Suspected dairy intolerance - do I need to do anything?

[Willow]

I strongly suspect DS has a dairy intolerance. We introduced grated cheese to his diet at about 7/8 months (can't remember exactly) and didn't notice any problem but when we added yoghurt ...OMG, the nappies were horrendous. Very runny, curdy (sorry TMI) and the smell was awful. Every nappy change was like this (he would normally only poo once a day). This went on for a few days before I twigged that it might be the yoghurt. So I stopped giving him dairy for a few days and the awful nappies stopped. That was about 3 weeks ago.

He is a fussy eater though and I struggle to find finger foods he will eat for lunch. This week I tried him on thin rice cakes and put a bit of cottage cheese on them. At first it was fine, but after a few days - horrid nappies again.

So...do I just cut dairy out all together and try again after 12 months? Should I be worried about lack of calcium etc? Should I be supplementing his diet with something else?

[~clover~]

I think you should take him to your gp now, so you know in advance if he does have an intolerance.
I was lactose intolerant as a baby, but I've kinda grown out of it.
I get a belly ache after a milkshake & dairy helps me go to the loo, instead of blocking me up. But I can have it

[Kmn]

There's at least 2 sorts of dairy intolerance:
*affected by milk protein - in which case all dairy needs to be excluded (including "milk solids non fat" that are added to a hell of a lot of prepared foods)
or
*affected by lactose - there is no lactose in hard cheese, a little bit in cottage cheese and sweeter cheeses like swiss cheese, more in yoghurt and more again in milk.
What you describe, where hard cheese is OK and yoghurt and cottage cheese cause problems sounds more like lactose being the problem, except that you are BF'ing OK, and there is lots of lactose in breastmilk.

When you say after a few days you get horrid nappies, is that after a few days of cottage cheese each day, or a few days after a single meal with cottage cheese in it?? I'm wondering if mixing up the dairy would help - cheese one day, yoghurt another, cottage cheese another. He may also need to get his bowel used to the bacteria from the cultures in the yoghurt and cottage cheese.

[Willow]

I get a belly ache after a milkshake & dairy helps me go to the loo

I'm the same funnily enough, especially on full fat dairy. Skim milk doesn't bother me but full cream does for example.

KMN - I mean after a few days of a little cottage cheese for lunch. With the yoghurt, it was two days of a small amount (maybe one and a half tablespoons?)of yoghurt at lunch time. The yoghurt was definitely the worst, the affect was immediate and lasted for about a week.

I might give his paed a call, was hoping to avoid it but maybe it's worth having a chat to him.

[christy]

Both my girls are allergic to dairy. At 11 months, Matilda had tests for lactose intolerance which came back negative (see the main site for an article about lactose intolerance in babies). But at 3 yrs old I was at an allergist for Jovie and he took one look at Matilda and said she had a cow milk allergy, we had her tested and it came back as a severe allergy. Jovie wasn't severe, in fact he thinks she will grow out of it.

So, milk allergies I can tell you about... even intolerances. Generally, it shows as reflux when they are newbies, Matilda had silent reflux which burned the back of her oesophogus. Our GP recommended we go to formula rather than breast milk... funnily enough it didn't clear it up (seeing as the formula is milk based.... this is hindsight though).

It also can show up as increased amounts of tonsilitis and ear infections in the first 2 years. Increased runny poos. Matilda didn't do a formed poo until 6 months off dairy, or 3.5 yrs old. She also lost weight around 12 months old.... I didn't give her a cups of cows milk until she was 18 months because when I did she had more runny poo.

Jovie who has the mild allergy, had reflux and then I went off dairy and breastfed her. Her poos were normal, she had no more reflux, no tonsilitis and no ear infections. She does formed poos... and is fine.

Sounds to me like something you should investigate. Finger foods etc can be super easy.... just a shift of mindset & then you get used to it. I've been dairy free for 18 months now, and the rest of the family for 12 months. We are used to it now, and neither DH or I have dairy even though we can.

[Willow]

Thanks Christy, was hoping you'd pop in!

He's never had tonsillitis or an ear infection, although he is only 9 months. I don't think he had reflux, definitely not the spewy kind anyway.

I eat dairy all the time, mainly cheese I guess and milk in my tea etc and have never noticed that it has affected him. His poo has been 'normal' since introducing solids until we started on dairy.

Another interesting point is that my acupuncturist told me that I should avoid dairy - he said my body didn't metabolise it well and it caused 'damp'. He could tell by looking at my tongue! He was treating me as part of my IVF cycle so i was pretty surprised when he said this. As i said earlier, I've always had issues with dairy but it's gotten better as I've gotten older and i've learnt that the lighter/lower fat varieties are better for me.

Finger foods - I just don't have a clue this time around! He is not like his sister at all who was woofing down the food by 9 months.

[christy]

LOL yeah its interesting with the finger food thing.... a few favs of Jovie were:

ham
sultanas
homemade pikelets and vege muffins (I've posted recipes in the toddler food recipes)
corn cakes
cruskits with a smear of avocado and or vegemite