Baby being sick after stomach bug

[Amiep1]

Hi all, hope you can help.

To give context, my dd is 5 months and had (until last week) only been sick a couple of times.

She then caught a stomach bug (we are sure it's a tummy bug as it then went round the family) and proceeded to be sick a good few times a day for 3 days (to be expected). I tried to keep her hydrated with water but obviously cut down her milk as all she was doing was bringing it up.

She then went 36 hours without being sick (still on small feeds of 2 -3 ounces when previously she was on 6) so we thought we were out of the woods.

She was then sick in her cot about 2 hours after her night feed of a couple ounces last night and has just done the same again tonight after not being sick all day. This is now about a week of being sick and not taking in even half her amount of milk.

I'm worried as shes not getting her milk in , she won't tolerate more than 3 ounces at a time in the day and feeding her at night and putting her to bed is impossible, even after keeping her upright for an hour before putting her in her cot. I think she's already lost weight and it's really scarring me.

Has anyone else had experience with babies having what seems like an intolerance to milk after having a bug? Or could this be something different? Thanks!

Forgot to mention. I have taken her to the doctor's a couple of times and even a and e as one night she seemed dehydrated. They just told me it's a bug and to feed her little and often

Yeah it’s a thing to be intolerant of milk following a stomach bug but I don’t know what you can do if you formula feed… breast milk is a clear fluid rather than a dairy product so is fine. But formula- you don’t have much choice but to maybe try smaller amounts more often? Hopefully someone who is more experienced in bottle feeding will be along with advice…

Yes, this happened with my dd. Ended up taking her to the doctor who told me that, whilst it wasn’t always acknowledged, some kid can have temporary dairy intolerance after stomach bugs. We do have some dairy allergies in the wider family so could be related. She was around 6months at the time and we were told to try dairy free formula and small portions of purees and non dairy foods until she was better, it took about 3 weeks in the end. She was never a big milk fan tbh and we had to start weaning her under medical advice at 4 months as she wasn’t drinking enough and not putting on weight. Shes 9 now, no dairy allergy but won’t ever drink milk, even flavoured!

Lactose intolerance is common after a stomach bug.

Thank you so much for that, that's really useful. I was thinking about getting her some lactose free formula but wasn't sure whether to add another variable if it didn't agree with her. I'll also speak to the HV about trying to ween her with some diary free foods. I just want my smiley baby back! Been so hard to see her unwell. It's been a tough week

It's dairy intolerance that happens after a tummy bug not lactose.
Formula like nutrimigan is what you need
Can you phone your health visitor in the am

Oh that's interesting. I've been worried about changing her formula in case it disagrees with her but it seems I might have no choice. Yes, I'll ring the HV in the morning. I assumed she would just say the same thing as the doctors but you've given me hope she might have some actual advice 🤞

You can get secondary dairy or lactose intolerance after a sickness bug. I think the dairy is more common than the lactose in infants but the lactose is easier for you to test. Try a day or two of lactose free formula and if that doesn't help you have something to prompt your GP to give you a hypoallergenic formula. I would say they would be hesitant to do it so soon after a bug as the formulas are expensive and taste vile so older babies can reject it. My daughter had a known dairy allergy and our GPs refused to give her the hypoallergenic formulas due to her age and the perception that she wouldn't drink it anyway