Lactose intolerance

[DrSally]

DS had a cow's milk allergy that he outgrew at 2yo. Try as we did to get him to switch from his beloved soymilk to cow's milk, he never did. I wanted to reduce the soy in his diet, since he gets it from a lot of other sources as well. Anyway, he now only has a little bit of cow's milk with his cereal in the am. Loves his Oatmeal Squares! Every morning, he complains of a stomach ache after breakfast. The first time, he said "maybe I have a tummy ache b/c I ate too much b/c I like it so much". So, I figured he was eating too much cereal and getting a tummy ache. I always asked him if he was still hungry when he asked for more cereal.

Anyway...this morning after breakfast he was writhing on the floor, holding his stomach and curling up. It looked like a clear case of stomach cramping. Then a lightbulb went off and DUH--lactose intolerance. I had lactose intolerance for many months after I added milk back into my diet when he outgrew his allergy, so I know what it feels like. His morning cereal is the only time he has any cow's milk. He eats cheese and yogurt wo/complaints, but I know they're easier to digest. Maybe he has a mild case. I know milk allergy and lactose intolerance are 2 separate things, but they can freq go together. His paternal grandfather was lactose intolerant and I know Asians (I'm Asian) are more likely to be LI.

I got him some Lactaid milk today and told him it was a different milk that wouldn't give him a stomach ache. He asked for some in a cup and drank the whole thing, no complaints so far. From reading the label, it sounds like they just add some lactase enzyme to the milk to make it easier to digest? I considered buying goat's milk as well, since I know it's easier to digest, but that was 2x as expensive.

ANyone with LI that cares to share their tips?

[justlearning]

I have LI and yes, it does sound like he probably has LI. I also can eat hard cheeses and a little yogurt (4 oz) without discomfort. I never had a milk allergy and used to drink milk all the time but developed LI as an adult.

I drink soy milk now but used to drink Lactaid and never had problems with that. I just prefer the taste of soy milk. Another option would be rice milk if you didn't want him to have soy.

Don't know what else to say...sorry to hear he's been feeling uncomfortable. Hopefully, with the switch he won't have any more discomfort.

[HIU8]

I have had LI since I was a child. I can drink lactaid milk and eat sharp cheddar and swiss cheeses. I can also have yogurt with live active cultures. I get a very upset stomach and diahrea when I eat something with milk other than what I mentioned above, so I mostly stay away from it. Otherwise, I do take the lactaid pills with me so I can enjoy things like ice cream with little to no discomfort.

[DrSally]

You know, there has never been any diarehha with the stomach cramping. It's only a few ounces of milk he gets in the am though. Also, are probiotics supposed to help with LI? And how does one get LI as an adult? Just unlucky?

[gatorsmom]

You know, I switched to rice milk with my morning cereal when I was pregnant and I like it so much I haven't switched back- even though I drink milk with other things!

Vanilla-flavored rice milk is really pretty sweet- maybe your DS would like that? My kids won't drink milk. They just have a natural aversion to it and I suspect they are lactose intolerant like DH. But they really like rice milk on their cereal too. It took a little getting used to, but now they ask for it.

[fivi2]

Another option (if there aren't any nut allergies!) is Almond Milk. My girls get tummy aches after drinking cow milk (but are okay with cheese and yogurt, etc. I hadn't thought about ice cream since we rarely eat it, but that could explain last week's bad night after ice cream with granddad!)

Anyway, we did Rice Milk at first and it does taste fine, but it had a lot of sugar in it, iirc. That is why we switched to unsweetened Almond Milk - no complaints. I also try to avoid a lot of extra soy, since it is found in so many things.

[Momof3Labs]

When DS1 dealt with lactose intolerance (he outgrew it), we used Lactaid drops in regular milk. You have to let it sit for about a day, but it is so much cheaper than Lactaid milk. I got them from a Canadian pharmacy website (they aren't sold in the U.S. any more).

DH is also lactose intolerant and uses the pills with cheese or ice cream. He doesn't get immediate symptoms, but it seems to build up in his system and when it finally gives out, he has violent diarrhea and vomiting for about a day, often landing him in the ER because he gets so dehydrated. As long as he take the pills or avoids dairy, he doesn't get sick like that.

[JBaxter]

I used Orgainic Valley lactose free milk. Baby Jack cant take the lactose.

[DrSally]

DS tested borderline for Almond allergy, so we avoid that and nuts in general (b/c of his peanut allergy and cross-contamination issues). Well tonight I just got done cleaning up his crib. He threw up and also had a pee accident (prob b/c he was upset about the throw up in his crib). I wonder if it was the Lactaid. He drank about a whole cup, which is much more than he usually drinks of reg. milk, so maybe that was too much for him. Lori, from reading the ingred. of lactaid, it seems like they just added the lactase enzyme to reg milk, so adding the pills would be the same as getting the Lactaid in a carton maybe. It would be nice not to have to buy a whole carton of Lactaid since he doesn't drink that much.

[HIU8]

When I was a kid there was no diahrea involved. I also had massive stomach cramping that sometimes landed me in the hospital before the LI was diagnosed.

My BF became LI after her DD was born. I have no idea how but she cannot eat any dairy or she gets very ill now (and she is not used to this so it is that much worse for her).