What do you mean my infant can’t digest milk?
I don’t know about you but when I heard that my child couldn’t process milk protein and I had to be on a milk free diet I felt very overwhelmed. The thought of reading labels and spending more time in the grocery store with three children seemed impossible.
First let’s start with foods that need to be eliminated and common misconceptions.
- Milk Protein Intolerance is not the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest the sugar (lactose) in milk due to a lack of enzyme (lactase). This is not common in infants and usually presents much later in life. If your pediatrician asked you to eliminate milk then the most common diagnosis is a milk protein intolerance. This means that your infant is sensitive to the protein present in cow’s milk. For this purpose, dairy should be avoided but will not result in an anaphylactic or allergic reaction. Most infants will grow out of the sensitivity between 6 months to 18 months. Some will only outgrow it later by the age of 3 and will then be able to consume dairy products. For infants with a milk allergy, this condition is more serious and can result in a severe allergic reaction. For all purposes here we are going to focus on the infant with a milk protein intolerance.
- Eggs are not dairy. If you are told to start a dairy free diet you can still have eggs. You must, however, eliminate all cow’s milk products such as cheese, butter, milk, yoghurt, ghee, kefir, etc.
- Goat, sheep and soy milk may also cause symptoms. Many infants with a milk protein intolerance also will react to soy products. Based on this, I do not recommend replacing all milk products with soy milk. Some soy in the diet is okay as long as the infant is not reacting to it. Goat and sheep milk often is too similar in appearance to the body so many infants will have reactions to goat milk and goat cheese in the diet. It is best to avoid these if possible.
- Non-dairy does not mean it is safe and free of dairy! Dairy-free products do not have dairy but non-dairy products often contains hidden sources of dairy. These products have small amounts of dairy but some infants are sensitive and will still react.
- Beware of hidden sources of dairy. Just to name a few— sauces, hot dogs, lunch meat, processed meat, frozen battered foods, potato chips, gum, candy, instant coffees or soups, salad dressing and artificial sweeteners may contain dairy.
How to Read Labels: Click here for a guide for maintaining a milk free diet.
Looking for substitutes for some of your favorite dairy products? Check out our next blog post.