milk intolerance? I dont really understand this.

[offerdilemma]

a bit of background... ds (who is now 2) was allergic (properly, according to skin prick tests) to, among many other things, dairy when he was younger. I found this out by his eczema's reaction when I put him onto formula. It has been controlled since then by having a prescription formula etc etc etc

Anyway, skin prick tests when he was a year showed he had grown out of his dairy allergy, and a long drawn out procedure of introducing it into his diet ensued. It was hard, as it was difficult to find a time when his eczema was clear to introduce a new food and watch his reaction. But he gradually made it through the list.

so now he tolerates cheese, yogurt etc, but if I give him proper cows milk to drink, his eczema on his face is much worse the next day.

I KNOW he is not allergic, but is this a sign of intolerance, or do you think its all just coincidence (I am sure you all know how hard it is to pinpoint a cause of an eczema flare)?

Should I keep trying to introduce milk, or just stick with the alternatives to milk, with him still eating dairy?

Like I said, I dont really understand this...

I'm no expert but milk has more lactose than milk or yoghurt so it may be that he has an intolerance to milk but is Ok with other dairy

I would stick to milk alternatives for a while and let him have cheese and yoghurt (though maybe limit them a bit)

Is it down to quantity? A small yoghurt or a bit of cheese is much smaller than a glass of milk perhaps?

I'd stick to what you know is fine, then try it as a one off. To see what happens. So frustrating but all you can do is trial and error.

i have heard that often people with intolerances or allergies can eat milk in more processed forms, ie cheese./yoghurt.

but raw it can take a lot more to digest I guess?

i was off dairy for a year because ds2 was intolerant to it and if I eat too much now it makes me really ill :S

phew! thanks for that - you have all kinda reinforced what I was thinking.
It is SO hard with allergies isnt it - sometimes I just think I am making it all up or something.
Its the protein he was allergic to, so I suppose it might be more broken down in processed forms? Or, as Mary said, he wouldnt have the equivalent of a whole glass of cheese!

FWIW my first son flared up with eczema when introduced to formula for the first time. My GP said that he felt it better to treat the eczema and encourage my son to tolerate lactose than to avoid the lactose altogether. For my son it worked. I doused him in aqueous cream for 6 months and his eczema improved! My niece has problems with her permenant teeth because she was put on soya milk as a baby so it put me off alternatives. My son is now seven and fine with milk, yoghurt, cheese etc so i'm glad I persevered.

My son is exactly the same with cows milk.

He has been on goats milk since about 18 months old and his eczema and rhinitus are absolutely fine with that and cows milk products like yoghurt, cheese etc.

Even 4 years on he cannot tolerate cows milk even in small quantities!

Have you tried goats milk? So much easier than worrying about avoiding milk altogether.

I do have some goats milk in the fridge, but ds's eczema flared with being out in the snow so I havent tried it with him.
I use rice milk / oat milk for cooking, but still use his formula for a drink...

i would definatley try goat products. my eldest son had excema from birth, treated constantly with steroid cream. it wasn't until ds2 was born with severe cows milk intolerence that i found out about goats milk. i switched ds1 onto goats milk as well and his excema disappeared in a couple of days. it really annoyed me that the gp would rather treat the symptoms instead of the cause. it's such a simple switch, most supermarkets stock goats milk,butter,yoghurt and cheese. try it you'll soon see a difference if that is the problem. good luck hope this the answer for you.

My ds also had eczema from very young, and turned out to be dairy intolerance. We gave him soya milk/yoghurts and cut out cheese. he was fine with butter, as is all fat no protein, but not good with marge (contains milk solids).

As he got older he seemed to be able to tolerate yoghurt and some cheese. But he still doesn't really like cheese (he is 8 now). He is fine with milk in a sauce, but woudn't drink it/have it on cereal.

Otherwise he eats a widely varied diet with plenty of fruit and veg, and has yoghurt regularly. He seems fine, and teeth are fine too.