Lactose free diet

[DefinatelyNotAPooTroll]

The GP has recommended we try our 1 year old on a lactose free diet for two weeks.

She had an infection as a newborn that requires IV antibiotics. She developed reflux after that and what we assumed was a transient secondary lactose intolerance.

Ever since, she's had multiple loose runny stools everyday. They often leak from her nappies. They're acidic and cause awful nappy rash.

I've raised this with my GP on numerous occasions, finally nursery wrote a note saying the amount and consistency was unusual and that's where we are now!

She's been lactose free for 5 days and her poos are runnier and worse than ever. She was crying in pain this morning as it was stinging so much. It was yellow and stank!

Is this normal? Any ideas what the hell is going on with her digestive system.

She's also had bronchiolitis for 5 months. Coughing every night and prescribed a ventolin inhaler... not sure if it's relevant or connected!!

Help!!

https://www.babycenter.com/0lactose-intolerancee_1201464.bc

Not sure if this might help x

www.gikids.org/content/103/en/cows-milk-protein-intolerance

I know you have probably done lots of research, I know what you are going through though and it horrible x

It's just a suggestion that it could be lactose, it's only a shot. There are a hundred other reasons it could be, don't get hung up on dairy.

Has she ever had normal nappies?

Is she gaining weight still and following her growth centile despite everything?

Thanks for all of the info and advice @cindersrella

Yeah, it might not be dairy/lactose but I don't understand why it's making her worse. She's been dairy/lactose free for 6 days now and has had two days at nursery, they said that she seems worse too. GP is adamant it's two weeks to see conclusively!

She's on exactly the same percentile as when she was born, so following the curve perfectly. She's thriving and usually very happy.

Her poos aren't normal. It's not just us, nursery have expressed a concern. It's the number of poos, the amount of poos, the consistency, the colour, the smell, they're acidic, they irritate her skin so badly even if we manage to get her changed in seconds!

Good that she's gaining weight. I was just concerned that awful nappies and a pretty much constant cough could add up to something more serious but all sounds good.

My 10yo DD is severely allergic (Think anaphylactic) to milk but can tolerate soya which helps. After BFing her she went on to aptimil pepti formula so fortunately never had to try an elimination diet.

Hopefully things turn a corner for you soon, it all sounds pretty awful

Yeah, obviously the mum paranoia has been in overdrive with this but she is thriving.

I just really hope she isn't in constant pain that she has just learnt to live with ... being in pain is her normal. It makes me sad.

My son is anaphylactic to various things but he's a classic prem child! Most of his allergies are fairly easy to avoid but it's so scary. Being allergic to something that's so prevalent in everything, like dairy, must be horrid.

DS has acrid poo that used to burn his bum in minutes poor thing. He has delayed alleged to dairy, spy and eggs.

Soya is the hardest to eliminate as it's in absolutely everything. Prettying all bread has soya flour. Dairy is everywhere. It's tough.

Runny poo and mucusy cough sounds like an allergy of some sort to me.

Nutramigen didn't work for my son, neocate did. He's still on it now at nearly 2. Lactose intolerance is quite rare in babies of that age so I think you're doing the right thing in assuming it's a dairy allergy. My GP didn't know the difference, or he forgot that it was different.

As for diet, Asda do a dairy free pesto in the free from section and it tastes good. I like floras dairy free marg, vio life do a good cream 'cheese', jus-roll pastries are mainly dairy free - my son loved the puff pastry made into tomato and basil pinwheels at that age. Try your local bakery for dairy & soya free bread. Most traditional bakeries will have breads which contain only flour, water & salt they will taste heavenly.

You'll need to wait a few weeks to notice a real difference but if you feel she's getting worse then go back to the gp and ask for a completely dairy free milk. The difference with my son was within a few days and it was such a change I just knew we'd cracked it. With nutramigen he slightly improved then got bad again within a week.

When did you notice that she may have something wrong? If she's been on formula before and hasn't had an issue before this I'd be tempted to try eliminate egg next.

Good luck op, it sounds like a nightmare and I hope you find the cause asap.

Your welcome. My little one didn't show many signs of intolerance/allergy until I weaned her at 5 months old. She was on normal cow and gate before that.

I gave her some baby rice and boom she was terrible. I didn't feed her solids for around 3 weeks again. Then when I did she did exactly the same.

