Dairy Diaries

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that we had a rough first few months with Olivia.  It turned out that she had a Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI).  Basically it means that her body wasn't producing the proper enzyme to break down the proteins in those types of foods.  This was causing severe stomach issues.  As soon as we put her on the special formula she was 100% better.

Most kids outgrow this.  Some as early as 6 or 9 months.  Others deal with it until they are 2.  I think there is about 1 percent that never do grow out of it.  We were hopeful that Olivia would outgrow it by 1. That didn't happen.  Her doctor said to just wait until age 2 and see what happens.  That was our plan.

But as she is getting older and more picky about her foods, I started getting a little more lax on the issue.  I had remembered the doctor saying that some kids with MSPI can handle milk or dairy products better when they are cooked.  Over the last month or two I have gradually let Olivia eat meals I have cooked that have had cheese in them.  She's did fine.

I quit putting the allergy sticker on her at MOPS and nursery and let her partake in animal crackers and goldfish.  I was pretty sure this wasn't going to be an issue and it wasn't.

Just recently we have let her have dairy based yogurt.  Mainly because we were out and about and almond milk yogurt wasn't readily available.  I figured what is two months of waiting going to do?  Either she's going to have an issue, in which case this would probably be a life long thing for her, or she had likely grown out of it.  She didn't have any issues!  Yay!  It appears that we may be past this pesky little diagnosis.

For the time being we are planning on keeping her on almond milk.  We aren't comfortable giving her cows milk and aren't quite sure if and when we will give it to her.  Honestly, in a perfect world we'd like to give up dairy completely, but that's easier said than done.  So we'll let her eat the things with dairy in them that we do and just go from there.

It sure is going to be nice not to have to read every single label!  Praise the Lord!