Give cow’s milk to an infant and he is going to grow healthy and strong. Is it true or false?? This is a good question. Humans are the only mammals on the planet who keep consuming milk after the weaning from the mother. Furthermore, humans eat milk products that come from other mammals like cows and goats. This is food for thought. As a parent, how to find out that your infant has milk allergy and/or milk protein intolerance and how to help him. This article will answer your questions.

There are a lot of infants and adults with cow’s milk allergy. Following are some statistics:

-In 2007, there were 3 million children under the age of 18 who have had food or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months. 1
-Food allergy among children under the age of 18 has increased by 18% from 1997 to 2007. 1
-About 3 million children in the U.S. have food allergies. One in 17 children under the age of 3 has food allergy.
-Milk allergy is the most common food allergy during childhood, affecting 2.5% of the children under the age of 3 in the U.S. 2 The tendency is: as the child gets older, the incidence of milk allergy is reduced.

The statistics talk by themselves. Parents must be aware of the food that nourish children.

Milk allergy is a more serious problematic than milk protein intolerance. Milk allergy is a food allergy. It affects different systems: respiratory, digestive and dermatological. With the respiratory system, the most common affections for infants are: sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and even otitis. The digestive system is more related with colic pain, reflux and gas. For the dermatological system, your infant can have exzema and skin rash. With a severe milk allergy, the clinical disorders are worse: anaphylactic reactions, severe dermatitis, oesophagitis and constipation. Milk protein intolerance produces a range of symptoms very similar to milk allergy symptoms. It can include blood and/or mucus in the feces. Treatment for milk protein intolerance is the same as milk allergy.

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