is it possible to be allergic to breast milk?

[Mrssquirty]

hiya.
I posted on the general forum about my daughter being sicky (she is17 weeks old)

I mentioned to my mum about her throwing up after every feed, and my mum said it remindedherofmy brother who wasallergic to cows milk and something found in human milk too. so he had to feed him soya.

could it be possible for my daughter to be allergic to my milk? and maybe that be why she is throwing up so much?

thanks

lindsay

[BecomingMothers]

Hi Lindsay,

It would be unusual and rare for an infant to be allergic to her mother's breastmilk. What might be going on is that your infant may be sensitive to the protein in cow's milk and thus, fussy when nursing and "throwing up". It is difficult sometimes to determine the quantity of "throw up" as the breastmilk is mixed with saliva and can appear to be greater than perhaps it is. Infant's can be sensitive to items in the mother's diet, however, there are only a very few physiologic situations in which an infant breastmilk (from mama) is contraindicated due to non-tolerance of the human breastmilk by the infant's condition.

What you may want to do is make certain your baby is burped well when breastfed to make certain that the "throw up" is not breastmilk on top of a gas bubble. You may also want to make certain that she is not being overfed.

From a clinical perspective, we want to make certain that your baby is gaining weight and thriving. If she is not, do consider your diet and eliminate the cow's milk first (for at least one week) to see if you notice an improvement. Additional items to eliminate from your diet would be gluten, gassy vegetables, chocolate, caffeine, nuts, strawberries....(the list is quite extensive and you can see that diet elimination can result in a limited diet). If you continue to be concerned, a visit to your daughter's primary care provider would be warranted.

Take Care,

Stephanie Moore, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Owner/Lactation Consultant
Becoming Mothers
Boulder, CO
www.becomingmothers.com