Allergy Chronicles: How did I find out about my child's allergies?

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When you have a baby-- it does not cross your mind that your child may obtain food allergies. My first child has absolutely NO allergies. Zero. Zilch. Nada! So... it was really not in my mind.

I always wanted to exclusively breastfeed... but it didn't happen the first time and I also supplemented with formula. So I did the same with my second. I actually start supplementing at 2 months. Everytime I would give my child the formula, he would immediately vomit and get a horrible rash over his face. I would only supplement at night.. but each time I would give it to him he would vomit. So that started to become concerning and took him to the GP.

The immediately pointed it out as a milk allergy and I should get him tested.

He had a cows milk allergy. What in the world do I do now? I don't have any experience in this-- my first song guzzled down formula like water!
And in this my son was faltering in weight so I had to find something that would stay down... so I even started food purees early since milk was out of the question.
With some help I was also able to discover 'Koko' which is maize porridge that originates from Ghana. It's made with corn dough and water, and you can add sugar and other ingredients to make it more wholesome. This became my son's 'milk', and that went down well. So along with the purees, his weight was still not meeting up to par, but he was gaining. He was also doing green poops which I had never seen before-- and I would see them everyday. I thought it was another sort of allergic reaction... and when I took him to the health visitor she looked concerned but never actually told me anything.

Thankfully I didn't do anything and the green poops disappeared.

Later on down the line.. I found out he had other allergies too... soya... coconut.. egg... legumes.. almond.. oat... a whole list isn't it? So that rules out all milk alternatives.

They gave me this horrible hypo allergenic milk that my son just refused and did not drink. 

It's been a rough road.. but I think finding out early did help; but I hope he does grow out of it!

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