Dairy weaning please help!

[pippawallace]

Hi,new to this malarkie so bear with me, bit of a long winded story .
My little angel is coming up to 9 months and I'm trying to see if she has a dairy intolerance but the health visitors aren't much help . The reason I'm being careful is because I had a dairy allery when I was a baby (and still slightly now) and don't really eat much dairy products so bf hasn't been a problem so far.
When I first started weaning I gave her some breakfast porridge without realising it had milk powder in it and after a few days she was really bad for going down at night (crying & in discomfort for about 3 hours) stopped the porridge & she was fine again so decided to wait a few more months.
Spoke to the health visitor who said to try a tea spoon of natural yoghurt which I did & on the second night we had 3 hours of crying and discomfort again but the next day her first tooth cut grrrrrrrr didn't know what caused the crying!
Stopped the yoghurt because of the teething and have tried again this week, currently on my 4th day.....but......don't know what to look for, she seems fine except she didn't have a dirty nappy the 2nd day and she's as regular as clockwork and she seems to be a bit clogged up but not waking or in discomfort (fingers crossed so far!).
If she's fine with the yoghurt how long should I give it to her before trying something else & what shall I try next?
Thanks, will try a shorter post next time

[akent]

Hi pippa,

One order of introduction that I've seen suggested is fromage frais, yoghurt, cooked cheese, cooked milk, cheese, milk, cream.

The dietician we saw didn't seem to think there should be a specific order though.

I guess if you feel she's fine with yogurt you could either increase the volume or try the next thing.

The problem with allergies and intolerances is that you don't necessarily know what to look for and teething/weather/illness can confound you!

[pippawallace]

Okay firstly thanks for the advice, however I obviously jinxed myself! She woke last night for about an hour or so in clear discomfort & trapped wind (it's been a long time since I've heard her machine gun farts!!!!!). She eventually fell asleep on her side as every time we put her on her back she was screaming .
Can't think it would be anything else apart from the yoghurt as I didn't change anything else.........just don't know what to do now?

[akent]

Well, I'd leave it another month and try again.
I asked my GP to be refer us to a dietician because I had chosen not to give DD1 dairy at all for her first year. I was then able to talk through alternatives with someone who was qualified.
At nine months, DD1 was breastfed three times a day which the dietician felt was fine in terms of calories/fat/calcium.

[PeachyHas4BoysAndLovesIt]

Ah i would beware of the fromage frais- makes me more ill than any other dairy product!

We were told by the dietician to start with products such as biscuits that have a small amount of milk baked in, then if thats tolerated for 2 weeks go to something like a baked custard (still cooked a that canhelp, but more actual dairy). Fortnightly then go to a bio yoghurt (the bio can supposedly help), a normal yoghurt, and then milk- starting with skimmed as thats less reactive for some (me).

Leave fromage frais until last, except for cooked cheese and then cheese as these can cause issues (migraines I think) when there's not an intolerance going on.

HTH

Oh and never start a reintroduction when child has been ill, so maybe a few weeks gap?

[pippawallace]

Thanks, was advised to keep away from fromage frais to start off with as if she had a reaction it would be hard to tell if it was the dairy or something else!
Asked my gp to be refered to a dietician but they wouldn't do anything until I had tried her with dairy and then when I do I get told it could be something else like teething setting her off grrrrr.......just feel like no one's listening to me and mum's supposed to know best!
Think I will wait a while before trying her again and go from there.
Have also had the suggestion to try aprosoya yoghurts and soya milk? I wasn't sure as thought a lot of babies can have a soya intolerance as well as dairy?

[PeachyHas4BoysAndLovesIt]

Many babies do- but an awful lot don't. Alpro Soya was / is our fa,illies saviour especially when they were toddlers (I am intol, ds1 ds3 and ds4 also the same)

[pippawallace]

Thanks, going to wait a few days to let the yoghurt get out of her system then will try the Alpro soya on monday.
Also have made an appointment with the hv on monday so will see if I can get referred to the dietician.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!

[PeachyHas4BoysAndLovesIt]

tw alpro yoghurt is very, very nice- even milk loving dh chooses it!

there's lots more available now than even when ds1 was diagnosed 8 years ago, once you get the hang its fine

[Aniyan]

Is it worth trying goat's milk products?

I think other posters here have more experience with this than I do, but my ds has always been prone to eczema (thankfully seems to be growing out of it now), and we found that replacing dairy with goats milk products worked a treat.

Also tried rice milk for a while (before I could easily get hold of goat's milk).