I’m not getting into a vaccine debate.
My point was that things are considered “no big deal” to one generation and the Biggest Health Crisis Facing Our Nation the next. I was commenting on perception, not statistics.
I’m not trying to start a debate. Vaccinate your kid for chicken pox or not; it doesn’t seem like a huge deal to me either way. It’s just that it seems to me that measles or mumps vaccines are much more important for public health.
Like I said, I don’t really know enough to evaluate the theory, but it seems reasonable to me. I’m just struck by how it seems like I heard a couple news stories about the theory, and suddenly - almost instantly - it became received wisdom. I just find it fascinating to see the way the idea took hold so quickly and became basically common knowledge; I just sort of think that’s related more to social phenomena than to a sudden new zeal for science.
I think that part of it is that some Pediatrians are lazy. Finding a baby that has problems with cows milk, they assume a “milk allergy”, and suggest Soy Milk. There is a link between Soy milk and later serious allergies (what the link is, and the cause, etc are all unknown- but the link is there). Most “cows milk allergies” are not allergies at all- they are lactose *intolerance. * Lactose intolerance can be solved in a bunch of ways other than switching to Soy Milk- Mother’s milk, acidolpholous milk, yogurt-added milk, lactose reduced milk, and sometimes goats milk. Generally, breastfeeding is best.
Moms- don’t jump to soymilk- consider other options first. Soymilk may indeed be the right option, sure.
I think the social phenomena is “hey, I don’t have to be a perfect mother!!! Letting my kids get dirty and eat a dropped m&m from the floor may actually be good for them! I don’t need to put disinfectant in my laundry, make sure my soap is antibacterial, that my kids never lick the dog, and if the milk is a day past expiration - it probably actually WON’T kill anyone.”
I like “pioneer mom” myself…“so would this be reasonable out on the prairie?”
And, because I can’t leave well enough alone, more anecdotal information.
Raising a baby in a household (or farm) full of pets is not a sure way to defeat pet allergies and asthma. You can follow all the latest recommendations and the poor kid might still have problems. Seems to me that whatever the new craze is, genetics might play some part. I’m allergic to cats, my FIL and BIL are allergic to cats, we’ve had a cat in the house since before the boy was born, he’s allergic to cats.
Since Dopers are not only more attractive, but also demonstrably more intelligent than most of the world, we all know that panic and overreaction are more dangerous than caution and education. If only we could convince the few that are going overboard and demanding changes in entire school districts. (I knew someone who wouldn’t give their peanut-allergic child sunflower seeds, because “they’re just like nuts”)
Maybe if we had a catchy slogan like “Fighting ignorance since…”
Hokkaido Brit backs up my experience - cracking a shelled nut just sprays proteins around the area. While I believe delivering that same nut in a mashed, oil based paste is much less likely to cause problems remotely.
Ma’am?
Human milk has more lactose than cow’s milk. Goat milk isn’t lactose free, either.
I know lactose intolerance is the big new thing, but it’s vanishingly rare in infants and if it can be fixed by switching to breastmilk, it has nothing to do with lactose.
:dubious: You ain’t never seen a picture thread, have you?
But aren’t there even other alternatives to soy milk? My boyfriend is hooked on rice milk or something like that, and I think there are a few other types without cow’s milk or soy.
Obviously the best thing for the kid is what comes out of mama’s tits. Aside from that, I don’t know much about the subject. I was just pointing out that infants having trouble with formula is not likely to be related to lactose. A lot of mothers see their kids having problems with formula and decide the children must be lactose intolerant. Those mothers are stupid, and they naturally have the peculiar fecundity of the stupid.
Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. There’s all sorts of substitutes for milk, but, as with rice and soy milk, they have to be heavily supplemented with various things because while they might taste good (I love soy milk, at least) they don’t remotely resemble actual boob juice.
Giving any kid the vile canned sauerkraut that my parents sometimes gave me should be considered child abuse.
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/lacintolerance.htm
*The buzzword to explain colicky, gassy babies these days seems to be lactose intolerance, a condition that is often misdiagnosed and actually very rare, according to pediatrician Jack Newman. This breastfeeding expert is the author of The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers, and the founder of the first hospital-based breastfeeding clinic in Canada in 1984.
