Did you know breastfed babies can develop dairy allergies? Today I am sharing our experience with a breastfed baby dairy allergy.
On a hunch, I gave up cheese last week to see if Annabelle’s temperament would change. I read that sometimes babies with dairy allergies have trouble sleeping through the night. Saturday night, Annabelle slept two 4.5 hour spans for the first time in two months. It was glorious. THEN, my dumb butt ate goat cheese Sunday night and she was up screaming ALL. NIGHT. LONG.
Our poor baby (and her Mommy) were a mess yesterday morning. I called the doctor and asked if we could come in. There has to be something wrong with her, I thought. The doctors said to bring a dirty diaper, so they could test it for a dairy allergy. They also said she might have an ear infection.

Well, wouldn’t you know….sweet Annabelle has both an ear infection AND a dairy allergy! Doctor says it is very likely she isn’t sleeping through the night because she has a sick belly. Plus, her extra fussiness lately is due to her little infected ear.
If Annabelle starts sleeping better at night, then won’t I feel like Mom of the Year for not knowing she had this dairy allergy. My Aunt had suggested I check her diaper for mucous, which is a sign of an allergy. I realize Annabelle has had yucky stools for months. I thought this was normal. Apparently it is not… It’s actually a sign of a Dairy Allergy in a Breastfed Baby.
I DON’T FEEL GOOD MOM. ENOUGH WITH THE PICTURES.
For anyone who discovers their infant has a dairy allergy, the doctor says that she can grow out of it. It is very likely that once her little digestive system becomes more developed that she will be able to handle dairy. With that being said, the doctor’s office told me to KEEP my frozen breastmilk! We will try to introduce the milk (which may contain dairy from my diet) in a few months. This is glorious news because I almost had a heart attack thinking about the bazillion frozen bags of milk that would have to go to waste.
So far, A has been on Amoxicillin for 24 hours and is still pulling at her ear. She didn’t sleep very well last night, but fingers crossed tonight is better. We leave for the beach tomorrow and the doctor said the salty ocean air just might help her feel better!
Does your little one have any allergies? If so, how did you find out?
Beckett had his first ear infection a couple of weeks ago. The Amoxicillan they gave us hurt his tummy and he didn’t sleep well while he was on it. And every evening he would pitch a fit because his tummy was hurting. I hope it doesn’t happen to Annabelle, but just a heads up!
Ah no more tummy troubles!!! Here’s to hoping it doesn’t happen to her! Thanks for the heads up though!
So glad you took her in and they figured it out! Hope she feels better soon….even if it means you can’t have cheese!
You are right – I am SO glad I took her! And oh well on the cheese… I will have to find a new vice.
Yay! Some answers! I hope she starts to feel better soon.
Thank you!
Phew. Doesn’t it make you feel better to know something was up? And hooray for having an idea how to fix it. The ear infections are sneaky. Now whenever something is wrong, that is my first assumption! ha.
It is sad to say but I really am happy that there was something wrong!
Oh no!! Poor thing! Glad you figured out what was wrong!!
Poor Annabelle! Glad you got to the root of it, though. Hopefully now she’ll start feeling better and sleeping more.
Poor AB!! Don’t feel bad girl!! Mav had a double ear infection and I never once thought he did. So glad you took her in and got it figured out!! Hopefully she starts feeling better ASAP and Momma gets some sleep!! Hugs!
Oooo a double ear infection sounds awful! Thanks for commenting!
Aw poor little lady! I’m sure it feels nice to finally have some explanations as to why things haven’t been quite right. Hopefully the meds, diet change and a little ocean air do the trick! Have fun on your trip!
Thanks so much Lindsay! I am definitely hoping all the little changes help out A!
Aww, I am so sorry, I really hope she feels better soon!
Oh no! I hate to hear this! Lia had a cows milk protein allergy and I gave up breast feeding at 4 months. She would have bloody stools. I tried cutting out ALL casein and whey products (which contains cows milk protein) for 2 months and she did SO much better from that. However, right around 4 months she had a bad bloody stool again and we went back to the gastro. The doc told me to stop BF, so I did. Now she is on Alimentum and Nutramigen and doing SO SO much better, sleeping 11 hours at night. I was sad giving up BF but it was stressful and she did so much better on the formula. I hope she gets better! 🙂
Oh my goodness! Bloody stools are so scary. Annabelle hasn’t had any blood in her stool, just yucky mucous. But I was told to be on the lookout. I would be devastated if I had to stop breastfeeding her. Hopefully it will not come to that!
Macht spass das hier zu lesen und zu sehen! Auf dieser Homepage gibt es so viel isreensantts und auch die Kommentare von somanch Leuten einfach nur intressant und auch lustig ! – –
Your sweet Annabelle melts my heart!! I hope she is feeling better!
Oh no! Sad for your little one, but you had no idea. I can’t believe it affected her that immediately and directly. Sad for you to give up cheese too!
So glad you figured out what it was and she’s doing better!
My daughter had a dairy AND a soy allergy! Do you know how many foods have soy in them?! When I cut out those foods it helped her so much.
FYI, if you ever decide to add any formula in, I’d try to introduce it soon b/c it doesn’t taste that great. We waited too long and she wouldn’t drink it, so I couldn’t ever leave her very long b/c I didn’t have much of a milk supply (my milk would only last 5 days and then it would go bad. I had to throw away bags and bags of bad milk. Most depressing day of my life.). It was a tough first year, but we got through it. OH! And my daughter did grow out of both allergies after a year or so.
Good luck mama!