Dairy dilemma

Hi I'm new to the website, have had asthma myself since childhood, but have improved dramatically since then and now have mild asthma.

My little boy was diagnosed as having asthma on Friday. He's had prolonged coughing after colds etc previously and has now coughed for about five weeks non-stop and a bit of wheezing, especially at night. He's having a tough time at night at the moment especially and I understand that with taking his preventative inhaler it might not have any effect for a week or two (as they contain anti-inflammatories I gather). My dilemma is that my little girl (now 5) had an allergy to cow's milk protein (symptoms of violent sickness/diarrhoea) and has now grown out of it. I've just been wondering whether to try omitting dairy products from his diet for the time being in the hope that he might not suffer as much and we might not have to wait the week or two before his symptoms improve. As my daughter had the allergy I know what the diet should include without dairy products, but he may have a hard time without his milk (and soya milk is yuk if you're not used to it!) and other loved products such as yoghurts. Then again if his wheezing and coughing does ease a lot it will be worth it. We even went to Asda yesterday for a couple of things and he was coughing so much he was sick (and fortunately I just managed to catch it in a cardboard milk box!). What do you think?

[Hidden]

It is worth a try - won't do any harm. Have you tried oat or rice milk - I find Rice Dream milk pallitable on my breakfast cereal. You can get tasty soya yoghurts and soya ice cream but I wouldn't recommend the soya cheeses.

[Hidden]

Hi

Although you are used to dealing with dairy free diet i would suggset that you still speak to your GP or Health visitor first.My son was dairyu free for 5 yrs due to severe excema but has luckily grown out of the worst of it and tolerates moderate amounts of dairy. My son now prefers the soya puds to normal yougurts/mousses!

Hope he improves soon.

[Hidden]

Hi Suzie,

Sorry to hear that your son has asthma... hope the medication gets things under control soon.

As Hops says, even though you know what you are doing because of your daughter, I would suggest that you speak to your GP first. As you probably know, it's generally advised that you don't cut any food group out of a child's diet without getting medical advice.

You might well find that things settle down a lot once the inhalers kick in in any case.

Take care

Em H