Temporary Lactose Intolerance

[FLI881]

Has anyone’s baby has a temporary lactose intolerance following a virus? My 4.5 month old has had diahorrea for 3 weeks now and the GP thinks it’s now a cows milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance following a virus. Today he has had blood in his poo. Can a lactose intolerance cause this?

He has been prescribed neocate formula to eliminate both cows milk and lactose but he won’t drink it. He has been on this in the past as he had suspected CMPA but it turns out he didn’t have it then! Just not sure whether to try aptamil lactose free milk instead or if it’s more likely to be a milk allergy (the doctor thinks his poo is more consistent with the latter). Otherwise I’m not sure how to get him to take the neocate now as even doing only one scoop of it with his normal formula isn’t being tolerated.

Any similar experiences or advice would be welcome.

Have you tried it with Nesquik or vanilla essence? It might make it more palatable

My youngest is now 22 but when he was a baby he developed a lactose intolerance. Constant runny nappies. We had to give him soya milk and make everything using it. Had to religiously check ingredient lists for milk and all derivatives of it.
After around a year we were able to reintroduce lactose gradually and he was fine. Has been able to tolerate lactose ever since.

Sorry should have added that yes he had both blood and mucus in his stools.

You could either try Lactose free formula or add Colief drops to his existing cows milk formula and that will break down the lactose for you. That would help for lactose intolerance but wouldn't help for cows milk protein allergy/intolerance

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto thank you for the suggestion, I’ve just bought some and tried it. He took 3 ounces which is much better, but he normally has 6 ounces. Hopefully he’ll get used to it as I’m worried about dehydration with all the diarrhoea.

@Girlintheframe thank you for confirming the symptoms. I’m glad your son doesn’t have it anymore. How old was he when he developed it? Was it after a virus too?

@dementedpixie thank you for the suggestion, I’m definitely tempted to buy it. I’ve tried some vanilla essence this morning, but if he doesn’t start to drink more of it soon then I think I’ll try lactose free formula. At least then I guess I’d find out if it was lactose or cows milk.

@FLI881 I honestly don't remember. I do remember it took them a while to suggest it could be the lactose causing the diarrhea. Even once we started on the soya milk he continued to have some loose stools so they suggested we cut out all milk derivatives hence having to make absolutely everything from scratch. I've got a feeling this was when he around 8-11month.

Eventually we were able to ever so gradually add it back in. We would try every few months with something small and if the loose stools returned then go back to being milk free. Eventually though he was able to tolerate it and has had no issues since.