All you Mums/Dads with a lactose intolerent child, I need your advise please!

[Haribosmum]

DS2 is 10 months old. He was diagnosed with lactose intolerence at 2 months and has been on LF formula since. He has a bit of a tolerence because he can manage baby food and biscuits etc with dairy in it. We tried re-introducing lactose into his diet at 6 months with explosive results I tried him with a bit of yoghut on Saturday afternoon and it seemed to go through his system within 10 minutes. I tried a bottle of 'normal' baby formula on Sunday morning and pretty much to same result.

My MIL and SIL (who's a nurse so thinks she knoes 'everything') say he should be kept on the normal formula for at least a week because the yucky poos might just be because he's not used to lactose. Me and DH don't think there's much point and we don't want him to get his painful tummy aches again and also last time we tried the re-introduction he go really bad nappy rash which ended up at thrush. He was so sore poor wee lamb.

BUT we want to make sure he really is still lactose intolerent- do you thing we should try for a week or are the results of the past couple of days pretty much conclusive?

I'm going to the doctors tomorrow so will ask then as well but just thought the combined power of MN might have some answers as well.....

Also, he's a tiny baby. He was 6.5lbs at birth (which I know isn't that tiny really) but he's still really really small, bald and only has 2 teeth. My SIL reckons he's not getting enogh calcium and it's all connected with the lactose intolerence but I'm not so sure...what do you guys think?

[minesalargeone]

I'd say its pretty conclusive - you have a lactose intolerant baby.

My dd was not keeping any formula or anything with dairy in it down from the age of 6weeks. We struggled to find out why and the GPs were baffled. She lost a lot of weight and by about 3-4 months old the HV came up with the suggestion that she was lactose intolerant.

We'd try formula and it would be projectile vomitting (ie across the room!) so we tried dairy and that had the same effect. She also developed very dry skin on her trunk and a rash front and back.

In the end I managed to get soya formula prescribed for her - I was concerned about the lack of calcium in her diet so the GP prescribed her Abidec which is an excellent vitamin supplement. Until she was two years old she was fed with soya formula, soya yoghurts (Alpro) and all her food had to be free of dairy, lactose, protein, egg, milk etc etc.

It wasn't easy but after going through all this we found that children intolerant to lactose/dairy is on the increase. After even just a week or so of being on soya she grew before our eyes and caught up with the weight she had lost.

The specialists told us that she would 'grow out of it' by the age of 2yrs old and they were right. We slowly brought milk and egg back into her diet and she was fine.

I certainly wouldn't follow the suggestion of trying your baby on formula or dairy for a week - from what you have put in your post I'd say it's pretty definite he is intolerant and if he is small anyway I think you ought to look at getting him onto something he can keep down.

[Tartanmam]

My ds is allergic to dairy and but when we started weaning him i used to give him biscuits etc with milk powder in them, he also had small amounts of butter on his toast (all before i realised he was allergic - it was only when he actually had some fresh milk and cream at nine months we found that out).

His weight gain was pretty much non-existent from siz months to nine months which we had put down to various colds he had but as soon as i cut out all dairy products he started putting weight on (and his constant cold improved as well). Its just a suggestion but it might be worth cutting out all dairy - apart from your formula - for a couple of weeks if you are worried about his weight?

As for the calcium surely there is as much calcuim in LF formula as in normal formula, and i never got my first tooth until i was thirteen months but no calcium problems here as far as i know.

[minesalargeone]

It's a known fact that dairy causes snotty noses/colds etc. Whenever my dd was sick she would also vomit up a lot of phlegm. I later learnt that it was the lining of the gut that was responsible for the vomitting phlegm - the gut would line itself to protect it from the lactose. All very complicated but it explained why she always had a cold, diarrhoea, vomitting, rashes, dry skin etc etc....and loss of weight.

Soya for us meant weight gain and happy baby!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Don't keep him on normal formula for a week if it's making him ill. Put him back on the LF (is it actually the lactose, or the cows milk protein, which is more usual in babies?), and try again in a few months.

My dd couldn't have anything containing dairy. Even half a digestive biscuit at about 14 months was enough to upset her tummy. She's now 20 months, and has been able to drink cows milk for a couple of weeks now (she doesn't have a lot as she's still breastfed, but seems to be fine with any quantity that she's tried). We would just try tiny amounts every few months, until we didn't get a bad reaction.

[minesalargeone]

CSWS - I was told my dd was allergic to the cows milk protein but we were never 100% certain so kept her on lactose free too. I agree don't keep a baby on formula if its making him ill - its just not worth taking the risk.

[POTC]

I had a lactose or milk protein intolerant (never established which) ds1 until he was 3.5
I tried re-introducing dairy several times over those years and always got the results you've described within 24 hours. When he was 3.5 I tried again and it didn't happen so he went back on dairy gradually.

I'd say that you should stick with the instincts of you and your dh

[minesalargeone]

...as the saying goes....'Mum knows best' !

