DS is 2 and a half.
He was EBF until he was 16 months old. During this time, he would have up to 15 green and runny nappies a day. The first time I gave him cow's milk a rash appeared immediately around his mouth. He's always had very dry skin and eczema at times.
In the back on my mind, I always though dairy was upsetting his tummy. He's never slept through the night and frequently wakes complaining of pain in his tummy and bottom. We were sent to a consultant who said an intolerance was possible but that he was thriving and we should continue to include dairy in his diet.
When I stopped BF I gave him cow's milk. The first few times he brought it all back up immediately. After this came the chronic constipation. He wouldn't have a bowel movement for a week at a time and when he did, he would produce such enormous stools that he'd take an hour to get them out and bleed afterwards. We were advised to give him one sachet of movicol per day plus lactulose and were referred back to the consultant.
We saw her yesterday and she said we had two options. The first would be to keep him on the medication (it does make a difference to her stools) or to try him for three weeks on a dairy protein free diet. She said this could make a difference to his stools.
I don't know what to do. I feel as though he would see a diary-free diet as punishment. He loves to snack on yoghurt and cheese and there's no guarantee it'll make any difference. I'm reluctant to replace dairy with soya - we have lots of allergies in the family. I also have no idea what I would feed him for three weeks. We wouldn't see a dietitian until the trial period was over. The movicol won't cause any long term damage (so I'm told) and if it is an intolerence then he's likely to grow out of it.
Any advice or experience would be very helpful. TIA.