Also she was really poorly when she had broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onion etc. These are all gassy vegetable and she can only just eat them now. Skin peel were hard for her to digest too x

We used to get to between 9-11 at night and she was horrendous! Screaming, bolting around the bed, throwing herself everywhere, sick and then the really runny poo's at night along with bright red raw bums. Plus when she pumped my gosh she stank.

If she has a build up of dairy now (she is 3) I have a few days of her been unsettled x

Thanks for all of the advice and answering my many questions.

This morning DH interrupted my shower to show me a lovely putty semi-solid poo that DD had produced. The romance is still alive! I don't want to get overexcited but it was the first half normal looking poo we've seen in over 6 months. I'm so hoping this is it!

We're seeing the GP again next Tuesday.

Nutramigen is horrible stuff, in my opinion. They tend to prescribe it as it is restively cheap. Neocate might be far better.

How is you little one?

I don't know.

She's been doing one semi-normal looking poo a day for about 6 days now. Not explosive and not making her bum sore.

Nursery said she doesn't seem herself though and they're worried that she's constipated... but she is doing one poo everyday but lucky for us it's first thing in the morning!

We're seeing the GP this afternoon so we'll see what they say.

We saw a different GP and she was a bit odd if I'm honest! I asked if she'd read through the notes and she said "yes" so I said "as you can see she's been dairy free for almost two weeks and blah blah blah".. she said "yes" and then there was a huge awkward silence so I eventually said "I was hoping you'd be able to advise me what to do from here"... she said "I'll refer her to paediatrics".

So that's great and I'm glad they'll test her properly.

I asked the GP what the best thing to do while we're waiting for the appointment and she said "wait for the appointment".. so I asked if we should keep her dairy free or reintroduce dairy and she said "well, that's up to you"... I said the previous GP prescribed nutramigen and she said they don't prescribe milk unless there's been a diagnosis. I asked if I should keep her on it and I'll buy it from the pharmacy and she said "that's up to you".

I feel a bit lost now while we wait for paediatrics.

Have you changed your name OP?

I'm glad the are referring. Is little one still haveing bread/pasta etc?

Had the previous GP prescribed Nutramigen? If so, I’d be tempted to go back and see them.

Are you giving her dairy substitutes? I tried Soya milk when I went DF due to CMPA and it made me worse, felt like it had mild flu. Hace later learnt that over have of all people with CMPA are also allergic to the protein in Soya as the molecules are so similar.

As for the Pesto Sacla do a DF one

Yeah, I name changed for another thread (outing paranoia) and just realised I've misspelt my user name when I changed back!!

She's not had any bread but is having pasta with either homemade sauces or dairy free pesto.

Previous gp prescribed the nutramigen and I thought we were seeing him again but it was dr awkward!

We're using the formula milk to make most things and vegetable oil based spreads etc.. I'm not aware if we're using soya or not because I haven't been checking. I've been told there's lots of soya in things that I haven't been aware of.

Her diet at the minute is:

Breakfast: dairy free cereal with formula milk
Snack: fruit and dairy free yogurt (need to check what it actually is)
Lunch: hot meal (shepherds pie, pasta, meat/veg, chilli/rice, etc)
Dinner: light meal (jacket potato, soup, steamed veg)
Bottle of milk at bedtime

I really need to look in to the soya food thing.

She had her one year vaccinations this week so has been feeling like a bag of shite this past couple of days. Her cough is on her chest (again) and I've been using her inhaler more.. i feel so sorry for her.

The DF yoghurt is probably Soya. Is the DF spread Soya based too? Yiu can get sunflower based ones like Pure.

If her cough is worse today I’d go straight back to the GP and ask if she can be seen any earlier at the Hospital.

She has a paediatrics appointment in early May.

The letter doesn't say anything about diet but the GP mentioned they'd likely want her on a normal diet.. anyone know if this is the case?

We've got her on a very restricted diet at the minute. I am slowly reintroducing diary. I have her some lasagne last week and she got awful wind immediately then explosive poos the next day. So it doesn't seem serious but maybe intolerance?

Hi OP. I experienced something similar-DC2 allergic to many things including dairy and vomiting daily til it was worked out.

I would suggest you try and get a dietician appointment as this is a crucial age to ensure your DC is getting enough vits/minerals.

GPs just don't have the time to manage this as appts tend to be 10mins, or necessarily the experience.

Fwiw my child eventually outgrew the reaction to dairy although still has some other allergies.

My youngest has a milk protein allergy. If she even has anything may contain it takes weeks to get out of her system.
As a baby she was extremely windy and constantly runny. It can take ages to get it out of their system.