Re: Slightly OT: Info on allergies & cow's milk alternatives please

Hi -

My web site has some information.  I hope it's a good start.

--Beth Kevles
 bethkevles@aol.com
 http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
 Disclaimer:  Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
 advice.  Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE:  No email is read at my MIT address.  Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

In brief: the midwife/nanny/lactation consultant who helped me out when
Froggie was a newborn phoned me today to ask about allergies.  She is
looking for resources on baby allergies, especially to cow's milk
products.

Can anybody provide any suggestions please?  Helpful things would
include:

1) Books
2) Webpages
3) Clued-up healthcare professionals that she can consult or refer her
clients, especially nutritionists, dieticians, pediatricians etc.
Ideally such people would be London-based.
4) Info on alternatives such as goat & soya - recommended brands,
analyses, any opinions/experiences

This LC is extremely pro-BF so please don't slam her (or me) for asking
about this.  She turned to me because I found very early on that Froggie
is allergic to cow's milk products but is perfectly ok on goat's milk
products (as am I).  She said that she's always preferred to recommend
standard cow formula (1) because it's been more extensively used &
studied but that so  many clients are phoning up with problems (acid
reflux, eczema, protein allergies, lactose intolerance were the four she
mentioned) that she realises she needs to bone up on this.  Clearly
different problems require different approaches.

Last summer I met a woman whose lovely baby was exactly the same age as
Froggie, but who was considerably smaller.  And Froggie is a petite baby
herself.  This baby was allergic to all kinds of milk including,
staggeringly, breastmilk.  She had to be fed bottles of, as her mum put
it, "pharmaceutical pretend food, thickened with rice flour to make it
look vaguely milky, so the parents can pretend it's milk.'  Does anybody
know what this stuff might be?

All help gratefully received.

(1) When it's been necessary, breastmilk being otherwise unavailable