Is this milk intolerance? What do I do? Any experts out there?!

[bilbobobbins]

My ds who's 15months has had a constant runny nose, mild diarrhea (i.e. pale, unusually smelly - sorry if TMI - and frequent poos), and waking at night seeming uncomfortable for quite a while now.

He's had plenty of colds and been teething so I've not taken him to the drs recently, just thought it was usual toddler bugs etc.

But he doesn't seem to be ill or teething now, and it's still the same. He wakes in the night which seems to be from his runny nose and possibly uncomfy tummy. I don't think it's just habit etc, there seems to be something wrong. He's ok in the day (well apart from nose & bum!) but more clingy than my other kids were at this age.

I weaned him v gradually (from bf) over a period of a few months and totally switched to cows milk about 3 months ago. There's been no sudden change but gradually I've been starting to wonder if it's been getting worse and so just started wondering if it could be milk intolerance. He's had eczema (sp?) since he was a few months old, and he had reflux when he was small although not had it for a long time now and he was well with it. He's also got glue ear (despite bf for a year )

Sorry this is a long post, just thought someone out there might know if this sounds like it might be milk - and if it does, do you know
(i) what should I give him instead which still has all the right things in? I've read confusing things re soya/goats/rice etc milk and I don't know what's best to try
(ii)should i take him to the GP, are they likely to know about it or will they fob me off??
(iii)do i need to cut out yoghurt etc as well?
(iv)where can i find more info?
(Sorry v long post, thanks to anyone who bothers reading it...)

sounds a bit like my little girl or you can do is try cutting out all dairy for about one mouth and see what happens if it does help you need to get revered to a dietitian. dairy is in lots of things so you need check labels

I'd agree with castleonthehill, try excluding for a month and replacing with soya products. If you see some improvement then it may be worth looking into further. Don't give your child rice milk as there are small levels of toxic material in it that do affect small children but not adults.
Soya should have enough clacium in it, but consult your doctor as well to be refrred to a dietician if you are going to do it long term. They may offer you allergy testing, but if that comes up negative your child may have food intolerances (which is what my son has). It can be a tricky time trying to work out what your child is intolerant to if they aren't "allergic", but it's worth it if you can get some improvement!
Any questions, please feel free to email me, I have food intolerances too, so have quite a lot of experience.
Erika

Hi Bilbo, don't want to diagnose your DS but my son had same symptoms pale very smelly stools, a constant cold and waking in the night as well as being clingy and not very sociable, so I wanted to mention his other symptoms to you just in case your DS is similar fairly skinny but with bloated stomach especially in the evening, pale face, dark circles under eyes, irritable, poor appetite, often heads to the toilet after eating.

He was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease and is very fit and healthy and sleeps well(!) since going on his gluten free diet. It's important not to cut anything out if you're planning on having tests. You can become lactose intolerant if you have Coeliac Disease and are still eating gluten.
Hope you find out what it is.

Thanks everyone Booner - thankfully he doesn't have any of the othe symptoms you mentioned but your message made me think i should def take him to the gp just in case it's something we've not thought of. We've given him soy today which he liked & he's been happy today so we'll see how it goes...

Booner please can you let me know how your ds was diagnosed- did your normal gp help as what sort of doctor would you be refered to? Your ds's symptoms sound just like our 3 1/2 yr old and our dd was diagnosed a having coeliac a year ago by another doctor but our gp says this is nonsense. She still has stomach ache every day, and her nursery comment her poo just not normal and I'm asking our gp for a referal on Fri but i don.t know who to ask for instead iyswim . Would love any advice as tired of gp not really helping when i think there,s a problem

My dd now 3 had a runny nose for over a year and a half.We did the york allergy test and said she was mildly intolerant to cows milk her nose dried up within weeks of having soya milk.

Bilbo, glad he doesn't have the other symptoms and hope you get to the bottom of the problem - it's such a relief when you do.

Hi Looseleaf - I will post on your post in Childrens Health

There was an excellent speaker at The Allergy Show at Olympia last month.Basically he said that 60% of infants with milk allergy present with tummy problems and that 60% grow out of the allergy by the age of 6. First thing to do is a blood prick test to confirm the allergy. I think it's best to do this yourself at home because its a familiar and more relaxed environment than the doctor's or hospital. If the results are positive you can see the doctor and a nutritionist for advice on diet. You can buy the test online here.