How do you diagnose lactose intolerance?

[lmariana]

Gabe has been on whole milk since the ped gave his okay at 12 months. We switched over cold-turkey with no problems at all. Fast forward two months later....

Well, lately I've been noticing increasingly loose stools. He gets very gassy, more than normal, no seriously. When he passes gas, you'd think there was a full grown man in the room. He started having some really bad diarrhea, so I took him off dairy and put him on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, toast). 36 hours later, his stools are normal and no more "man-gas".

Could this be lactose intolerance? He was formula-fed since about 1 month old, so I find it odd that it would pop up so randomly. Could it be a reaction to something else? I've also been giving him some soy crisps as snack. Other than that, it's all natural, home-cookin'!

I'd love any insight anyone can offer! Thank you!

Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003
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[miki]

I don't know if lactose intolerance is so sudden. If he's been fine with cow's milk formula and whole milk, I would be more likely think it was some new food or a viral bug. There's some info on askdrsears.com about lactose intolerance and how to re-introduce dairy if you think there is a sensitivity. http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032100.asp#T032103

[Momof3Labs]

Colin is lactose intolerant. He had many symptoms - diarrhea was only one of them. He also got an awful red burn-like diaper rash each time he pooped. And he was so ridiculously fussy that I was absolutely going out of my mind. Now, DH is lactose intolerant and it would manifest itself by occasionally making him sicker than a dog. It would be coming out both ends, literally. But otherwise he'd be fine. So, in DH's case, it would build up in his system and then his body would revolt. Colin got a more immediate reaction that stopped within 1-2 days of taking him off of whole milk. And he'd even react on as little as 1-2oz of whole milk per day. When we introduced lactose free milk, he had none of the symptoms.

There is no definitive test for lactose intolerance, it is just process of elimination. I'd suggest that you give Gabriel a few more days off of milk, then try introducing some milk. If he has the same problem, pull him off again for several days or more. Then, eventually, introduce some lactose free milk and see how he does on that.

Colin was bf'd to a year so I don't know if babies tend to react to formula too, or if the lactose in formula is already somewhat broken down (it is in cheese and yogurt, which is why Colin is fine with these but not milk).

[egoldber]

Has he been eating a lot of fruit lately? I find that this happens when DD suddenly starts eating a lot of fruit.

[lmariana]

I thought about that, but he's been on a chicken and broccoli kick lately. I gave him a little milk today with lunch, so we'll see how that goes!

Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003
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