Milk intolerance developed at 3/4yrs? Please help

[snowydrops]

DD is 4, in the last 5 months she's had 6 bouts of either full on sickness and diarrhoea or just the diarrhoea with nausea and lots of gas. Initially we were told its gastroenteritis which seemed correct as there were things 'going around' and it was winter etc, she's at pre school. Saying that DH, me and DD2 haven't caught anything on any occasion which seems odd to me (normally I catch everything!)

We've started to wonder about intolerances especially as she never seems 'ill' just stomach issues but I don't know where to start with helping her.

We've been to hospital (was vomiting blood a few weeks ago) and she was tested for celiac and a stool sample. Everything has come back normal except one result (blood clotting) which they think was an anomaly and wouldn't explain any of these issues anyway. That's been re tested and awaiting results.

Anyway for the last month we've tried to avoid dairy, she was eating a lot of this before and we thought possibly it was making things worse. So generally she now only has some cheese once or twice a week and / or milk drink on the odd occasion. Of late I've almost cut it out and she has seemed much better but it's hard to say as only been 4 weeks since last sickness bout.

Last night she had a small cup of milk with her tea and then has been up all night with stomach cramps and diarrhoea, almost like colic pains. This morning she is belching a lot and won't eat anything as is clearly worried she will vomit.

I don't know what to do for the best?! Obviously I won't give her any dairy again but does anyone know if this is a 'thing' to develop an intolerance / sensitivity to something at age 3/4 when no signs have been there before?! Could it be that she's had a couple of very bad bouts of gastro and then developed an intolerance?

What do I need to do in terms of helping her today? I don't know whether to feed her or not even? In herself she seems ok except for intermittent nausea and gas, obviously tired as up in the night but no other symptoms

It could be temporary lactose intolerance caused by the gastro bug (this is the sugar in the milk) rather than a reaction to cows milk protein. You could try lactose free products to see if that helps (you even get lactofree milk in the supermarkets alongside other milks)

And it's not advised to stop food for sickness/diarrhoea so she can eat if she wants to

Hi,

I suffered from "gatro" a lot as a child and my tests always came back "normal". Spent lots of time in and out of hospitals and just not feeling right but somehow getting on with things.

As a teen I was always anaemic and "gastro" turned into "IBS". This carried on into my twenties until I got very sick kidney and liver were showing signs of failure along with other things. After many tests, doctors, hospitals visits and a lupus diagnosis I found out I had coeliac disease and lactose intolerance! I'm convinced I had it all my life.

Since changing my diet I am completely different and for he first time in my life I felt "normal"

The point I'm making is listen to your child. If she is reacting to something don't give it to her. That's the best test. I don't think you just suddenly develop it. It's probably always been there just at some point the body can't take being bombarded with allergens anymore and kind of stops working properly if you know what I mean.

Try sticking to meats vegetables and fruits. Chicken soup really helps. Good luck x

Try not to over use soya substitute as they can cause similar problems.

We use koko milk and yoghurts

If your dc was having cramps and tummy aches after eating another food, for example bread, chocolate or rhubarb - would you stop feeding her this food?

I would stop giving your dc food that appears to be upsetting her body.

There isn't any advantage to health from eating or drinking dairy products ( Asian countries don't use dairy products)

Calcium is found in sardines in the same amounts as milk, there are other good sources, oranges are good source for calcium as is pulses and beans, seasame seeds added to foods, figs are stuffed full of calcium and apricots are not bad.

Hi
My DS developed an intolerance to dairy just after he turned 5 (or that's when he became symptomatic ). He suddenly had diahorrea, a lot of wind and was very bloated. He was poo'ing his pants when he had never done so before (even when potty training). We had a whole host of tests which were negative. The only thing they couldnt test for was lactose/Dairy.
We cut out lactose for 3 months and had some improvement. We then week strict dairy free and it's even better (although not what you'd call normal). It's looking more like a cow's milk protein intolerance.
The good news is that it's a gut inflammation which will go down and we can then hopefully reintroduce slowly .
Hope this helps.