According to Newman, most symptoms of lactose intolerance, such as fussiness, gas and watery, green bowel movements, are typically the result of either misguided breastfeeding techniques or a sign that the baby is allergic to proteins in the cow’s milk that his mother is drinking. “Lactose intolerance is often an artifact of poor breastfeeding advice,” explains Newman. "The answer to these symptoms is not simply to take the baby off the breast, as too many pediatricians recommend, but to fix the breastfeeding. The symptoms are easily treatable 90 percent of the time."In most cases, the symptoms improve dramatically when the mother eliminates cow’s milk from her diet or alters her breastfeeding methods, according to both Newman, who practices in Toronto, Canada, and Mary Kay Smith, a certified lactation consultant at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, Ill.Newman says he wasn’t at all surprised the by the results, noting that the majority of such cases can be treated by altering breastfeeding methods – something that’s been known for years. In fact, a 1998 study in The Lancet, an international medical journal, reported that allowing the baby to empty the first breast alleviated the problems in 79 percent of the infants.
Because lactose intolerance is so difficult to confirm, the only sure way to diagnose infants is through a biopsy of the small intestine. According to La Leche League, the diagnosis seems to be handed out somewhat casually. “I think lactose intolerance is just a catchall phrase some pediatricians are using to explain away problems with breastfeeding that they don’t understand,” says Smith…
is that mothers are frequently advised to automatically switch the baby from one breast to another, which doesn’t allow the baby to empty the first breast. Because the amount of fat in the milk increases the longer the baby nurses at the breast, switching him too soon may mean he’s getting a low amount of fat – leading to fewer calories and more feedings. Due to the low fat content of the milk, the stomach empties quickly and a large amount of milk sugar, also known as lactose, reaches the baby’s intestines all at once. The baby’s system may not be able to handle so much milk sugar and in turn have the symptoms of lactose intolerance, Newman explains.
Lactose intolerance is the body’s inability to digest the milk sugar, or lactose, in dairy products; whereas with an allergy, the body reacts to the proteins in those products. The confusion likely arises because cow’s milk proteins and lactose are in the same products, Smith says. While true lactose intolerance in infants is unusual, a reaction to cow’s milk is the most common allergy in children.
In the case of milk allergies, the mother should stop taking dairy products for seven to 10 days to see if there’s a change, Newman says. If not, she can begin using dairy again. And even if there is improvement, she should slowly reintroduce dairy back into her diet to determine how much, if any, the baby can tolerate. Most often, cow’s milk is the main reason for the allergy.
There are still rare cases of true lactose intolerance in infants. According to Smith, this is something that would be evident in the days immediately after the mother’s milk started coming in. The baby would have extreme cases of diarrhea and would not be gaining weight. Even then, the mother can almost always continue breastfeeding, and supplement the baby’s diet with a lactose-free formula by tube feeding. A pediatrician may also recommend a medication, such as lactase drops, to help the baby digest the lactose.
It’s that “milk allergies” and “lactose intolerance” are often misdiagnosed or misunderstood. Breastfeeding is almost always the best. Soy milk is a last gasp way to go, but some use it as a first solution.
Both “milk allergies” and “lactose intolerance” are rare.
A cohort of 1,749 newborns in the municipality of Odense were followed prospectively for the development of cow’s milk allergy (CMA) during their first year of life. Altogether 39 fulfilled the criteria for CMA (2.2%). Out of the 39 infants, 17 developed symptoms of CMA during breast-feeding, in all cases before the age of 3 months. Nine of these were solely breast-fed at the time of diagnosis, giving a one year incidence of CMA in exclusively breast-fed infants of 0.5% (9/1,749) in a study population with a frequency of exclusive breast-feeding of 52% at 3 months of age. None of the infants had signs of CMA in the neonatal period. Review of records from the newborn nursery revealed that all 9 infants had been exposed to cow’s milk formula in amounts corresponding to approximately 0.4-3.0 g of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) during the first three days of life. Human milk samples were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the content of bovine BLG. Detectable amounts (0.5-45 ng/ml) were found in 3/9 samples of human milk against which the infants reacted clinically. Analysis of the size distribution by high pressure liquid gel permeation chromatography in combination with ELISA indicated a molecular weight of BLG corresponding to that of monomeric BLG (18 kD). Possibly early inadvertent and occasional exposure to cow’s milk proteins may initiate sensitization in predisposed neonates. Subsequent exposure to minute amounts of bovine milk proteins in human milk may act as booster doses eliciting allergic reactions.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v134084v383t7236/
Abstract Incidence and clinical manifestation of cow’s milk protein intolerance (CMPI) were studied in 1158 unselected newborn infants followed prospectively from birth to 1 year of age. No food changes were required in 914 infants who were used as healthy controls. When CMPI was suspected (211 infants), diagnostic dietary interventions according to a standard protocol were performed. After exclusion of lactose intolerance, two positive cow’s milk elimination/challenge tests were considered diagnostic of CMPI. Two hundred and eleven symptomatic infants were examined for possible CMPI. A large group of 80 infants improved on a lactose reduced formula. In 87/211 infants CMPI was excluded (sick controls). Finally CMPI was proven in 26 infants. The calculated incidence rate for CMPI was 2.8%. The principal symptoms in infants with CMPI were gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory in 50%, 31% and 19% respectively. A positive family history for atopy (first or second degree relatives) was more frequent in either CMPI infants (65%), or sick controls (63%) when compared to either healthy controls (35%) or infants improving on a low lactose formula (51%). Differences between patients with CMPI and sick controls were only found for the presence of atopy in at least 2 first degree relatives [(5/26 in CMPI infants and 4/87 in sick controls (P<0.05)] and for multiorgan involvement [10/26 infants with CMPI as opposed to 12/87 in the sick control group (P<0.02)]. These statistical differences are too weak to be of clinical value.
