Dairy free / ?lactose intolerant??

[nussy]

Help! my ds is 8mths old and is bottlefed following severe reflux as an infant. He has had problems maintaining weight in the past, and has only put on .5kg since mid august.

he passes green frothy mucousy stools or green tinged stools everytime he eats and drinbks - now having 3 solid meals perday and 3 bottles.He was on pregestimil hypoallergenic milk for a while as an infant following a bug, then transferred bk to normal formula. since last week, he has been on lactose free milk, and iv cut out all dairy products from his food - he stools stopped being frothy and mucousy, but the smell is really offensive, he's still pooing after every meal and in between, and you can hear the diarhhoa in his nappy sometimes before he's even finished eating.

He is still thriving but does sometimes look tired, despite sleeping for 12 hrs through the night undisturbed.However, over the last couple of days, he's started to moan gently in his sleep, and his sleep at night is disturbed - when checked - he has a nappy full of poo!

I'm running out of ideas, and the GP / HV say its not normal for this frequency etc, but to persevere withe dairy free...im worried that in time my ds will stop thriving, gaining weight ( last week he only put on 60g)and i feel like banging my head against a brick wall. Any suggestions?thanks!

Hi there!
Just wanted to answer your thread as I have a ds with lots of allergies including milk. I really am no expert - am sure someone with lots more experience/ info/ good ideas will be along in a minute!
Firstly lots of sympathy - the diahorrea (how do you spell that word?!) must be such a worry and you must feel so helpless too. Have you been referred to an allergy specialist? It certainly helps to be able to discuss/ get support and they will be able to do a skin prick test to confirm. We only suspected dairy allergy but skin prick showed allergy to egg, peanut, wheat, cot almonds walnut and soya!! Perhaps your ds has more than one allergy? Maybe it would be worthwhile cutting out all common allergy foods too until you find out - i.e. wheat/ peanut etc.
Our ds is 10 months old now and weaning well but allergies have made it quite hard work - basically have been giving him a roast dinner every night (selection of roast veg, steamed green stuff, roast meat) fruit. He has free from bread and pure spread. Not very exciting hence my thread re: baked beans - hoping to be able to make some kind of hotpot!!)
Re: the thriving - ds really is thriving on his diet (is a PITA for us tho'!!)He is 10 months and 25lbs.
I do hope you get sorted - wishing you all the best!

gah - cod not cot!! Altho, probably is allergic to that too- hasn't been in one since he was 16 weeks

Also we were referred to a dietician - also good support - perhaps worth requesting!
Good luck!

nussy, I'm not sure the weight gain sounds like something to worry about yet. He is 8 months old and has put on 2oz in the past week, that is pretty normal for this age. In fact the WHO guidelines recommend not weighing more frequently than once every two months when a baby is over 6 months old. Normal weight gain for a breastfed baby is to have doubled birth weight around 5-6 months and 2.5 x birthweight at a year. FF babies should double birth weight by 4-6 months and triple by a year.

It is possible though that he is allergic to cows milk and not just lactose intolerant and therefore reacting to the milk protein in the lactose free formula. I'd try getting the GP to prescribe the hypoallergenic stuff again to see if that improves things. If he is allergic he could be getting anaemic, which would explain the tiredness. You could ask your GP for a blood test and then iron on prescription to help with this.

I hope that makes sense, I'm very tired and possibly not very coherent.....

how much wheat is he eating? Diarrhoea, looking tired despite 12 hours sleep could be a problem with gluten not dairy. Children having problems with wheat can sometimes have dairy again if wheat is taken out of the diet. Maybe try a day or two of just rice, potato and maize based foods?