lactose intollerance is actually very rare - human breast milk is high in lactose.

FWIW my oldest son had cows milk protein intollerance but could handle cheese and yoghurt. Milk used to run straight through him. We found him to be fine with goats milk though.

[LiLi]

Thank you! I'll maybe try the lactose free milk, but definitely talk to the GP (again!) or the HV.

[Angel and Boo]

I had a thought on this though. If you are breastfeeding with no digestive or intollerance issues then there is no way it can be lactose intollerance, considering the high levels of it in breastmilk. Lactose is what makes breastmilk sweet. Also, the symptoms of lactose intollerance are usually quite severe. Projectile vomiting, extremely runny and foamy poos.

So if you haven't experienced any of this while breastfeeding then it is far more likely to be cows milk protein intollerance. If this is the case, a lactose free formula isn't going to make a difference, as it still has the protein in it. You would need to try a soy, rice, or goats milk based one instead.

[Angel and Boo]

Here is a page you should read:

http://www.theallergysite.co.uk/dairy.html

[Bert2e]

You would need to try a soy, rice, or goats milk based one instead.

Watch out with goat - ds2 still reacted to goat milk as the protein is very similar!

[LiLi]

Thanks to both of you - that's really helpful

To me it sounds more like a cow's milk protein intolerance rather than a lactose one, based on what I've read. I'm not too worried in the short term, but it's helpful to go well prepared when talking to the GP.

[Angel and Boo]

Watch out with goat - ds2 still reacted to goat milk as the protein is very similar!

Yep, some kids will be intollerant to that too. However, it may still be worth a shot, as DS1 was fine with goats milk, while cows milk went in one end and literally straight back out the other.