Diary allergy, constipation and treatment

[Pitchounette]

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did you cut out dairy completely? or just raw milk?

i would maybe give it another go, cut it out completely for 2-3 weeks and see what happens.

although, perhaps any result from it will be skewed by the fact he is also taking medication? or would you stop those while doing the no-dairy?

Both my dc got bad nappy rash when they were having stuff (dairy) that they were intolerant to. A large proportion of children who have a problem with dairy also have a problem with soya, so I'd say it does sound like a possibility that he has a problem with soya.

I'm not familiar with the medication that your ds2 is on - have you checked the list of ingredients to ensure that there's no lactose in it, as a surprising number of medications contain it.

How old is he?

flax seed oil is brilliant, natural laxative, but full of efas and helps body absorb nutrients from food. Also helps heal gut lining in allergic people, I have been giving my dairy allergic ds 2 teaspoons daily from six months.

Also an excellent book is 'digestive wellness for children' by elizabeth lipski

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goat milk has very similar proteins to cows milk, and I believe the majority of people intolerant to cows milk are also intolerant to goat

i'd dfef try it again, and maybe the soya too. we use enriched oat milk for ds2. I prefer rice milk myself though

but the flax seed oil repairs the gut after irritation from intolerance therefore improving the intolerance. the fact that it has a laxative effect is a bonus really.

i think the book would really be useful for you

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its great, honestly. also if you remove dairy you will need the extra omega fats.

green leafy veg has very high calcium by the way.

and rice dream with added calcium has more calcium than milk and is delicious on cereals and in tea or as a drink. my 12 mth ds loves it

Does he have regular heart pounding exercise- if you can get him on a trampoline every day it helps with bowel movement and stimulates blood flow.
How much does he drink. Any less than 3 full cups means not enough and will cause constipation and make feaces dry and hard. This may make him hold it in compounding the problem.
Does he eat plenty of fibre? Fruit? Veg? he needs a full glass of fluid with each meal and at least 2 cups at snacks. Movical is not good in a boy so young as it can create a lazy gut and mean laxatives for life.

I would try the things I suggested if you have not already and then think about cutting down on dairy but not cutting it completely.

What kind of changes I'd expect to see would depend on what symptoms he had in the first place, as they can vary wildly. Both of mine actually had diarrhoea from the dairy rather than constipation, so when we gave it up they pooed less often, their nappy rash cleared up, their moods improved. Mine were only 16 weeks and 3 weeks when diagnosed, so obv your ds is at least able to tell you how he's feeling.

I think that in your position I'd give up dairy and soya (soya unfortunately quite hard to avoid if you buy anything processed) for a couple of weeks, whilst still using the medication, and then if he is better I'd ease off the medication and see if he's still ok. If he can get to the point that he can manage without the medication, then I'd then reintroduce soya and see if he's still ok after a couple of weeks. Then finally I'd reintroduce dairy and see how he is after that. Hopefully that will help to isolate what is causing the problem.

Is gluten under consideration as an allergen for him too?

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My DD (12mths) is severely intolerant to dairy and soya in fact was much worse on soya and was so bad I had to help the poo out (sorry TMI)

Personally I would cut out all dairy and soya and probably the goats milk too as I believe the proteins are very similar to cows milk and switch to rice milk or oat milk.