Question about introducing milk - link to restless sleep

[marinkitty]

Mia was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at just over 12 months, so she has been on soy milk since then. At her 18 month allergist visit, she tested negative for dairy allergy (both a skin and a blood (RAST) test). We did a "milk challenge" last week and she drank 18 oz. of cow milk in a day and had no visible allergic reaction. But she had a hard time getting down to sleep at both nap time and night time. Once asleep she seemed to do okay.

So this week I gave her milk in just small quantities. 3 oz. in the early a.m. on Sunday and then 3 oz. early a.m. and 3 oz. mid-a.m. on Monday. Both days she napped shorter than usual (an hour and 10 min. or so vs. 1 hour 30) and both nights were very restless (the second night being FAR worse - cried out every hour or two and I had to go in to soothe her back to sleep a few nights). The nights she has not had milk she has slept better.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? The allergist says it does not sound like an allergic reaction and is convinced her allergy has gone away. But I wonder if it is making her tummy hurt or causing some other discomfort. She is too young to tell us. Could this be lactose intolerance or just that her digestive system isn't used to processing dairy and needs time to adjust.

Any wisdom/suggestions welcome at this point - we would love nothing more than to be able to let her have dairy products, but I hate to think she won't sleep as well or be uncomfortable as a result.

Thanks!
Holly
Mom to Mia (3.17.03)
Another March baby EDD (3.22.05)

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[Momof3Labs]

www.askdrsears.com has a good section on lactose intolerance, just do a search for it. Colin is lactose intolerant and there are more symptoms than just a tummy ache. He also gets diarrhea and tend to have a red burn-like diaper rash after pooping. And is incredibly fussy.

But even babies who do fine on milk do better with a gradual transition. Try taking her off the milk for a week or so and see if things improve. If so, introduce milk much more gradually - add an ounce or two every day.

Keep in mind that she could also be teething - working on eye teeth or molars - or just going through a developmental phase that affects her napping pattern.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

when we tried cow's milk Logan was fussier than usual and did not sleep as well as usual. We backed off and tried again a month later and she was fine then.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
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