CMA How to Overcome Allergy to Cow’s Milk
A milk allergy, or CMA, affects 2-7% of babies who are under one. The allergy symptoms are easy to spot, although you may need to visit your doctor or health visitor to get confirmation that this is really what your baby is suffering from. A milk allergy can cause symptoms similar to other allergies when milk products are taken in. These symptoms include the development of hives or rashes, breathing difficulties, stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and eczema. Milk intolerance is similar to a milk allergy and will produce all the same symptoms except for breathing difficulties and hives. Thankfully, the laws behind modern day packaging mean that a label must state if the product contains milk, so you should always know if you are giving a milk-related product to your baby.
The Variety of Alternatives to Cow’s Milk Formula
Obviously you will need to find an alternative to feeding your baby milk products in the starting years of his or her life. A GP should recommend an infant formula that is extensively or fully hydrolysed. This means that the milk proteins present in the formula will be easier to digest because they are smaller, so the cow’s milk should have a much less better chance of causing an allergy. Only the GP will be able to prescribe and give you access to this type of formula as other formulas that claim to be like this in the shops have not broken down the allergic causing properties of the milk proteins far enough. There are some other options.
Soya Infant Formula
SMA Wysoy is a formula produced by SMA, who is an expert in manufacturing baby formulas. This soya formula is useful for babies up to six months of age who are not being breastfed, or for young children who are undergoing a weaning diet who have discovered they are lactose intolerant. The specially tailored formula is nutritionally complete and can be used in recipes in the place of milk. It is alright to be used as part of halal or vegetarian diets. Nevertheless, before using this formula you should seek help from your doctor to ask if it is appropriate. Also, if your baby is on a diet of soya formula mixed with solid foods seek help from your doctor or health visitor as to whether your baby’s diet is nutritionally balanced.
CMA or cow’s milk allergy is a condition your doctor should be able to spot following making an overall assessment that will look at symptoms, medical history and allergy test results.
