How is cow’s milk allergy diagnosed?

Cow’s milk allergy, or CMA, is an allergic reaction to one or more of the proteins in cow’s milk.

There are several tests that your doctor may have carried out to help diagnose cow’s milk allergy in your baby.

The diagnosis process may have taken several days to months and it may have involved a few visits to your doctor or specialists. This may have been frustrating, but seeing the process through to the end and finding the cause of your baby’s symptoms means you can now make positive changes that improve the quality of life of your baby and your family.

Allergy tests

There are several tests that your doctor or specialist might have carried out to diagnose cow’s milk allergy. They may have asked you to put your baby on an elimination diet followed by a food challenge. If your doctor suspected your baby might have an IgE-mediated allergy (where the symptoms usually occur immediately after consuming cow’s milk protein), they may have given your baby a skin prick or blood test. Read about the different types of cow’s milk allergy to help you understand the difference between IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated allergies.

Now that the diagnosis process has shown that your baby has cow’s milk allergy, you will have an explanation for their symptoms and can now make some changes for the better. Find out how to manage cow’s milk allergy so that the whole family can enjoy life in Living with cow’s milk allergy.