Horrendous poos after transition to cows milk

[Bluestripeysocks]

DS has been the biggest grump for the past 3 weeks.... I was putting it down to learning to walk and teething but of course, there has also been the introduction of cows milk bottles instead of his usual formula as he turned 1 recently.

We introduced whole milk gradually and he did wonderfully transitioning, never refusing a bottle (he has one at breakfast and one before bed), but his nappies have been absolutely disgusting for the past 2 weeks since he has been having whole milk only instead of the mix.

I so don't want to jump to intolerance etc as I know it can take a while for the digestive system to get used to something new... but realistically... anyone have experience with this? His poo is very dark green and there is absolutely loads of it... blowouts when we haven't had any of those since he was 3 months old and we switched off SMA to Aptamil for the same reason... loose poops.
There is undigested food in almost every poo, but I think this can be normal too...? He also has started getting the worst nappy rash. For example, he was eating his dinner and did a poo... less than 5 minutes of sitting in it to finished dinner, I changed him and his bum was raw already!

He is gaining weight absolutely fine and has always been off the charts for height and weight.

Anyone have experience with this when switching to cows milk? Thanks!!

[Bluestripeysocks]

I should add, he sleeps well and doesn't seem uncomfortable during the day, which is why I hesitate at thinking intolerance. But he is definitely more grumpy than usual, the burning nappy rash and truely disgusting poo make me think twice. There have been no other changes to his diet while we did the milk transition. He has 3 meals a day and a snack in the afternoon. His appetite is and always has been very good.

Have left a message for HV but they've not got back to be yet.

[SCheesee]

Hey,

A similar thing has been happening to our little boy! He turned 1 on Friday, and since then we’ve been transitioning him onto cows milk. He gets 2 bottles a day of formula - 7 ounces, so we’ve been mixing these. He now takes 2 bottles a day - both with 4 ounces of formula, and 3 ounces of cows milk. He’s been loving them! Guzzling every drop! But he too has been having 4-5 loose poops per day, one really dark green one as well which I contacted HV for advice about but no reply - shock!! His bottom is causing him so much pain, and he’s just generally upset and not himself. His appetite in general has decreased also, so I’m wondering if this is a reaction to cows milk? There’s no other allergy symptoms so I’m wondering if it’s just his little body adjusting to the change? Today, we’ve given him his bottle with only formula, then tonight at bed time I’m going to give him a bottle with 6 ounces formula, 1 ounce cows milk to see if that helps things as he’s just miserable. He is teething too so a lot going on for him.


im wondering if your little one is also struggling with the change? Potentially just a delayed reaction to the big changes going on in his body? How much ounces of cows milk does he get per bottle? You could potentially reduce the quantity back down and just slowly build up if there’s improvement?

sorry if this isn’t much help! I’m going through the exact same thing so would love some advise as it’s sad seeing them upset xx

[Bluestripeysocks]

@SCheesee Cows milk intolerance was diagnosed shortly after I posted this. Health visitor and GP agreed.

After researching a bit more I have learned that raw milk products are much higher in histimine content than cooked milk products.

We cut out all raw milk items. Mainly cheese, yoghurt and straight milk (he has almond milk for bottle before bed and cup of it in the morning). Within a week he was back to normal. HV suggested trying the milk ladder in summer starting from wherever he seems to be comfortable on it. For example, he can happily have crackers which contain milk in the ingredients, but a macaroni cheese or lasagne is out of the question!

Hope you figure it out soon and your LO feels better!

[SCheesee]

I’m so glad to hear your little one is doing better! With my wee one’s symptoms, do you think he potentially has an intolerance to cows milk? We’ve had an awful day today, he’s had 7 poo’s 😭 such a shame, he was so upset this afternoon. Today, due to this we haven’t given him any cows milk at all. It’s so bizarre because he’s had cows milk in porridge, weetabix etc since 6 months and has never had a problem?! So unsure if it could be an intolerance? I’m still waiting to hear from my health visitor - I think it’s shocking they don’t get back to you sooner! He’s also had dairy products since we started weaning as well and never really had a problem with that either? I must say though, he’s not the biggest fan of anything cheese based?

so hard to navigate with little ones isn’t it as they can’t communicate poor things! X