Your baby's screaming is driving you nuts! Is
this normal fussiness? Or could it be a sign of something else?
Almost all infants experience irritability and sleeplessness at times. But if
your bottle-fed baby seems excessively fussy much of the time, it could be due
to an allergy to cow's milk.
Most of us have heard of lactose intolerance (the inability to digest the
type of sugar in milk), but there's another milk-related problem that's lesser
known: cow's milk protein allergy. Between 1% and 7.5% of infants are allergic
to the proteins found in cow's milk and cow's milk-based formulas. About 80% of
formulas on the market are cow's milk-based.
What Is Cow's Milk Protein
Allergy? Cow's milk protein allergy (also called formula protein
allergy) means that the infant (or child or adult) has an abnormal immune system
reaction to proteins found in the cow's milk used to make standard baby
formulas. About 30% to 40% of infants who are allergic to cow's milk are also
allergic to the protein in soy formulas. The baby's immune system "attacks" the
proteins in the milk, resulting in symptoms of an allergic reaction.
Researchers don't fully understand the causes of food allergies and why some
children develop them and others don't. However, according to Heidi Kecskemethy,
a pediatric dietitian, "Studies have shown that breast-fed
infants have a lower risk of developing allergies than those who receive cow or
soy milk." It is believed that in many cases, this type of allergy is triggered
by a combination of genetically inherited factors and the early introduction of
cow's milk or soy protein into an infant's diet.
Signs and Symptoms Symptoms of cow's milk protein
allergy will generally appear within the first 6 months of life. An infant can
experience symptoms of one or both of the two major types of formula allergy
reactions - rapid onset or slower onset.
The rapid type of reaction comes on suddenly with symptoms that can include
wheezing, vomiting, hives, anaphylaxis (a sudden and severe whole body
reaction), angioedema (fluid collection in body tissues that causes swelling),
and the eruption of itchy bumps on the skin.
The slower-onset reaction is the more common type. Symptoms may include loose
stools (possibly containing blood), vomiting, irritability or colic, and failure
to gain weight and grow normally. This type of reaction is more difficult to
diagnose because the same symptoms may occur with conditions other than allergy.
Most children will outgrow this form of intolerance by 2 years of age.
If an infant's symptoms are due to lactose intolerance (a sensitivity to the
carbohydrate in milk) and not protein intolerance, symptoms will include a
swollen or enlarged abdomen, stomach pain, excessive gas, and diarrhea.
|