Lactose intolerance in toddlers

[NinaJane]

Hi,

I have just joined mumsnet.

My 2.5 year old son had Gastro about 3 weeks ago. The vomiting stopped after 3 days, but his runny tummy continued.

Because I thought that he was better when the vomiting stopped, I gave him dairy to eat and drink. I now realised that this was wring, as it caused him to become lactose intolerant.

I have been giving him lactose free milk for the last 2 weeks and his stools are now normal.

My question is: How long do I have to continue giving him the lactose free milk? Should I stop, because his tummy is not runny anymore or is there a recommended time of use, regardless of the obvious improvement?

Also, is there anything else I should use, like a tablet which reintroduces live cultures in his gut? If so, could you please recommend a product?

Thank you very much.

NinaJane

Ooh, tricky. My family has a history of allergies and, as a result, my DS1 has ended up being allergic to dairy. He can have goat's milk products but anything related to cow's milk spells complete disaster..... As a baby, he had lots of upset stomachs - at the time we were advised it was just bugs. However, I now see that I should have listened to my instincts and put him on a dairy free diet when he was small as we might not have ended up where we are now .

Anyway, my advice, based solely on my own experience would be to get your GP to refer you to a paediatrician asap and then get them to refer you to a nutritionist for proper medical advice. In your shoes, I'd keep him on the lactose free milk until you have spoken to a doctor but I don't know that's the "right" answer. I'm basing it on DS1's history and also how we've been tackling similar suspected probelm with DS2.

I found it helped to note down as much as possible re symptons, dates of upset stomach etc.

By the way, in an adult, you could take acidophullus (not sure how you spell it but you can buy at health food shops) or you could take dairy free yakult or similar. I take the supplement myself. However, I would have thought neither of these would be suitable for a small child. You could try goat yoghurt?

Good luck

Hi Jolene2, thank you very much for your kind advice - I have since done a little research and it looks like my son's lactose intolerance is secondary, due to the gastro he had and not due an allegy. Good luck with your little ones .

Nina

Good luck to you too!