Suspect baby is sensitive to cow's milk - next steps?

[PastaFasool]

I suspect my 8.5 month LO has mild sensitivity to cow's milk, and would like some advice before talking to my GP.

DS has had mild reflux and constipation since about 3 months. He was EBF and is now eating 3 meals a day. I noticed he was unhappy on the days with more dairy in his diet, vomiting a bit and sleeping badly and wheezing and snoring at night. He got put on Movicol last week and taken kff infant Gaviscon, but then he was only sleeping 2-3 hour stretches at night, crying in pain from reflux I think.

I tried stopping dairy myself as I am still breastfeeding (I normally eat quite a lot of yoghurt and have lots of milk in tea), and swapped the cow's milk in my baby's porridge for water for one day, then expressed breast milk today. His reflux symptoms immediately reduced - he slept a 7.5 hour stretch for the first time since stopping the Gaviscon, not arching back after feeds.

It's only been a couple of days, but I want to get advice from GP about nutrition. I am worried that they will fob me off and push me to give LO dairy for nutrition. Any advice?

I know it's not a serious allergy, he's gaining weight well, I just think it's giving him reflux and constipation. His dad is asthmatic and gets wheezy with chest pains after too much cheese.

It def sounds like you’ve found the cause of his discomfort. He doesn’t need dairy, especially if you’re still bf. You can try some goats milk yoghurt or cheese if you want? I’d also try an infant probiotic like cytobiotic active. Hopefully he will outgrow the intolerance.

I think I cut out dairy for two weeks then went to the doc. My child had constant diarrhoea until I stopped milk. But as she s gaining weight they weren't bothered. One doc even told me that dairy intolerance doesn't exist. When you go just ask to be referred to a dietician. The dieticians never even questioned my thoughts

Goats milk has the same allergenic properties as dairy so it isn't a go to replacement for cows milk.

Ask your health visitor. They were great at getting us referred to the dietician.

I BF DD until she was 2 but after the age of 1 she would have Oatly milk (the fortified one) in a bottle if I was going out.

I used Oatly in cooking from 7 months when I realised she was allergic to dairy.

Soya yoghurt is a good pudding as long as it is fortified.

Coconut yoghurt upset DD's stomach until recently, I expect due to the high fat content.

Basically, any dairy replacement product you use needs to be fortified with calcium and vitamin D to keep these levels up.