Lactaid Vs. Whole Milk

I'm not sure why the doctor made you think that... maybe he was referring to brand name?

For your son, it makes a difference what about the milk is causing him to have tummy troubles. Lactaid, and other lactose-free milks on the market are for those with a lactose intolerance. Meaning they lack the enzymes to break down lactose in their bodies so consuming foods that contain lactose will cause painful bloating and gas. The lactaid milk is regular milk with those enzymes added in so that the lactose is already broken down prior to consumption. If lactose intolerance is not the specific problem then I don't think the Lactaid milk is necessary for your son. If it is, there are other options that are less expensive, including store brands.

I would speak to the pediatrician prior to making any switch and follow their recommendations since they are familiar with your child and his tummy troubles. If all else fails, just take him off milk. He really doesn't need it after 12 months anyhow. Hydrate him with water and get him calcium and vitamin D from other food sources and a multivitamin.

For a person that is lactose intollerant, it is worth every penny! If I was to drink a cup of regular milk, I would be in intense pain for probably 24 hours minimum. They do have store brand lactose free milk. For when he gets bigger, you can buy lactaid pills (they have generic versions of those too) and then he can drink regular milk and take a pill with it. I carry them in my purse as I need to take them with anything that has milk/icecream/cheese. If they suggested lactaid milk I would stick with it.

I disagree with his Gastro. I personally feel that it IS worth the money. My son has always had tummy troubles with milks and formulas when he was little. We tried giving him reg. milk and he was always in such pain afterwards that we had to switch back. He grew older and we tried changing back again and same problem. The Lactose free milk is all he can drink. We dont buy the real brand because you are right it IS expensive, but Darigold has Lactose free, as do many others that are much cheaper.

If it really makes a difference in your child that YOU can tell and helps your child. Then that's what should matter.

We buy the Lactose free for my son, and buy a gallon of reg milk for my husband and I and for cooking etc. So then it cuts the cost down on my son's milk.

You need to figure out for certain if he's lactose intolerant or not to figure out if the Lactaid is worth it. Get a pediatric gastroenterologist to perform a nitrogen breath test on your son. It will give you a definitive answer. We had this done for our lactose-intolerant daughter.

He will basically drink a lactose solution after a night of fasting. Then they'll catch his breath in a special tube. They'll measure his breath every half hour or so once his body starts to attempt to digest it. If his breath has ANY nitrogen in it then he's lactose intolerant.

If they still think that milk is the culprit but he's not lactose intolerant it's still possible that he has a milk protein allergy or sensitivity which they could easily determine if they do a laproscopy into his belly. The tiny camera would see any damage in his stomach from a casein problem.

If he's sensitive to milk or lactose intolerant then organic cow's milk won't make a darned bit of difference. Lactose intolerance requires lactose free cow's milk and lactose-free milk products (which would have the lactase enzyme added to it the enzyme the lower intestine is lacking to digest lactose sugars and MUST SAY lactose-free on the nutrition information) or it requires going completely off of cow's milk and cream products. If someone has an allergy or sensitivity to milk protein, then they must go off of cow's milk products completely regardless of lactase content because lactose intolerance is not the issue (although someone can have both milk protein and lactose intolerance problems at the same time they ARE mutually exclusive).

Anyway, it's completely worth it to get the Lactaid milk. We did the store brand for a while, but my daughter could tell the difference and said it tasted like plastic. I've been showing signs of lactose intolerance myself and I have to agree. There are tons of coupons and sales out there, and Lactaid is delicious. Even without the coupons, it's worth it. I cook with it for the family since the rest of the house can still have dairy. Any recipes that call for milk can use Lactaid milk.