Going Dairy-Free for My Son

I have been fortunate enough in my life to not have to worry about what I eat; no allergies, no intolerances. I’m not one for diets or taking a detailed interest in what I eat, calorie counting is not for me. And so going dairy-free for my son was a whole new experience. He has suspected Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA) and as I was breastfeeding him, it meant some big changes for my diet.

My Story

Our son Jax was born happy and healthy in April 2017. The transition into motherhood was beautiful but not an easy one! (Is it for anyone?) He was generally a good, happy baby but a few weeks in, I started to wonder if something was wrong. He developed a rash on his chest, he would scream after feeding, and then there was the explosive diarrhea… it could travel across doorways! (True story, actually happened and unfortunately, my husband was in the firing line.)

He also seemed to be uncomfortable at night, pulling up his legs in discomfort and was quite gassy (babies can be gassy though so it was hard to figure what was normal!) There’s so much uncertainty when you become a mum for the first time. You have no idea what is normal, what is just your paranoia and what is genuinely a problem.

I, fortunately, had a great Health Visitor who was so kind and helpful. She asked all the right questions and suggested the possibility of CMPA, and recommended I go to the GP. I won’t go in to the full story of the doctor that knew very little about CMPA and told me that there was no way Jax could have it as he was breastfed (breastfed babies can still have it). Let’s just say that I had to go the journey alone.

So I decided to go on a dairy-free diet to test the theory out. It only took a few days of me cutting out dairy from my diet for Jax to improve a lot. When you first start out on a dairy-free diet, it’s easy to forget as EVERYTHING contains dairy! It’s a huge lifestyle change that takes some time to get used to. So a couple of times I slipped up and by the evening the next day, we would have a screaming unhappy baby again. His eczema would also flare up and his nappies would get interesting.

I didn’t need a doctor to tell me that he reacted to dairy.

And so I began my dairy free journey. It involved a lot of time reading the back of packets. Hours on Google and Pinterest and exploring the free from isles in the shop for the first time!

I was on a completely dairy-free diet for just over a year while I was breastfeeding. I salute anyone who has to do it permanently! It can be hard work, especially when eating out! It’s always fun being the difficult one asking the servers questions they don’t know the answers to!

I am happy to say that I have since seen some medical professionals that have given me some help with Jax and his diet when he started solids. He is responding pretty well to dairy and seems to be outgrowing it. I’m still permanently drinking Oatly oat milk as I’ve come to prefer it but am pleased to say I am eating normal chocolate again! *Happy dance*

For you

If you suspect that your little one might have CMPA or any dairy-related issues, then definitely speak to your Health Visitor or GP. It’s also worth testing it out yourself by eliminating dairy from your diet for a week (if breastfeeding) and then introducing it again and recording the changes in your baby. Make sure you are still getting calcium in other ways though (there are other foods you can get it from) and don’t do it for a prolonged time without consulting your healthcare provider. If you are formula feeding it’s a little more tricky as you will need to get a formula prescribed by a doctor, it’s not recommended to use soya or goat milk formulas as they can have a similar effect.

I’ll be sharing some posts with recipes and tips to help anyone having to make the change to a dairy-free diet. I was incredibly grateful for all the advice I found out there! So hopefully, I can add to that and help someone else!

Let me know your CMPA/dairy-free stories in the comments!

Ri x