Reproducible clinically abnormal reactions to cow’s milk protein (CMP) may be due to the interaction between one or more milk proteins and one or more immune mechanisms, possibly any of the four basic types of hypersensitivity reactions. At present, evidence for type I, III and IV reactions against CMP has been demonstrated. Immunologically mediated reactions, mainly immediate IgE-mediated reactions are defined as cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA). Non immunologically reactions against CMP are defined as cow’s milk protein intolerance (CMPI). Many studies on “cow’s milk allergy’” have not investigated the immunological basis of the clinical reactions. It is not possible to differentiate between CMPA and CMPI solely on clinical symptoms. No single laboratory test is diagnostic of CMPA/CMPI. Therefore, the diagnosis still has to be based on strict well-defined elimination and milk challenge procedures. Before 1950 CMPA/CMPI was rarely diagnosed. Since 1970 widely varying estimates of the incidence from 1.8% to 7.5% have been reported, mainly reflecting differences in diagnostic criteria and study design. Based on strict diagnostic criteria the incidence of confirmed CMPA/CMPI in infancy seems to be about 2-5% in developed countries. Symptoms suggestive of CMPA/CMPI may be encountered in about 5-15% of infants emphasizing the importance of controlled elimination/milk challenge. In breastfed infants reproducible clinical reactions to CMP in human milk have been reported in about 0.5%. Most infants with CMPA/CMPI develop symptoms before one month of age, often within one week after introduction of cow’s milk based formula. The majority have > or = 2 symptoms and symptoms from > or = 2 organ systems. About 50%-70% have cutaneous symptoms, 50-60% gastrointestinal symptoms, and about 20-30% respiratory symptoms. In exclusively breast-fed infants with CMPA/CMPI severe atopic eczema is a predominant symptom. Debut of CMPA/CMPI after 12 months is extremely rare. The basic treatment is complete avoidance of CMP. In infancy a proven hypoallergenic CM substitute is needed. Due to clinically important residual allergenicity in some hypoallergenic formulae controlled clinical testing is necessary in each case before use. Goat’s milk proteins share identity with CMP Raw untreated cow’s milk and unhomogenized cow’s milk is as allergenic as normal pasteurized and homogenized milk products. The prognosis of CMPA/CMPI is good with a remission rate about 45-50% at one year, 60-75% at two years, and 85-90% at three years. Associated adverse reactions to other foods develop in about 50%, and allergy against inhalants in 50-80% before puberty.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
It is true that Human milk contains lactose:
The composition of human milk varies over the course of lactation and in each individual. The volume of breast milk produced is related to the weight of the infant. Human milk is markedly different from cows’ milk, both in terms of macronutrients and micronutrients. This includes the types of fatty acids present and factors affecting their absorption. The types of proteins present and their relative proportions and both qualitative and quantitative differences in the non-protein nitrogen fraction. There is much less lactose in cows’ milk than breast milk and the oligosaccharide fraction is very different. Their are major differences in content and absorption rates of vitamins and minerals from breast milk compared to cows’ milk or formula milk. Vitamin D and vitamin K status are possible problems for the breast-fed infant in certain circumstances. The nutritional status of the mother appears to influence fat concentration and thus the energy content of breast milk as well as its fatty acid composition and immunological properties. There is no coherent evidence, however, that the protein or lactose concentrations are greatly affected. There is some evidence that the concentration of vitamins in the breast milk are influenced by the mother’s intake. Minerals are less variable, with the exception of selenium. The response of the infant to human and formula milk differs with respect to endocrine function, stool motility, immune function and renal function. Infant formula milks are designed to mimic human milk as much as possible, but this is unlikely to ever be completely successful. A number of important compositional differences between human milk and formula milk remain. This includes the types and proportions of fatty acids present (which may be of developmental importance), the nature of the non-protein nitrogen component (also possible developmental importance) and the presence of immunoglobulins and fibronectin (which may protect the infant against infection).
