breastfeeding if baby is lactose intolerant

[tooboys]

I wonder if any mum has personal experience of little one being lactose intolerant and can help?

ds is 5wks old and ebf. From first few days old he was crying excessively and not settling after feeds. Arching back, going rigid etc and often crying for2 hours solid until next feed. He grunts soooo much in his sleep, often up to 45mins b4 he actually wakes up! He is often sick and struggles to burp even after winding. He is a very good weight and is following 91st percentile. We took to gp and they say its reflux and possibly colic too. He had baby gaviscon, but this made him cry EVEN more so we stopped it! Then paediatrician gave ranitidine and domperidone. I can see that there is no longer pain from acid coming up from the facial expressions that have now gone. However he is still being sick at times and can be unsettled after feeds. Gp now gave colief which seems to have helped, apart from the grunting is still there and he can be asleep but then suddenly wake up crying as though in pain!
my worry is that the paediatrician today will suggest going onto formula. I desperately want to continue bf, but wanted to know if this is possible if baby is possibly lactose intolerant.
ive had conflicting views.....my gp said no need to cut out dairy in my diet, but one paediatrician at hospital said I should, (although this same paediatrician didn't know colief was for lactose and said it was for wind! So I don't have a lot of faith in them!)
can a baby be lactose intolerant and still put on weight and not have a sore bum? I cant tell if they have diarrhoea as ebf poo is runny all the time anyway! Ive been on so many sites that I'm totally confused by conflicting info now! Plus I really don't want my ds to be on medication at 5wks old if its not necessary!

Lactose & dairy are different intolerances. Lactose is present in breast milk even if you cut dairy although lactase drops can help if its a slight intolerance.

Being lactose-intolerant myself, I would say that, if he does not have a sore bottom he is probably not lactose-intolerant. Believe me, it hurts!

It does sound like reflux. IME as a mum who bfed dairy-intolerant dc with reflux, they responded well when I cut dairy out of my diet. Chocolate also had a very bad effect on one of them at this age. Not sure whether it was the chocolate or the caffeine in it, as chocolate is pretty much my only source of caffeine.

Babies lactose intolerant from birth are incredibly rare - they don't gain weight and they are very ill. It is possible that a serious gastro infection can lead to temporary secondary LI, but nothing in your story suggests that.

Shame you have been confused by the HCPs.

It's pretty certain your baby is not LI, though.

It could be your baby is perfectly ok - the way you describe him now, as 'being sick at times and can be unsettled after feeds' describes many, many new babies who are perfectly ok. Loads of babies grunt - it is normal. Loads of babies suddenly wake up crying, too.

He may have colic, he may have reflux, but you are treating him for that. He's only 5 weeks. One option would be to continue the treatment he is on for a little longer and review things in a couple of weeks. He will be a bit older and may become more settled. If not, you could think about the dairy-free route.

My dd1 was lactose intolerant from birth, it's not true that they all have failure to thrive. It's a scale like any other intolerance and 'true' li (unable to process any) is very rare, only being abke to process a little is not as rare as some people like to make out. However i would say that at that age dd vomited a lot, when she got past the vomit stage her nappies became extremely vile and her bum bled regularly.

There is a train of thought that LI babies can cope with the lactose in their mothers milk better than other sources, but personal ly I and dds specialist think it is more that lactose intolerant babies are also often cow's milk protein (also often other dairy and soya) intolerant, and removing this from the mother's diet can help.

So I'd try that before I thought about lactose free formula.

TeWe you are right. I have checked and it appears that milder cases of congenital LI can exist without causing weight loss, though symptoms are clearly present as well. Glad things worked out for you..