[moljam]

my ds is intolerant to cows milk but ok with goats milk.gp said this is what he has but been really unhelpful,were going back on tuesday for yet another visit.they actually said so long as diarhoa,asthma,ezcema,sore bottom etc is not bothering him it would be ok to give him stuff!!!
so my advice is,your gp is helping you,listen to them not your sil.its obviously upsetting his little belly.

[minesalargeone]

So does your GP think having diarrhoea, asthma, ezcema, sore bottom is ok with your ds and you?

[moljam]

yes!theyd already said hes likely to be intolerant to cows milk,no other advice.keep going back(while ds keeps having reaction-didnt realise its in so much.although he is alot better than he was on the goats milk in his bottle,just everything else)asking for help,none given just saying some people go through life with diarhoa etc,just one of those things.i know how i feel when i have shits so he must feel awful.unless ofcourse hes so used to it!

[minesalargeone]

Honestly...what planet do these gp's originate from?

[moljam]

well we are going again on tuesday,probably no more help still but i'll keep going back.i just honestly dont know what im doing.sounds dumb but really!!!!i know hes intolerant to cows milk but is it labelled as anything else in foods?

[minesalargeone]

Yes its labelled as 'milk' - you'll often find labels will read 'dairy free'. I had to read every label when I shopped for my dd - nightmare but you soon get used to it and it becomes a part of your shopping trip! In the end she lived off my home cooked food - that way I knew it had no milk/lactose/protein in it. Unless something said 'dairy free' I never bought it. Better to be safe than sorry because the repercussions would be horrendous and would lay her low for days.

[moljam]

where do you find dairy free foods?and do you know any good cook books with dairy free?hes veggie too.

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Can be labelled as whey, casein, milk, milk proteins, lactose. Think I've forgotten one, and obv things like cheese, butter, cream.

If the product has an allergy section (which all products manufactured after Nov 05 (I think) should have), then it will say contains milk (there are 8 common allergens usually listed, so if it says something like 'contains soya, gluten, nuts' but doesn't mention milk then it's ok).

[minesalargeone]

I bought most of dd's dairy free stuff from Tesco - and Sainsburys have a good range in their 'Free From' selection. You just have to look at all the labels - time consuming but you soon get used to what is free and what is not.

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Fresh food is all dairy free, so you don't need any special shops for it!

All the major supermarkets seem to have a 'free from' section these days though, where you can get cakes and stuff. Also health food shops like Holland & Barrett, where you can also get dairy free soft and hard cheese (though cheezly is revolting!).

For an ice cream substitute you need Swedish Glace, which I have found in Tesco, Waitrose, H&B, though not all branches.
For butter, use Pure or vitalite (the latter has soya in it, so obv make sure he is ok with that).

[minesalargeone]

You can also get Pure soya....and as for dairy free cheese from H&B = yeuck! and their yoghurts were horrible!

[jamila169]

I have lactose intolerance on both sides of the family,so it's pretty much a given that my kids would have it (mum's half southern italian so is 70% likely to have no tolerance for lactose)
DS2 is the worst,DS1 controls it pretty well and DD seems ok - DS2 was BF up until last xmas when he was 3 -it became bad enough for even breastmilk from a dairy avoiding mum to set him off , He's now 4 and still lactose free as even a small amount of milk or butter can give him nightmare poos. I've no idea if it'll ever be any different , so we all drink lactofree (soy milk is vile apart from in cakes) DS 2 has dairy free cheese , and we use Pure instead of ordinary marge - All aprt from DS2 can do cheese and yoghurt as long as it's not to excess.
I wouldn't even try your LO with normal formula , it would be pointless and cruel to even bother IMHO and if your SIL had taken a proper interest she'd know that if a very young baby has LI - then it could be for life, as it's more normal to be born tolerant then lose it at about 2yo. BTW goats milk is a no no with LI as the lactose levels are the same.
sorry for rambling a bit #4 is giving me heartburn!
Lisa X

[moljam]

thankyou so much!hes tried the icecream-very yummy,pura margarine and that cheezly stuff-agree foul!like eating a wosits cake.
i do try to cook fresh,im not great cook so panic!

[moljam]

btw Haribosmum sorry for hijacking thread

[minesalargeone]

In the end my dd gave up soya altogether - I think she cottoned on to the idea that if she had something that looked remotely like milk she didn't want it because she knew it could make her feel ill, even at the young age that she was - amazing how they know! She loved the alpro yoghurts though and they don't actually taste too bad.

With having an elder dd it was hard to keep the younger dd away from everything dairy and at the age of 2yrs she began wanting ice-cream and the odd bit of cheese so we allowed it very slowly. We saw her specialist when she was 2yrs old - he did her MMR jab too - and he said it is normal for kids to grow out of a dairy/lactose intolerance at this age and he was right although we were still looking for the sickness/diarrhoea etc.

[moljam]

i find it hard having 2 older dc,ds wants there yoghurts.

[minesalargeone]

Exactly the same problem I had....it's not easy but you've got no choice if your child will become ill through eating their siblings food! In fact it was a case of feeding them separately at one point but in the end nature decided for us, fortunately, and it all worked out.

[moljam]

luckily dd and ds1 like alpro yoghurts!probably more than ds2!