Colic or lactose intolerence?

[babyglow]

Hi,

My 7 week old baby has had a lot of issues with digestion since birth. The GP diagnosed colic/reflux, with the potential underlying cause being lactose intolerance/cows milk allergy. We've changed bottles and started using Colief.

The reason I'm posting is because while a lot of the cramps seem to have improved or even disappeared, my baby still wakes up screaming at night and is very difficult to settle. His dirty nappies are more like watery poo, and he is very pukey, but there are no rashes or anything to suggest an allergy. Over the last few days he has lost his appetite and isn't finishing his bottles.

Should I go back to the doctor to ask if this is still colic, or keep going with colief?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[NickyEds]

I'd go back to the gps. It's extremely unlikely to be lactose intolerance as it's very rare in babies and he would have needed prescription milk from very early on. Unfortunately this is prime age for colic- some of my friends babies just screamed for 2 hours every night at around this age. When you say he's pukey is it just posseting or is he bringing up full feeds? We were prescribed Baby Gaviscon for posseting but TBH ds just grew out of it.

[babyglow]

Thank you for replying; I took your advice and went back to the GP. They've requested a stool sample (oh the glamour of motherhood) to rule out diarrhea or anything nasty. GP felt all around my baby's abdomen and said there was no swelling or irritation which as you say, rules out any milk or lactose allergies. GP also said that Baby Gaviscon was useless!

If it is a continuation of the colic then fingers crossed it won't go on for too long.

[NickyEds]

If it is colic you could be over the worst at least. Most of my friends babies grew out of it by 12 weeks (I know that must seem forever away). Slings and Tiger in the tree hold seem to help. My ds had many gut grumblings at this age and I think some of it is just getting used to having to digest more food for themselves. Good luck getting the poo sample!

[WaftingWilberry]

Just to say that cow's milk protein allergy doesn't necessarily present with a rash, it can be vomiting alone. GP will probably want to know about weight gain as slow weight gain can be an indicator too. Good luck, hope it sorts out soon!

More info here

www.isitcowsmilkallergy.co.uk/getting-my-baby-diagnosed/cma-or-lactose-intolerance/