But still mothers milk has a lot of other stuff that can make a child that seems to have a bad reaction to cow’s milk better if put back on breast milk.
Well, that’s all lovely, and if anyone had known all that stuff years ago when it was happening to me, I would not have used soy milk. However, I didn’t have a choice about weaning–she was 10 months old, I had developed gallstones, and the new fat-free diet I was on actually caused her to stop growing. So I weaned her, and she wound up on soy, which at the time was Miracle Food. She could still have yogurt, and small amounts of cheese, but milk gave her a facial rash and awful indigestion–while too much cheese made her vomit. Luckily, she grew out of it.
I do think that in our case it’s pretty much a genetic thing that was unavoidable, no matter how much dirt she played in or what soymilk she had. My brother has Crohn’s, I have a couple of odd reactions to things, and my husband had a milkfat allergy as a kid. It seems to us that it’s just a case of two slightly allergic people producing an allergic kid. And I also think that environmental pollution may well play a part; we’ve been pouring all sorts of things into the world with no idea of what long-term effects they may have.
At any rate, I think we have a strong tendency to want to control things, and also to blame parents–especially mothers–for almost everything. It can’t just be that it’s a matter of genetic accident; it must be Bad Mothering. (Just like autism and homosexuality used to be.) Either we’re over-hysterical, or over-protective, or overly hygenic, or something. Most people do think I’m over-hysterical and protective–until they see what happens when my daughter meets a nut. It kind of bugs me that so many people have to actually see how sick she gets before they understand what serious food allergies really mean, but I guess that’s human nature for you.
Man, I can’t believe it took me so long to notice this thread! I am allergic to peanuts.
And I am of the opinion that while peanut allergies are popping up more frequently, the histrionics some parents get into about it are just sound and fury. Granted, there are cases of unusual severity that can occasion reactions to even minute amounts of peanut, but it’s extremely rare. The number of parents freaking out over it seems to be way out of proportion to the actual incidents of children who are that allergic. I think it’s just the “in” thing for allergies. Allergies have trends like anything else, and it becomes a hobby for some parents to freak out about it. It used to be asthma, then lactose intolerance, now it’s peanuts, although I think wheat allergies are gaining fast, and I can’t wait until my actual problem is no longer in fashion.
We always had peanut butter in the house when I was a kid. The family didn’t usually eat it if I was there, but for putting in my sister’s lunch to be eaten at school? Fine! This consideration was due not so much to fear that I’d die, but because everyone felt so bad that I was denied the joys of the peanut butter sammich. I’ve had issues with irritation in my throat and eyes around shelled nuts, but really nothing serious – no worse than hayfever.
Once you’re old enough to know what you can’t have, life-threatening reactions are rare. In order to have a life-threatening reaction, I’d have to ingest more than a taste, and I think my allergy is pretty middle of the road, as peanut allergies go, maybe even tilting toward more severe. My last severe reaction was years ago, due to eating a cookie that turned out to have peanut butter M&Ms (which are the same size as, and look exactly like normal M&Ms. Stupid stupid Mars Company!), but I had popped an entire cookie full of them right into my mouth. A more common situation is I put something in my mouth, right away I get the peanut itchy taste, and go “mrohmyod – feanewth!” then spit it out, take benedryl, and have an itchy mouth and throat for a day. I don’t remember ever not knowing this and being careful, and I can remember back to about age four (my first reaction was apparently at about three), so I don’t think it should be an issue by the time the kid goes to school, as long as the parents have actually taught them how to deal with it rather than just using it as an excuse to put them in a bubble and fuss. (In fact, I remember that when I was in first grade, the cafeteria used to serve peanut butter crackers as lunch some days, and I’d have to tell the lunch lady I was allergic and get something else.)
I’ve had many more issues with people forgetting or trying to intentionally feed me peanuts to see what will happen that I have had with accidental exposure. I think having one’s mother kick up a tantrum in front of the whole school only endangers the children with actual allergies.
