Elimination diet and food challenge
Your doctor will first examine your baby and ask about any
symptoms you may have noticed. If cow’s milk protein allergy
(CMPA), also known as cow’s milk allergy (CMA), is suspected,
your doctor may then perform specific allergy tests to confirm
the diagnosis. These tests may include a blood test, skin prick
test, patch test, or elimination diet followed by food
challenge.
It is important that you do not experiment with a cow’s
milk-free diet for your baby without recommendation and
guidance from your doctor. Based on the age of your
baby and the severity of the symptoms, your doctor will
recommend the most suitable solution.
The best way for your doctor to confirm or exclude the diagnosis
of CMPA is through an elimination diet, which involves
eliminating cow’s milk proteins from your baby’s diet, followed
by food challenge, in which cow’s milk protein is reintroduced.
Although CMPA is rarely observed in breastfed babies, if you
are
breastfeeding, your doctor will help you eliminate cow’s
milk proteins from your diet.
If your baby has an allergic reaction to cow’s milk proteins, you
are likely to notice improvements very quickly after starting
the elimination diet; most symptoms will disappear within 2 to 4
weeks, and all should completely disappear within 6 weeks. If
improvements in symptoms are seen, then your doctor will suggest
reintroducing cow’s milk proteins into your baby’s diet in small
amounts to check if symptoms
reappear to confirm the diagnosis. If avoiding cow’s milk
proteins does not help your baby, it is unlikely that your baby
has CMPA, and your doctor will investigate other possible causes
of the symptoms observed.
If the diagnosis of CMPA is confirmed, the good news is that with
the support of your doctor, CMPA can be managed. The key is to
seek support from your doctor as early as possible to ensure an
early and correct diagnosis. Diagnosis of CMPA should not impact
your breastfeeding routine. Mothers are encouraged to continue
breastfeeding even when their babies have CMPA. This usually
requires qualified dietary counselling to completely exclude all
sources of cow’s milk protein from the mother’s diet.
Diagnosis of CMPA should not impact your breastfeeding routine.
Mothers are encouraged to continue breastfeeding even
when their babies have CMPA. This usually requires qualified
dietary counselling to completely exclude all sources of
cow’s milk protein from the mother’s diet.
Learn more about
feeding with CMPA
