It’s temporary, but that’s hardly reassuring to new parents.
How might an infant be exposed to cow’s milk?
Some breastfeeding moms drink it, and some baby formulas contain it.
Babies differ in how sensitive they are to milk proteins.
Allergic colitis isnt common its thought to affect between 2 and 3 percent of infants.
Why some babies develop the condition and others dont is not fully understood.
Heredity may play a role as well.
But the symptoms of allergic colitis arent always this obvious.
As symptoms get worse, however, youll likely realize theres a digestion problem.
Allergic colitis can make eating uncomfortable for a baby.
The resulting weight loss and protein loss will cause your baby a lot of distress.
As soon as youre aware that somethings wrong, call yourpediatrician.
Your doctor will let you know if you better see a specialist.
How Allergic Colitis Is Diagnosed
There isnt a single test that spots allergic colitis.
This might be blood that can only be seen through a microscope or detected with biochemical tests.
If youre feeding your infant with formula, youll need to switch to one thats hypoallergenic.
If youre breastfeeding, youll need to switch to a dairy-free diet.
It takes up to 72 hours for a mother’s breast milk to become free of milk protein.
During that time, youll need to give your baby a hypoallergenic formula.
Once youve altered your or the babys diet, youll usually see less bleeding within 72 to 96 hours.
Sometimes, however, it can take longer for the colon to heal.
The condition also improves with passing time.
Its also possible, though not usual, that a baby has a rectal fissure or tear.
During this time, its still important to introduce new foods into your childs diet.
Babies need to begin to get used to them.
And solids, like cereals, contain new vitamins and minerals not found in breast milk or formula.
Here are some tips that may help you resolve your babys allergic colitis symptoms.
Dont assume you know what the contents of a product are.
Ingredients and additives change all the time.
Keep your pediatrician in the loop.When you change and add foods, involve your pediatrician.
Additional reporting byJordan M. Davidson.
Barbara Sadick is a freelance health writer based in New York City.
Health writing is Barbaras second career.
For twenty-five years, she was in the photojournalism business.
At Columbia, Barbara spent four semesters working on and studying issues of overweight and obesity.
She also wrote a grant proposal for funding of that program.
What Are Food Allergies?