….and now that I’ve finished my own ranting, half of what I said has already been said by other people in the thread. Arrgh. Dangermom, it sounds like you are the exception to the rule, parent freak-out wise, because you have a real issue. But I have a co-worker who thinks her daughter is allergic and is constantly harping about it, and I just want to smack her - she talks about it like it’s her favorite TV show. I’d bet you dollars to donuts the daughter’s allergy is no where near as severe as the mother says, espcially since she seems to make no connection between complaining that the school needs to ban students eating peanuts at lunch or even before school, yet happily piles on the peanut topping whenever we have “build your own sundaes” for co-worker birthdays.
Our son is Korean. In Korea, at the time, we were told that the children were fed a rice based formula. Korean kids were generally recommended to go on soy formula on arrival in the U.S. - as that was seen as less of a change to their digestive systems than swithing to milk based formula (the thinking may have changed on this and Korea may now be using milk based formula). Lots of Korean babies had digestive problems with a milk based switch.
There aren’t a lot of choices in U.S. formulas for non-milk based - ok, one, soy. And maybe the really expensive stuff is something else, we didn’t even look. Since formula has a lot of other stuff added into it, buying rice milk at the co-op isn’t the nutrition a baby that doesn’t eat solid foods needs…they need baby formula. In the U.S. - that’s milk or soy. If your six month old kid curls up in a fetal position and screams after having a bottle, and stops when you switch to soy, you switch to soy.
But it isn’t as easy as saying “breastmilk is best.” It wasn’t even an option.
Oh, and by the time you are dealing with a colicky “I’ll do anything to stop this kid from screaming” baby, if you didn’t start breastfeeding or gave up early, its probably too late. While some women do successfully induce enough lactation to feed a child, most of us need to go through labor and get the hormone boost - and once the milk dries up, its usually starting from scratch again.
Thank you for posting, I keep expecting someone to pop in and tell me what a terrible father I am for keeping peanut butter in the house. Hearing from someone that’s actually allergic beats all us freaked-out parents trying to figure out what’s right.
From the research I’ve been doing - allergies tend to be linked. Seldom do people seem to be allergic to one thing, and they often have asthma as well. I wonder if there is something else in milk that occationally causes kids gastroentestinal distress, that isn’t in soy, that they are particularly sensitive to at a young age. Wouldn’t have to be a medical allergy, could be something in Mom’s diet if she’s breastfeeding, or something trace in milk formula. Anyway, I wonder if kids who are more likely to be senstive to whatever it is are more likely to end up on soy and - UNRELATED TO THE SOY - more likely to have other allergies later.
I still love the thought that breasts work like faucets and I can just return a kid to the breast…I so wish that were the case. For one thing, I’d start pumping now - it was the easiest way to loose fifteen pounds I’ve ever tried.
Father of a peanut allergic kid here. I didn’t have time to read thru all the posts, but I just wanted to quickly give you my take.
When he was 2yo, my wife noticed a rash forming around the mouth and some other parts, and properly concluded it was from the peanut butter. We took the rational next step… saw an allergist. They scored up his back with various substances and sure enough, major allergic reaction to the crazy nut.
<Here’s a cell phone photo of the reaction>
After the reaction took place… my son started screaming his head off. Doc had to put some kind of steroid on it to make it stop spreading… and it got twice as large as what you see in that photo. Doc told us NO peanuts whatsoever. Good call. Also keep him away from almonds and the like. Another good call. That is until he’s older and can be tested further. But the initial reaction seemed rather severe. If a TINY amount will do that to his back, what will it do to his throat? YIKES!
Anyway… The rest of my family LOVES peanut butter and we do keep it in the house. We also keep an epi-pen in the house. But my son is almost 4 now, and he knows to ask ANYONE if there are peanuts in any food anyone might try to give him. But it’s still scary. You never know what it might do, and I don’t intend on finding out. But we don’t get obsessed with it either… we just try and keep our eyes peeled, and tell those not in the know about it. Unfortunately, I think this hysteria might do more harm than good… makes certain people far too skeptical about it, and therefore not as careful around my son. The hysteria may be overboard, but the reality is, it can be pretty damn dangerous.
Question, was this kid fed soymilk as an infant? 
Same question to all parents posting here with their kids having peanut allergies. It could be an interesting result.
Not really. My mom fed him Rice milk maybe once or twice (but he didn’t seem to like it). For the most part, he breast fed the first 7 months, then it was 2% cow’s milk from then on. Still loves regular milk, drinks it like it’s going out of style… maybe it is?!