Milk or Dairy Allergy vs. Lactose Intolerance

A milk or dairy allergy is a reaction to the protein in milk. There are two milk proteins, casein and whey. Some people are allergic only to one or the other. Most are allergic to both. The safest course in either case is to avoid all dairy products.
Lactose intolerance, also called lactase deficiency, means you aren't able to fully digest the milk sugar (lactose) in dairy products. The problem behind lactose intolerance is a deficiency of lactase — an enzyme produced by the lining of your small intestine.

With LI, most people can still have small or moderate amounts of milk. What's the difference? An allergy is an immune system reaction. Your immune system fights foreign invaders to the body using what are called antibodies. When these invaders are harmful bacteria or viruses, this is a very good thing. In people with allergies, however, the immune system reacts in the same way to dairy proteins that leak into the bloodstream instead of being properly digested. This can lead to a huge number of possible symptoms.
Children are the most likely sufferers of both allergies and hypersensitivities. Even breast-fed babies who have never touched formula can suffer from allergies, because dairy proteins can leak into the mother's milk. And even if this does not happen, they can rapidly develop allergies after their first exposure to milk-based formula or milk itself.

Taken from the Australian Breast Feeding Website:
There are some common fallacies about lactose intolerance that you may hear in the community:
1. Lactose in the breastmilk will be reduced if the mother stops eating dairy products.
2. Lactose intolerance in other family members (adults) means baby is more likely to be lactose intolerant.
3. If a mother is lactose intolerant then her baby will be as well.
4. A baby with symptoms of lactose intolerance should immediately be taken off the breast and fed on soy-based infant formula, or other special lactose-free formula.
5. Lactose intolerance is the same as intolerance or allergy to cows' milk protein.
Lactose intolerance is not possible in a baby unless it is an extremely rare genetic condition. That being true normal life would not be possible without medical intervention. A truly lactose intolerant baby would fail to thrive from birth (ie. not even start to gain weight), and show obvious symptoms of malabsorption and dehydration - a medical emergency case needing a special diet from soon after birth.
Anything that damages the gut lining, even subtly, can cause secondary lactose intolerance. The enzyme lactase is produced in the very tips of folds of the intestine, and anything that causes damage to the gut may wipe off these tips and reduce the enzyme production.
Note that cows' milk protein allergy (or intolerance) is often confused with lactose intolerance, and they are thought by many people to be the same thing. This confusion probably arises because cows' milk protein and lactose are both in the same food, ie dairy products. Also contributing to this confusion is the fact that allergy or intolerance to this protein can be a cause of secondary lactose intolerance, so they may be present together.
Secondary lactose intolerance is a temporary state as long as the gut damage can heal. When the cause of the damage to the gut is removed, for example the food to which a baby is allergic is taken out of the diet, the gut will heal even if the baby is still fed breastmilk. If your doctor does diagnose 'lactose intolerance' you need to know that this is not harmful to your baby as long as she is otherwise well and growing normally.
Occasionally it is considered preferable to reduce the immediate symptoms, by reducing the amount of lactose in the diet for a time, particularly if the baby has been losing weight. In this case, it may be suggested that the mother alternate breastfeeding and feeding the baby with a lactose-free artificial baby milk. Sensitivity of the baby to foreign protein (cow or soy) should be considered before introduction to artificial baby milk, as types other than the truly hypoallergenic ones may make the problem worse. Although commonly advised, there is no good evidence to support taking the baby off the breast altogether. In the case of a baby recovering from severe gastroenteritis, average recovery time for the gut is four weeks, but may be up to eight weeks for a young baby under three months. For older babies, over about 18 months, recovery may be as rapid as one week.

References:Brodribb W (ed), 2nd ed. Breastfeeding Management in Australia, Merrily Merrily Enterprises Pty Ltd 1997.Lawlor-Smith C & Lawlor-Smith L, 1998, Lactose intolerance, Breastfeeding Review 6(1): 29-30Leeson R, 1995, Lactose intolerance: What does it mean? ALCA News 6(1): 24-25, 27.Minchin M, Food for Thought, Alma Publications 1986.Rings EHHM et al, 1994, Lactose intolerance and lactase deficiency in children, Current Opinion in Pediatrics 6: 562-567.Woolridge M, Fisher C 1988, Colic, 'overfeeding' and symptoms of lactose malabsorption in the breast-fed baby: a possible artifact of feed management? Lancet (ii): 382-384.
If there is a concern regarding a baby’s sensitivity to lactose, please bring it to the health care professional and ask their advice regarding a lactose-free formula.

NEW COLIC INFORMATION

If a baby cries inconsolably for long periods every day, particularly at the same time each day, but is happy, health and alert at all other times, it is suggested that he may have colic. Colic occurs only in newborn babies up to about four to five months of age. Colic generally begins anytime after three weeks.
The common reason given for colic is gas, indigestion or formula issues. The question is: Why does colic occur only around supper time and not at other times during the day? Why does the discomfort only occur at one specific time during the day and not at other times? Why does it occur mostly at the 'witching hour' which is generally around supper?
I would like to suggest that there may be another cause for 'colic'. Perhaps gas, indigestion and formula is not one of the issues.
Could there be a link between colic, over stimulation, and missing their biological clock in newborns?

