Suspected lactose intollerance in nearly one year old, does this mean cut out all dairy?

[Janus]

Dd3 has suspected lactose intollerance, according to HV today. I became worried about 2 months ago when she started having explosive poo, sometimes several times a day, which was extremely smelly too. She was bf but I moved to formula around 9-10 months. I have tried Aptamil (as meant to be close to breastmilk) and now on Hipp Organic as thought it may be more gentle.
The worst offender seems to be yogurt though, can go through her in a matter of minutes! I've actually stopped all yogurt in an effort to try and lessen the explosions and it has worked to some extent, ie they are less frequent but just as smelly and runny as before.
I saw my GP about 3 weeks ago to have a stool sample tested for any virus, etc, and that came back completely clear.
Saw HV today and she said to go back to him to get referred to a paeditrician so I see the GP again next week.
However, I'm guessing it will take some time to be seen by the paeditrician and the poo is just awful so wondered what I could do in the meantime to help matters?
I can't reduce milk intake as it's important at this stage but do I have to reduce all dairy for lactose intollerance, ie butter, eggs, etc? I do use cow's milk for breakfast, should I use formula? Also, I would move on to cow's milk as her main drink in a few weeks (as she will then turn 1) but I'm thinking this is a bad idea or is it worth a try?
The only other symptoms I can think of is she sometimes gets a hard tummy and she has gone down on the centiles in her growth chart but I think she has a healthy appetite and is probably coming to her true weight (dd1 and dd2 are both very slight). The poo is the worst thing, I literally go everywhere with spare clothes as it can go all over the place (ie escape nappies) and it smells just awful. Does this sound familiar at all??

It sounds familiar.

The GP can prescribe a milk/lactose free formula in the mean time, you can also buy SMA LF from chemists.

I would stop the cows milk if you can and be aware of the labels on foods as bread / ham / chicken products contain lactose.

I think that if you take lactase supplements, you can more or less eat anything containing lactose, because it will be digested.

There are loads of lactose free products too. We use lactose free milk, yoghurt, chocolate milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt etc.

Oh thanks ladies, do you mean Boots will sell lactose free formula? I looked at the supermarket tonight but couldn't see anything but did find lactose free yogurt so it was lovely to give this to her as yogurts seem to play such a big part of babies diet!
But, nighbynight, where can I get lactose free milk and does it taste like normal milk (ie can we all switch over, just to make it easier??). What brand of butter do you buy too, is it somewhere obvious that they put 'LACTOSE FREE' on the product??
Can I also ask if your symptoms were similar and have they eased, I hate the idea of her having this for life and being worried about going to someone's house for tea, etc (long way off I know!).
Many thanks for replying, it really is comforting.

Unless you have evidence to the contrary I would assume that she has a milk intolerance, not just lactose. Most children are intolerant to the milk protein, not the lactose (like my boys). In which case you need to cut out all dairy - though ds1 tolerates butter. See how syour dd goes.

Most children grow out of it, 80% by age 3 I think.

Thanks TPL, do you know I was just wondering if it is a milk intolerance rather than lactose. (Just found the Lactofree website and they mentioned that many children have milk intolerance rather than lactose and, therefore, their products wouldn't help) Can I ask how you know, ie how do they test for milk intolerance? I am just wondering because I think it is going to be some time before I get to see a paeditrician and want to try and help her before that.
I think I should start by making cereal, etc with formula and see what happens there (or will there not be much difference by using formula if she is milk intolerant??) The thought of cutting out all dairy is the thing that scares me - time seems so pushed as it is and the thought of making different food for her at every mealtime is freaking me out a bit but maybe you just get used to it pretty fast??

Yes you do get used to it quickly and actually it is no bad thing for whole family to eat less dairy.

If your dd is allergic they can test for that. I'm not sure about intolerance..it was just so obvious with ds1 that I never got him tested.

How old is your dd? There are formulas for those who can't have cow's milk but we didn't use them as ds1 had breast milk until 18m and then just soya milk on cereal etc. It wasn't that hard for me to organise a healthy diet for him because I used to be vegan, but if you aren't used to it you will definitely need advice. My HV referred me to a dietician pretty quickly, maybe yours could do that too whilst you wait for a paed referral?

BTW she can still have eggs, no problem there. You could try oat, rice, soya or almond milk on cereal but depending on her age she should really be having a proper milk source and they aren't suitable as a replacement for formula in that way.

Agree, try to find out if it is milk reaction, or lactose intolerance. Not sure if you can do tests for this.
My doctor guessed that I might be "allergic to undigested lactose" as she knew I had a lifelong problem with cows milk. I turned out to be fine with lactose free milk.
Try goats milk, some people do ok on this.
If your dd really has no lactase, this is for life. But not the end of the world. I am in Germany, so buy Minus-L brand, also Grunlander cheese, and various local brands. Look for the labels. Oh and the milk really does tast the same (I think anyway - its so long since I had normal cows milk!).

Boots often stock SMA LF especially the bigger stores, ask at the pharmacy.

The GP can RX milk free powder if you want to try it.

You can get SMA LF on prescription and larger Boots' will sell it. There are loads of lactose free products in the supermarket as well. It won't help though if it's a milk intolerance or allergy.

AFAIK lactose intolerance is quite rare and it's more likely to be a milk intolerance or allergy.

Cutting out dairy is a bit of a pain, but once you get used to it it becomes second nature.

My 17 month old girl was diagnosed with lactose intolerance yesterday my GP referred her to paediatrician who took blood stool sample and has got a dietician involved. It is amazing the amount of stuff that has lactose in and the lactose free stuff is so expensive! I have been given neocate milk which she will not touch and they also gave me enfamil which she will take but is for much younger babies so not nutritionally suitable really! Good luck I will pass on info as I learn!!!!!!

Hi serenbeca, my dd3's diagnosis seems to have changed to milk protein intolerance according to GP but am not sure why!
Anyway, when I thought she was lactose intolerant I moved on to lactofree milk, tastes just like normal cows milk (I even used it for my tea, etc). I am no expert at all but maybe you could use this??
I can sympathise, my dd3 just had pregestimil for the first time today and hated it, point blank refuses to drink it so back to square one .
If you can use that particular type of milk they also do quite a few other things, like lactofree yogurts. They have a website as well if you google lactofree.
Good luck!