Early introduction of cow’s milk and prevention of milk allergy

Abstract

 Many studies had been conducted to elucidate the relationship between allergy and breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is likely to play a protective role against allergy. The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 4-6 months after childbirth, but a recent study on the relationship between the time when cow’s milk formula feeding was introduced and milk allergy revealed that cow’s milk formula introduction before the 14th day after birth decreased the incidence of milk allergy. Another retrospective study that investigated feeding pattern during the newborn and early infantile phases of milk allergy patients demonstrated that continuous feeding of cow’s milk formula was infrequent at early phases after birth. One study investigated the relationship between feeding patterns during the first 3 months after birth and milk allergy in infants with egg allergy. Continuous feeding of cow’s milk formula for the first 3 months promotes milk tolerance. These findings show that early introduction of continuous cow’s milk formula may protect against milk allergy. Breastfeeding reduces the incidence of infections, inflammatory bowel syndrome, sudden infant death syndrome, and several other diseases ; however, the effects and benefits of cow’s milk formula over breastfeeding remains unknown, which warrants further studies.