10/10/2025
Many mothers hear the phrase “my baby was allergic to breast milk” …but here’s the truth: babies can’t be allergic to human milk.
What actually happens is that a baby may react to certain proteins that pass through breast milk from the parent’s diet, most commonly cow’s milk protein, soy, or eggs. When a baby shows symptoms like, blood-streaked stools, rashes, or reflux, it’s not the breast milk causing it. It’s their immune system responding to a foreign protein that slipped through.
Breast milk itself is designed for human babies. It contains living antibodies, enzymes, growth factors, and protective cells that actually reduce the risk of allergies long-term. It doesn’t create the allergy, it simply reveals what your baby’s body is sensitive to.
And here’s the empowering part… in most cases, you don’t have to stop breastfeeding. Once the allergen (like dairy or soy) is removed from your diet, the milk no longer carries that protein, and the baby’s symptoms often resolve beautifully.
So no, breast milk doesn’t cause allergies, it unmasks them. It shows you what your baby’s little body needs help processing so healing can begin. 💛
You and your milk are not the problem —
you’re part of the solution.
