Milk intolerance?

[EllaMenoPea]

13 month old DD appears to be intolerant to milk. I bf for a year and she did have symptoms so I cut down on dairy which helped. Since being on cows milk she has had bloating, wind and restless nights, it seems as if her stomach hurts. Last week the doc prescribed nutramigen but it tastes horrid and she just won't drink it. I have tried soy/cows and goats milk and all have the same effect. We have a doctors appointment tomorrow about this, any advice on what I could be asking for? TIA

[Pancakeflipper]

Ask to be referred. You need to get to the bottom of whether it is a dairy intolerence and if so is CMP (cows milk protein) or lactose or both, which will affect what you feed her.

There is another option to Nutramigen in formula called Neocate (but it is awfully expensive and some doctors reluctant to prescribe)which is not pleasant either but my son was very happy on it. He went onto oat milk when he was 3. But at her age I would be careful so you need to be referred.

[EllaMenoPea]

Thank you. Sorry to be thick but is that referred to be allergy tested or to a dietician? Or do they lead to the same thing? Very new to this!

[Pancakeflipper]

We saw a dietitian who was helpful and we also see see a consultant from the gastro clinic.

Allergy testing for dairy seems to be quite random. They will probably want you to do a diet diary and eliminate dairy. Though my son was having an operation for something else so they took the opportunity to do a biopsy a the same time.

I would push to just get referred to anyone! One can refer you to the other.

I found my Health Visitor was the one who supported us and got a quick referral for us.

[EllaMenoPea]

Thank you!

[Gileswithachainsaw]

We saw a dietician at around the same age. The two options she gave me that she recommended for dd were the Alpro junior plus and KOKO coconut milk.

She loved both. I stopped giving her the formula around that age when I ran out.

[EllaMenoPea]

I think soya is having the same effect but the coconut milk looks very much like a possibility, I will ask tomorrow. Thank you. Also, someone mentioned Coleif which can be also be added to cows milk to break down the part that causes an allergy, does anyone have any experience??

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Co lief I believe breaks down lactose.

Which is useless if it's the protein your dd is intolerant to. Which is likely if soya has same effect.

[EllaMenoPea]

I see, fingers crossed for coconut milk!

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Good luck

I've had no problems with the coconut milk. It's Lower in fat than ff cows milk would be but That's easily addressed in other ways.

[EllaMenoPea]

We've been given Pepti to try, tastes a little better but still not great so she only had a mouthful do you know if Almond milk is OK? The doctor just told me its trial and error and she should grow out of it soon so not very helpful. Think I'll see a HV next week.....

[mummymellonie]

Hi EllaMenoPea, I've just posted a very similar thread about my DS. He is 9 months, EBF, and having the same problems. My older DS had all of the same symptoms too, and only now that he is nearly 3 he seems better (but is still on the Lactofree stuff). We didn't know what was wrong until he was over a year old, as our doctor insisted that it was Colic and didn't really believe there was anything wrong. We were eventually referred to a dietician and after food diaries and cutting different things we were told it was Lactose Intolerance. I believed it was, at the time, and cut Lactose out of his diet and used a lot of Soya. This definitely helped, but looking back, I don't think it solved the problem.
Now that my our baby has the same issues, I recognised the symptoms, cut Lactose from his diet (and mine as he is still BF) and he is still suffering.
I'm not keen to go back to the doctors, so will be phoning my HV on Monday for some advice as it seems to be getting a lot worse (he's not sleeping for long, wakes crying, seems to be in terrible pain).
First time round we weren't given anything like Co lief. I just don't think they really believed us when we told them just how distressed our baby was!
I've got a lactose free formula to try, but he's not interested in anything but breast, which is fine just now, but I don't really have enough milk (or time!) to be expressing. He's still to young to be moving him on to anything else, so I'm feeling a bit stuck at the moment!
Has the Pepti helped any? I'm really interested in finding some recommendations to try.

[EllaMenoPea]

She's not a big fan of the Pepti either so I'm giving her milk in the morning as she seems to be able to tolerate a small amount and then vitamins and getting fat in to her diet in other ways, this has been recommended by the HV. Are you sure it's a lactose intolerance and not a protein allergy? DD is CMPI which is why she also couldn't handle soy, maybe have a look at that and see if it rings true? I'm not really sure what to suggest as we're still figuring it all out, I would just say speak to your HV about CMPI as well and good luck!

[mummymellonie]

No, i doubt it is LI. I've cut everything from his diet, and he is definitely sleeping better even within just two days of diet change. But he's just on fruit and veg for the moment. I'll give it a week or so and then slowly introduce one thing at a time. I've not yet contacted my HV as I'm pretty sure she's just going to ask me to do this anyway. Will see how we get on this week and will look in to CMPI too, as this seems to be far more common than I thought. Thanks for your help!
One other thing, do you have any other children, and if so, do they have the same intolerance?

[EllaMenoPea]

No she's my PFB so I'm very much trial and error unfortunately! The only other thing I would say is I have heard that if they're a bit younger they might drink the Pepti etc it's more that over ones tend to be too used to other milks so won't stand the taste. Not sure if it's worth trying for you?

