4 month old has Diarrhea for past 15 days. Has been told hes going to be temporarily lactose intol..Help please

[SamHas]

Hi Guys.
FTM here. So iv been running around to my GP, out of hours GP for the past couple of days for my 4 months DS Diarrhea. It is now day 15 od diarrhea and things are not better.( pooing every 1.5 hours )
He was seen by a peads at the hosp today who suggested he had a viral bug. Now hes advised he has some electrolyte water instead of his milk feeds. ( or half of his feeds-which im abit more comfortable with tbh)
Now Im abit concerned, because he mentioned temporary lactose intolerance. Now I am feeding him comfort milk since hes been 3 months as hes really settled on it. Now I am aware Comfort milk has Less lactose in it.
He did mention he still wants lactose to be given so that the body doesnt completely switch off its ability to tolerate lactose.
I am just soo confused..
When do I know hes now recovered from his lactose intol, When do I start giivng his full feeds, do i start when things are fully better or slighlty better..Shall I start solids..
I asked these to the peads and he was very wishy washy..:/ " up to you" was the answer I got.
Does any mamas out there have any experience?

Im ever soo sorry about the long winded message...any help/advice is highly appreciated

what do you mean by half feeds? I would have thought it would have been better to remove lactose and then reintroduce it when the diarrhoea has stopped.

Was your baby ill before the diarrhea started? Just asking as per the temporary lactose intolerance. What were you feeding prior to diarrhea?

Oh and don't start solids

You need some.proper advice on this. You should not introduce solids at 4 months especially when your child has an impaired gut. Reducing his nutritional intake by half is also concerning without replacing with non dairy formula. It is possible that baby gaia probiotics might help or that there is an infant lactase but this might have long term impact on the gut flora so I would not do this without advice / supervision.

Agreed you need some proper advice on this asap. My DC1 was admitted to hospital at a similar age (just as I went back to work) with what was probably rotavirus and also became lactose intolerant. I was advised to switch him to soya based formula and he thrived on that, but the advice you have received seems very confusing.

Soya would not be first choice for lactose free milk. You can get lactose free cows milk formula (lactose is the sugar in milk) or you can buy lactase drops (lactase breaks down lactose in the milk) to put in his existing formula.

My DD had a few tummy bugs when she was smaller and usually had short term lactose intolerance afterwards. After one particularly horrific bout (diarrhoea up to her armpits every morning when she woke up, despite being long past the vomiting stage), we started using baby probiotic drops and they really helped. I think it was 5 drops a day, and we would only do it for a few days each time, but they really sorted her out very quickly. The brand we used was Bio-gaia, from Amazon, but I'm sure there are loads of other brands.

Colief- a few drops in each bottle. A doctor friend of mine advised this when my little girl had diarrhoea. It's expensive but it really does work. I think she said the stomach lining was so sensitive after the diarrhoea that it made milk harder to digest, so the colief breaks the lactose or lactase down?

When my DD had temporary lactose intolerance we switched to lactose free formula for a while and then back. We didn't have to keep giving some lactose. I'm not convinced you've had the best advice, but I'm not a medical professional, so I wouldn't take my word for it.

thank you everyone. In soo grateful of all the advise.
Yeah Im glad its not just me thinking the advise given to me by the Dr wasnt very clear.
He didnt suggest any other milk, he also said to introduce solids now--..I did question it saying his stomach is probs already in a state and im abit uneasy with solids.
He almost just left me too it..
@dementedpixie He said I dont want to stop all his feeds..soo he said alternate between ORS and formula feed..
Would you suggest these drops even with comfort milk??

@Mishmased No change in his comfort milk for the past 4 months.. No solids..nothing had changed..thats why its very unsual.

sorry for the late replies..been a hell of a couple of weeks..
Thank you in advance xxx

@justajot how long did you keep ur DD on the lactose free milk for? Is there a set date or do you wait for the diarrhea to get better?
Sorry with thr silly questions..I feel so useless not being to help my son..just want to make sure im doing the right thing..its really stressing me out..

Did he have any vaccines just before the diarrhea started? The oral Rotavirus vaccine often causes this, and for some reason DD only had it after the second one (not the first or third). She was exactly 4 months at the time and had runny green poo for weeks :(

I'm sorry, I can't remember how long we kept her on lactose free formula. The main thing I do remember is that the diarrhoea stopped really quickly once we switched.

Had he been tested for allergies? He should be under padiatric care if he had been having diarrhea all this time. Can you even try hypoallergenic milk? That's very confusing information you are being given. Can you see a different gp or take your baby to A&E? He's so young.xx

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=what0-18.nhs.uk/application/files/4915/4438/9625/CS48256_NHS_Feeding_pathways_Info_Sheet_Oct2018_Managing_secondary_lactose_intolerance.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwirmPT13ZvrAhUM9aQKHVhtCUYQFjAVegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw1hutbBXnbMtq9uMUnqIKwa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This link might help - it's aimed at NHS staff. Also one more aimed at parents what0-18.nhs.uk/professionals/gp-primary-care-staff/safety-netting-documents-parents/lactose-free-diet-babies.

It looks like 2 days of lactose free milk to see if the diarrhoea stops. If it does then you know it was the problem. Then 6-8 weeks lactose free formula before gradually reintroducing lactose.

Been there for a whole year. You can get kefir made with goats milk. That fixed it.

I had exactly this with my baby last year. We gave lactose free formula for a couple of weeks then gradually weaned back to normal formula by making the bottles up with half normal, half lactose free for example. He was back on normal formula after three weeks and has been fine ever since.

I agree with the baby probiotics we got some from boots and gave for a short while to help his tummy recover.

diarrhea will have affected the gut flora which could mean that the body won't process milk sugars well and diarrhea will continue.
My eldest had this as a baby. the diarrhea from this will be pale and very smelly compared with the previous sickness.

You don't need to restrict lactose for long, maybe try some Yakut type stuff to build the gut flora back up.

Thank you everyone. you have been soo helpful.
In regards to the vaccinations, no he had his jabs 2.5 weeks prior to the start of his diarrhea.
Update: His pooping timing has now got longer intervals ( 5 nappys rather than 8/10 ). I havent swtich his milk yet as a got a call from the community nurse ( i think the peads referred me into their care) she read his letter and was as confused..lol..
I asked her if she could clarify somethings with the Dr to actually give me some set guidance to what should be done.
But to be honest Im out and buying some lactose free milk and probiotic as we speak.
I highly appreciate all the support..im soo glad i came on here.

@Justajot Thanks for the link xx youv been really helpful thank you
@Mishmased No, no testing was done. To be honest iv been running like a headless chicken for 14 days, and no ones really taken me seriously at AnE or Out of hours GPs.
day 18 today and still no actual professional care ot guidance..just been left to it....
tbh you guys have given me more guidance and support ( big hugs ) xx