Suspected Lactose Intolerance, can I use Colief?

[MrsLTH]

Hi there

I have also posted on this topic in the breast and bottle forum but thought it would be good to get some eyes on it here too.

To cut a long story short, my little boy is nearly 6 months old and for the last 3 weeks has had green frothy diarrhea, today with a few tiny specks of blood. He has had a stool sample done at the GP which has come back negative for bugs and rotavirus. He suspects a lactose or cows milk intolerance and has refered us to a pediatric gastroenterologist who we are seeing in a weeks time.

When I tried him on Pepti Jnr formula for 24 hours as a test he improved quite a lot (from around 12 dirty nappies a day down to 4) and when I went back to breast feeding he got bad again so whatever is bothering him is in my milk. I really dont want to give up breast feeding so today have started giving him colief drops. I know these are supposed to be used for younger babies and for colic but it says on the box that they contain lactose enzymes... does anyone know if these are ok to use on a 6 month old and also does anyone have any experience of this problem?

Thanks!

Sorry can't answer your question about Colief drops but I would suggest cutting dairy out of your diet instead and see if that helps. Babies with lactose intolerance or cow's milk protein allergy often react to even small amounts in breastmilk so cutting it out of your diet should help to resolve the problem (or rule it out!). If it works, you can then carry on breastfeeding for as long as you like and introduce special formula (eg Pepti or Nutramigen) when ready.

I agree with freefrom. Cows milk protein goes through breast milk so I would definitely recommend cutting out all traces of cows milk by reading all labels and this should have the same effect as giving a hydrolysed formula milk. Good luck.

one thing if you do need to do if you cut out dairy is ensure you get adequate calcium in from other sources or take a calcium supplement, as breast feeding increases your own requirements. Calcium enriched soya milk / yogurts.

also perhaps get advice from your consultant and ask to be referred to a state registered dietitian to ensure you and your little boy get appropriate advice that is evidence based.