[mummymellonie]

I think I might try it. Although I don't hold out much hope! He likes breast milk or water and that's it! I've tried him with a couple of formula's but he's not interested. If he has to stay on the boob, and I have to stay off the cakes and coffee's etc, then thats ok. It's done wonders for my diet!!
I might also try my older son on normal milk. I've got a feeling that he's just outgrown the intolerance (dairy, or whatever it actually was!), and I'm giving him Lactose free stuff for no reason!
It is a nightmare to figure out, isn't it! My HV hasn't bothered calling me back. Tbh, past experience is telling me not to bother anyway!

[misshoohaa]

Following this thread with interest. My 5 month old DD is showing signs of some kind of allergy and I'm lost at where to start.

She has been exclusively breastfeed and I tried a little formula which resulted in mucus green poos that were weird and very frequent! 9 days later and they are getting back to normal but just a little bit of formula really caused havoc with her. Her cradle cap (which I think might be ezcema) flaked up and she was pretty grouchy! And that was after only about 2 ounces of formula.

Happy to keep breastfeeding for a little while but knowing she's going onto solids in a few weeks is scaring me, do I just give her some dairy and see what happens?

I took her to the DR and they were fairly dismissive so don't feel very supported, and my HV just said to try some other formulas and see what happened?


I do have a bit of dairy in my diet so I need to cut that out. All very new so think it will take me a while to work it out. What do I put in tea and coffee!????

[EllaMenoPea]

That's so interesting you said about cradle cap as DD has always had it and it's really gone down now I've cut out the dairy, I never put two and two together! You could use almond milk or coconut milk although I'm not sure how coconut milk in coffee would tast!

[misshoohaa]

I just made DS cheese on toast for lunch, god I will miss cheese......

I think I'm going to find this no dairy thing quite a challenge. No cake!? Weird tea and coffee? Cheese! Oh my.....

[mummymellonie]

Yeh, it seems an eternity since I had a nice bit of cheese!!
Day 3 of complete dairy diet cut and I have one pretty happy baby! He seems a lot hungrier than normal, but I suppose that's to be expected seeing as all he's getting at the moment is fruit and veg. Not sure where to start with introducing other things back in to his diet. Sorely tempted not to bother for a couple of weeks so that he can enjoy feeling normal for a change! Seeing the doc in the morning, but am not feeling optimistic about it. Can't imagine how helpful he's going to be unless he can fast track us an appointment with a dietician!

[misshoohaa]

Can you introduce some protein mummymellonie? Then he can fill up on that perhaps? Great that he is a happy bunny, is he breast fed? Do you have soy in your diet?

Cutting out dairy is hard! I'm starving, although I think it's my cake and chocolate addiction playing tricks on me...... As I've eaten more than enough!

Little ones cradle cap is inflamed again so really need to give this a go as I don't want to put chemicals on her if it's preventative.

[EllaMenoPea]

If it's CMPI soy will likely react too although not always. Avocado is a really good source of fat. And like PP said protein is really good so chicken and veg etc. Will he eat pasta or bread? It's great he is happier but he might want something more filling? How was the doctors?

[mummymellonie]

We had a great night last night so I'm certain that this diet cut has worked.
Yes, he'll eat pretty much anything I give him. I'd heard that about Soy so am trying not to have any of that in his diet too (or mine) but this seems more difficult for some reason! It's in everything!! He's back on his normal diet (just minus milk) so he's a content, full boy today.
Yes misshoohaa, he's still BF. Was half thinking of trying to finish this month but will just continue until he decides he's had enough. That puts the formula problem off for a while! Just need to deal with the teeth in the meantime!
DS had a very fine rash a few times but no cradle cap. I did put that down to his diet so I'm pretty sure it's all linked.
I've started baking a LOT, I can't do without cakes! Dairy free home baking tastes great when you're not allowed anything else! I kid on it's for my other DS but I generally wait till he's in bed then eat it all!!!! I keep telling myself that it's ok considering all the other stuff I'm not allowed to eat
Saw doc this morning. Not very helpful but he's getting me an appointment with the dietician so that's good. DS will probably have outgrown it before appointment is through tho! I'm so surprised how little the doc knows/is willing to tell you about this considering it seems to be so common. My doc was telling me not to bother cutting anything out of my diet as it doesn't affect my milk!! Everyone seems to have a different idea!
Any butter recommendations? The dairy free spread I get is awful!!!!

[misshoohaa]

I shall be doing some baking tonight then.... I've barely made it through the day without tea/coffee (which makes biscuits pointless) cake and chocolate. DD is an awful sleeper so I was comfort eating my way through this first 6 months!

Great to have some virtual support with this as the GPs seem to be very blasé about it and kind of feel I am just wading through treacle and I don't actually know if DD has an allergy and if so what to? She had such a small amount of formula with such definite symptoms coinciding that it had to be something?

[mummymellonie]

Both my boys are terrible sleepers too, I feel your pain!
We're not having such a great night tonight , we're up eating banana at the moment. Not sure if he's just hungry or what. What I'd give for one full night's sleep!!!!!