“While I was suckling very scrambled and after taking, shortly after, it turned reddid not stop cry, it arched and he made some very very runny and very strange poops… He also had many regurgitation and vomiting… It was horrible”. This is the testimony of Paula, mother of Jaime, born in April 2022 and with an allergy to milk protein. «When we managed to calm him down – he continues – and for him to sleep for twenty minutes, he would play the next take again. And start again. we were literally three weeks without sleep more than half an hour,” he recalls.
Since the baby was few weeks this family suffered a calvary. “Everyone gave us advice from their experience. They said that perhaps I was not latching on well, that it would be colic… I had no idea that allergy to milk protein could occur in newborns who are breastfeeding, “says Jaime’s mother.
And it is that this situation it is not very common and it is common not to realize that allergies may be the problem. As it occurs in infants, it is known as an allergy to breast milk, but, in reality, what happens is that proteins are transmitted to the baby through the breast of some food that the mother eats and to which the baby is allergic.
That there is a reaction when a breastfeeding baby has an allergy is not the most common, according to Carmen Dieguezchair of the Food Allergy Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (Seiac). “In fact, when a routine diagnosis is made, mothers are not told to eliminate it from their diet or to stop breastfeeding,” she says. «These restrictions are left for special cases –he explains–, when it is observed that the child when taking the breast shows irritatedpresents dermatological reactions or writhes as if in pain».
There is a certain component genetic. The major feature indicating this predisposition is the appearance of a atopic dermatitis», assures this specialist. This can alert the pediatrician. «They also intervene environmental factorss. There are more cases in more developed, industrialized societies », she points out.
The case of the milk it’s more problematic since it is the only food that is ingested during the first months of life. “Jaime’s case was so evident that after three weeks the doctors already told us that it would be an allergy,” explains Paula. She had to give up the idea of breastfeeding and start feeding her baby with bottle and hydrolyzed milk. This is a specific formula for these cases that presents the proteins divided and that is subsidized by Social Security. They immediately noticed the changes. «They confirmed the diagnosis when Jaime was two months old with an analysis in which the immunoglobulin E It came out altered, “he continues.
“In a significant number of children, this type of allergy is outgrown with age,” says Diéguez. In fact, Jaime got with ten months an analysis that affirmed that he had overcome the allergy.
It is important to emphasize that allergy is not the same to animal protein of the milk that lactose intolerance. This is a milk sugar, not a protein. «There are population groups that are not genetically prepared to continue consuming milk after reaching a certain age and lose the ability to digest that sugar. If they consume it, they present the typical symptoms of intolerance. It is not the case », he affirms.
Intolerance versus allergy
In general, allergy should not be confused with intolerance. The first is a immune response and reacts to proteins. “If a person has antibodies to that food and consume it, after an hour or two, or even sooner, your skin begins to present itchy bumps or redness. This picture can be complicated by vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. In more serious cases they may appear respiratory problemswith difficulty swallowand in extreme situations this scenario can lead to anaphylaxis», explains Dieguez.
The intolerance mechanism is different. The best known are lactose or gluten. In these cases, nothing else to eat, appears bloating, urgency to have a bowel movement, or vomiting. “There may be chronic complications in the long term if the food in question is not avoided but there is never a fatal outcome», he assures.
Discussion about this post