OVER STIMULATION:
The first thing we want to examine is the baby’s ability to become overstimulated. A baby can be hypersensitive to sights and sounds making it very easy to send a baby into a uncontrollable crying spell. This is the time where adrenalin can kick in and it may take hours to console them.
What makes this action so difficult for parents is in their attempt to calm the baby they are using techniques such as rocking, juggling, singing and walking which are continuing to overstimulate them.
Overstimulating actions may include the television, music, playing too long, other children running through the house, household noises, being kept up too long, company over and anything else that is tiring to a baby.

BIOLOGICAL CLOCK:
Another thing that can cause a great deal of harm is missing the baby’s biological night time sleep clock. A baby’s biological clock is set much earlier in the evening than an adults. A baby will sleep much better, longer and deeper when put to bed during the hours of their biological. A baby’s clock is set for between 6 PM and 7:30 PM. What this means is that you should start the baby’s night time routine between 5 PM and 6 PM.
If the baby is on a 3 hour schedule they should have a feeding at approximately 4 PM. If you are putting the child down at 7PM you will want to put the baby down for a cap nap for about 30 – 45 minutes around 5 or 5:30.
The bottom line is if you find the baby crying uncontrollably around the ‘witching hour’ you have pushed the baby too far with over stimulation or/and keeping the baby up to long.
Some babies do not transition well from being awake to falling back to sleep. These are also times when crying may increases in the evening. Falling asleep may be difficult for the baby. Be very careful not to allow this to happen. Catch them before this happens. Watching their biological clock. Swaddling them and putting them down fed, dry and if possible awake to fall asleep on their own. If the baby gets to the place where they are crying uncontrollably they may have to cry it out as nothing will calm them down.

BABY GAS OR DIGESTION ISSUES:
There are times when the baby has colic which is traditionally described as gas pains or digestion issues which are painful for the infant. They will be characterized by high pitched crying, arching of the back, the baby's face often gets flushed or red. The belly is sometimes distended or prominent, the legs alternating between flexed and extended straight out; the feet are often cold and the hands clenched These are not over stimulation or a missed bedtime symptoms. These incidents will not be every night at a specific time every day. These will only happen on occasion. Should they happen every feed, they are more likely reflux not colic.
In these cases you may want to use the below holds to help relieve gas and digestion issues.
The baby colic hold is very helpful treatment for baby colic: Put one hand (I use my right hand as I'm right-handed) between the baby's legs and have my palm on his tummy. Let the baby's head rest on my other arm as you bring the other hand down. This is a very comfortable way of holding a baby and it often helps to stop the crying. The photos below demonstrate the first and final steps to this hold. http://www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com/baby-colic.html
A good method of working out baby gas and/or constipation could be to draw a warm bath, with a teaspoon of epsom or himalayan salts from your local health food store, you can lay your baby gently on her back and with a little olive or almond oil on your fingers, you can trace a gentle clock-wise circle about 2-4 inches from her belly button with your fingers. With this action you are following the natural circuit of the large intestine and encouraging the squeezing action of the intestines, for the purpose of promoting elimination. Make sure baby is reacting favorably to this kind of stimulation as severe cramping or colic isn’t a normal reaction
The other baby massage technique that works well is the recumbent bicycle. While baby is on his back, you can take his legs and gently imitate the motion of riding a cosmic bike. This also acts to stimulate peristalsis in the same way that walking and movement helps us parents to stay regular. If, during the baby massage, you feel hard or knotty stool, or you don’t hear any gas bubbles when you put your ear to baby’s tummy, it may be a sign of an obstruction from too much stool built up.
Use natural gas remedies such as Colic Ease, Colic Calm or Gripe Water

Newborns cannot breath through their mouths!!

Protective breathing reflex absent in newborns

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 September 2006, 12:30 CDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research suggests that healthy newborn infants do not have what doctors call "nasoaxillary reflex" -- a protective reflex that helps keep their nasal passages open.
In adults lying on their side, the nasoaxillary reflex ensures that the uppermost nasal airway is open, Dr. Christopher O'Callaghan of the University of Leicester, UK, and colleagues explain in the journal Archives of Diseases of Childhood.
The researchers used acoustic rhinometry, a technique that measures nasal patency, to see whether the nasoaxillary reflex is present in 11 healthy term newborns.

Acoustic rhinometry emits wide band noise into the nose and analyzes the reflected sound in order to measure cross sectional area/distance mapping of the nasal cavity. The measurements were made while the infants were lying on their back (the supine position) and on their side (the lateral position).
The investigators were unable to show a protective nasoaxillary reflex in the infants.
When the newborns were turned from a back position to a side position, the team observed a significant decrease in the total minimum cross sectional area of the nasal cavity. This was associated with a decrease in the total nasal volume.
"The finding that the total minimal cross sectional area decreases when infants move from a supine to a lateral (side) sleeping position is of interest," O'Callaghan's team contends.
"As newborns tend to be obligate nose breathers, a decrease in the minimal cross sectional area of the nasal cavity is likely to be linked to an increase in nasal resistance and in the work of breathing."
They note that the side sleeping position has been associated in one study with a slightly greater risk of SIDS than in the back sleeping position, and that the back sleeping position "has unequivocally been recommended as being preferred to any other position to prevent SIDS."

SOURCE: Archives of Diseases in Childhood September 2006.

Nasal congestion has many causes and can range from a mild annoyance to a life-threatening condition. The newborn infant can only breathe through the nose (newborns are "obligate nose breathers"). Nasal congestion in an infant in the first few months of life can interfere with breastfeeding and cause life-threatening respiratory distress.
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