Health
Living Comfortably with a Milk Allergy
Infants will solely survive on milk, whether breastfed or in formula form. There are quite several mothers who usually don’t lactate enough to breastfeed their children to their fill, and this leads to looking for alternatives from outside. With the ever-growing demands from everyone, many mothers are finding it hard to be breastfeeding their little angels every hour of the day because of their job demands.
A mother might find it hard to come from work to breastfeed every hour, and even if they used a breast pump, they realize that the milk left for the baby might not be enough. While looking out for breast milk, alternative parents should carefully watch the baby if it has a milk allergy.
Upon introducing the other types of milk to a child (mostly the cow’s milk), parents can discover to their shock and amazement that the baby has a milk allergy. A parent will have to learn to live with such a child and make its life as comfortable as possible. There are instances that the child will carry on with allergic phenomena to their adulthood, thus making it a bit tricky because they are prevented from taking the many goodies that they love and are made from cow’s milk like yogurt, ice cream and so much more.
In trying to deal with the milk allergy problem, a parent will have to read and consult their child’s pediatrician to look for a solution to this problem. At infancy, a parent will have to look for formulas that are compatible with the baby’s body and which don’t bring more harm to it. Still, cow’s milk will be the solution but in the form of extensively hydrolyzed formulas. In these formulas, the milk is broken into small particles, and many babies are tolerant of it. In some instances, which are not very common, a parent who realizes that the child is still allergic to the unique formulas can go for the amino acid infant formulas. After some time, a child can be weaned into taking the extensively hydrolyzed formulas.
As the child grows up, a parent should try from time to time to introduce the cow’s milk into their diet; this, however, should be advised by a pediatrician who will have evaluated how severe the allergy is. If the milk allergy proves to be still there with no signs of relenting, then a parent should look out for other products that will give the child the same proteins as milk. The alternatives to the cow’s milk should be introduced after the baby has outgrown the formula milk stage. A parent can then add soy milk, which is very nutritious and has fiber in it. The other milk sources are coconut, goat’s milk, oat milk, and so on.
For an adult who has not outgrown the milk allergy, the alternatives are quite broad. A person must, however, be very particular into what they take and where. Just like the other forms of allergy, a person should forewarn anyone who is providing them with food of their predicament, be it in school, home, or at a friend’s house.