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Original poster

Lactose intollerance - kid growing out of it?

6 replies

TheAmberKoala · 04/08/2026 14:21

My son is now 7. He had a breath test at age 3 and found to have some lactose intollerance (had really runny poo at that age).
I have been doing lactose free milk and cheese since then. He seemed to be able to have the odd yoghurt, or recipe with cheese in it without any issues.

He has recently had the odd drink of normal milk with no issue that I could see.

Just curious if anyone had this, did your kid grow out of it? I have heard its quite common they do, but Im not sure how I would know, apart from him telling me if his tummy is sore.

OP posts:
TigerRag · 04/08/2026 15:55

I grew out of it and then developed it again as a teenager which I grew out of and haven't had issues since

ShetlandishMum · 04/08/2026 16:01

Dd2 grew out of it. She had a lactose free diet from 3-8 yo.
She eats a normal diet now.

I am much better with milk now than ever. Think epi-pen before. Of course I am still on a milk free diet but less drama.

Superscientist · 05/08/2026 08:44

It's possible or it might be that the severity of their lactose intolerance means that they can tolerate irregular amounts but not regular amounts.

My daughter has delayed allergies which have similar symptoms to intolerances. She is for the most part very sensitive and regularly even pea sized amounts of her allergens cause symptoms but she has tolerated accidental exposures without noticeable symptoms

We have tried the "milk ladder" with her a few times to see if she can now tolerate dairy but haven't got very far with it. I believe there is lactose ladder too, so if you wanted to see where their current tolerance is you could look at doing that. You might find that they can tolerate up to regular cheese for example and occasionally something higher.

PearlsTeapot · 06/08/2026 21:14

Yes, DS couldn't have a mouthful from 3-11 but now at 16 just ate an entire tub of ben and Jerrys yesterday no problem!

Original poster
TheAmberKoala · 08/08/2026 15:21

Superscientist · 05/08/2026 08:44

It's possible or it might be that the severity of their lactose intolerance means that they can tolerate irregular amounts but not regular amounts.

My daughter has delayed allergies which have similar symptoms to intolerances. She is for the most part very sensitive and regularly even pea sized amounts of her allergens cause symptoms but she has tolerated accidental exposures without noticeable symptoms

We have tried the "milk ladder" with her a few times to see if she can now tolerate dairy but haven't got very far with it. I believe there is lactose ladder too, so if you wanted to see where their current tolerance is you could look at doing that. You might find that they can tolerate up to regular cheese for example and occasionally something higher.

thanks, I will google lactose ladder.

OP posts:
CrawlingBackToYou · 08/08/2026 15:32

If you look on the resources at allergy uk - lactose intolerance is usually a transient thing as in most people get over it.

There are some people with a rare genetic condition that remain lactose intolerant for life but the numbers are very low.

https://www.allergyuk.org/resources/lactose-intolerance/

Lactose Intolerance

Find out more about this common disorder, what causes it, how to diagnose it and advice when breastfeeding in our information Factsheet.

https://www.allergyuk.org/resources/lactose-intolerance/

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