16 month old uncomfortable tummy after antibiotics and bugs

[Tertius]

My daughter has recently had a terrible run with an op an lots of infections with antibiotics and then poor thing half way through an antibiotic course she got a tummy bug with d and v. So she didn't eat much for 6 weeks and after all this had lots of bloating and masses of
waking at night with a painful tummy (I think) and diarreah.

The gp said she may have temporarily developed lactose intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome and suggested taking her off milk. So I Bought some of that soya stuff by SMA and her symptoms instantly got better.

My question is - is lacto free milk better for her? Is soya formula ok? Is she likely to stay sensitive to normal cows milk?

TIA for ideas

hi, it's not uncommon for tummy bugs to cause temporary lactose intolerance, and it can be cured by very slow reintroduction of cows milk and dairy, but only after the gut has been given plenty of time to heal. Your lo needs to have at least 6 weeks completely lactose free before you start to re introduce, and by slowly I mean start with 5ml and build it up by 5 each day, it's a slow process but too much too soon and you'll be back to square one.

On the soya formula, if your little one is under 6 months it's not suitable and you should go back to your GP and ask for a prescription for a lactose free formula, if she's over 6 months soya formula should be fine, if she's over 1 I would use the lactofree milk and cheeses as they still contain calcium and it seems pointless spending money on formula when you don't need too

Thanks very much!

I'll use the lacto free stuff - and keep a tin of soya formula for those disorganised moments when I have run out of fresh.

Thank you. Do you think I should keep her off butter and cheese too?

yes definitely keep her off all "raw" dairy, so milk cheese cream and yogurt, and any products with raw dairy in, if she doesn't completely improve you will need to avoid all milk in other products, like chocolate and biscuits and cakes etc that contain milk or butter, but her intolerance hopefully won't be that extreme and if she is exposed to a little lactose through baked goods it will help when it comes to reintroducing it. There are lots of soya alternatives, Tesco is especially good for soya deserts and treats now.

Thank you - she is 16 months by the way. I'll look into all the alternatives and stock up for Christmas.
You've been very kind.

Your welcome

If she is 16 months there's always alpro junior plus- suitable from a year and cheaper than formula! :)

When my DS was having problems with his tummy after antibiotics & bugs the gastro pead recommended taking baby probiotics. They helped enormously