How best to give ds dairy to see if he is still intolerent?

[mawbroon]

I have asked my doc this, who said to ask the health visitors as they deal with this a lot. Cue some complete waffling from HV (surprise) who seemed to know bugger all about it

DS is almost 3. This time last year, he had a really awful tummy bug which left him intolerent to dairy. With hindsight, I think he was mildly intolerent since a tummy bug a further 6 months earlier, but unfortunately I didn't really twig why he wasn't doing normal poos.

So, in Feb this year, I sort of accidentally tried him on dairy. He had about a quarter slice of my toast which I had put butter on. Ooops i thought, but he seemed fine, so i did the same the next day. His poo was fine, so I did it again for a third day. On the third day, he started having stomach cramps and I could see undigested food from three hours earlier in his nappy so it had obviously just whooshed right through him.

It took nine days, but complete elimination seemed to do the trick for him. A few months ago we started using goat's milk and cheese which has suited him fine. I also give him stuff with traces of milk with no ill effects.

I am now wondering about trying him out again and wondered if you had any advice. Should I give him a drink of milk (if he'll take it) or some cheese and see what happens, or should i do a little bit for several days in a row like I did in February?

I don't like the idea of making him ill over this, but it is very restricting when we are out and about (he is allergic to egg as well) and it would make things much easier if he could just have what is available.

How do you think I should approach this?

We were told to introduce yoghurt first and then cheese and then milk. My son was fine with yoghurt in small doses but not okay if he had it several days in a row (exactly what you describe). One year later he's fine with yoghurt and cheese but still can't have milk at all. Good luck!

I would give skimmed milk diluted with half water first on day one, see how that is. repeat with 3/4milk/1/4 quarter water on day 2, full glass of skimmed on day 3. repeat this if he is ok using semi-skimmed and then full fat milk. So basically increasing the density of the cows milk to his tolerance level iyswim. At least then you will know how he is with milk. I would only introduce one thing at a time obviously. Leave yoghurt until you know he can tolerate full fat milk.

I've been doing a similar experiment lately with ds1 (2.5). He seems to be ok with yoghurt now, but cheese resulted in the most awful poo. Custard also was quite unpleasant.

Haven't tried milk because he loves rice milk.

If someone is intolerant to lactose ( milk sugar) then they can often cope with yoghurt as their is hardly any lactose in it as the bacteria convert it to latic acid thus making the yoghurt. Hope this helps

oops there not their obviously as I am not illiterate and do not want to attract the attention of pedant's corner. Shit is the apostrophe in the right place

Thanks for your replies.

charitas - I'm not sure if it is the lactose or the dairy protein that he is intolerent to. Given that he is ok with goats milk and that the tiniest bit of butter (which is mostly fat and I am guessing hardly any lactose) set him off, I am kind of assuming that it's the dairy protein that is bothering him.

If it is the dairy protein then I'd recommend starting with yoghurt as the protein is modified from milk and can often be tolerated first.

when dd was 3 she was put off dairy by consultant gastroenterologist (GP did not even suggest what might be causing all the vomitting/diarrhoea,lethargy & lack of appetite, he referred her straight on), she saw him and the dietitian regularly and is just going back onto dairy in small amounts 3 yrs later! Not sure she will ever drink milk again but can tolerate normal marge, cakes etc, and is allowed to try cheese/cream/chocolate once a week and look for reaction.

consultant was of the opinion that the longer you leave it, the more likely the problem will not recurr.

in your shoes I would ask for referral to dietitian

Never thought about asking for referral to a dietician loobeylou. I have asked a couple of times at the GP when I have had DS there for something else and the answers I have been given are just so vague and non commital.

What about cheese aberdeenhiker? Is that further modified still? Or am I thinking about lactose intolerence?

mawbroon -
the dietitian we see with DD reckons too many people (often under guidance of GPs who are not specialists in food intolerance/allergy) try going back on to dairy too soon and they may seem OK for a while then 6 -12 months on, the symptoms are back. Much better to wait longer and then less likely to recurr.

Did your DS have tests done to find out whta the original tummy upset was, as our DD had blood and poo tests to see if there was a specific bacteria present (helicobacter or something, excuse my spelling (and memory!)) which tends to hang around for ages and results in intolerances

also, dep on age of child and what dairy substitutes you are using, dietitians do sometimes give calcuium supplememnts (friends 2 yr old wont touch the soya/rice milks at all and needs calcium syrup)

also if it helps, we have been told if we want to introduce milk it would only be 30 ml then wait a week to see if no symptoms before trying again. but as she will drink soya fine we are sticking with that

Thanks loobeylou. No, we didn't get any tests at the time. It was a really nasty bug though and it was part of a string of events where poor ds was ill for about 8 weeks. First tonsillitis, then ear infection, then this awful tummy bug.

I don't think calcium is an issue, he is able to take goats milk/cheese/yog and sometimes has rice milk too. Also we are still breastfeeding so he will get all sorts of goodies from me.

I might see if I can chat to my own HV who seems a bit more sensible than the one I talked to before.

Mawbroon - if he had lots of antibiotics for ear/throat probs then THEY can be responsible for the upset tummy and subsequent intolerance (upsets natural good bacteria levels and, erm, excuse graphic details, pooing out all the necessary digestive enzymes!)

good for you still BFing, I fed my 2 girls till 18mths and Ds till 2 1/2 yrs - I miss it now!

Hmm, interesting. He did start having diarrhoea after a couple of doses of the antibiotics (think it was erythromycin as we were wary of giving him penicillin because I am allergic). I just assumed that he then had a tummy bug on top of everything else.

I stopped giving him the a/bs as soon as he got the runs. I don't remember how long it lasted, but I remember as soon as he went back on dairy he was cramping and stuff was whooshing right through him.

I gave him nothing but breastmilk for 36 hours and then just boiled rice and very plain food until he went back to solid poo.

But I guess the end result isn't any different whether it was a bug or the a/bs.

cheese is apparently less modified than yoghurt...

we saw a peadiatric (spelling?) dietician too and she has put my 2 year old on prescription milk (Neocate Active) to make sure he gets his calcium. I'd try to see someone who specializes in children as the general one we saw first was not really familiar with kids diets...

I breastfed DS1 for 17 months too - it's very useful for milk allergies! It's vile stuff but he drinks it...

I have been mulling this all over for the last few days and have decided I will wait until ds's next allergy appointment (jan, i think) and have a chat with the consultant and see what he thinks.

thanks to everyone who responded