Question Regarding Milk Allergies & Lactose Intolerence

J.

I'm assuming you are using cows milk?

First of all cows milk is much harder for our bodies as humans to digest than our own milk or milk from other animals. What makes this so is the not only the makeup of the milk, but also the process of pasteurization. You might think that pasteurization is necessary and safe but in fact you are killing a living substance. Raw milk, much like breastmilk, has enzymes and antibodies that make it healthy and easily digested. Kill the enzymes and you have a substance that our bodies reject.

Second, have you considered Goat's milk? Raw goats' milk is much easier for our bodies to handle and has all of the enutritional benefits of cows milk.

Raw milk from grass fed cows or goats is available at many CT farm markets. Or on the farms of various local farms. WEL WORTH the the trip.

Here's some more info: www.realmilk.org

(our 13 onth old has ben on raw goat milk in addition to breast milk since a year with no problems...mommy and daddy drink raw cow milk)

1 mom found this helpful

It's not an allergy. An allergy to milk would cause rash, hives, trouble breathing etc... And an intolerance to milk would actually cause horrible gas and ALOT of diahhrea. (I'm an allergy nurse and my sister is lactose intolerant) Milk and cheese are actually very constipating in nature. Even though yogurt is a dairy product it has natural live acidopholus cultures in it which are very beneficial to the digestive system. You may want to increase his other fluid intake like apple juice and water which will loosen the stool up a little. Also try if you can to increase his fiber intake, that should help too. You can also try to get him to eat more grapes and raisins and actual sun dried prunes, depending on his amount of teeth of course (I think NatureSweet or something makes them, they are individually packaged). These healthy snacks which are great for healthy poops! Hope this was helpful and thank god for prune juice just in case!

1 mom found this helpful

it sounds like your son is lactose intolerant. that would explain why he can have yogurt but not milk because the lactose in yogurt is already broken down by the bacteria that turn the milk into yogurt. my son and I both stay away from cow milk products and he is a very very healthy 1 1/2 year old in the 98th percentile for height. i give him some goat milk's yogurt and calcium from other sources, as well.

Hello J.,

Contrary to popular belief, milk DOES cause constipation. does he like pears? that helps w/ bowel movements. I add (gerber baby food) pears to my daughter's strawberry milk. it makes a difference. since she was a baby, milk constipated her. still does so I giver her a bit of milk of magnesia from time to time to help her. I avoid milk as much as possible. sometimes she eats something w/ chees or milk then the next day I give her 1 tsp milk of magnesia in her soy/oatmilk drink. if it's the milk, there are plenty of alternatives. Good luck and keep looking for the right answer for you and your son. ~Carmen~

Hi J.,
Is the whole mike organic too? If not you might want to switch to that. However it does sound like lactose intolerance. If you are giving him organic then I would switch to lactaid and see if there is a difference. On a side note, I go to a nutritionist who has told me that regular milk is not the healthiest way to go anyway. There's all kinds of reasons; cow's are not grass fed and are fed feed that is not necessiarily good for the cows, it has additives, pesticides etc.; the cows are given hormones which do flow through their milk; and the pasteurization process is also stripping any natural nutients to then put them back in. If it's one thing I do consistently with my kids and family it is Organic milk.
Hope that helps! Best of luck.
M.

Hi J.,
So I'm not a doctor but I can tell you our story. My little girl was going through much of what you're saying. She ate yogurt and had a milk based formula and seemed okay. When we started milk it was a bad scene. She would push and push and would hold her tummy in pain. Her doctor said to give it more time and see. One time she was pushing so hard and screaming that she would pass out, wake up and try all over again. That's when I started her on the Lactaid (lactose free milk) and life has been much better! She can do milk in recepies and yogurt in small amounts but if she eats cheese or regular milk it's going to be a bad few days until she can pass it. I hope this helps. Good luck.

~K.

Sound like lactose intolerance. My 2nd son had the same problem. We switched him to soy milk and he got better. Our doctor told us that he would probably outgrow by 2 years old. He is 3 and still drinks soy milk but occasionally has cheese. So far no problems.

It doesn't sound like lactose intolerance to me. My daughter (2 and a half) is lactose intolerant, which causes her to have watery stools and gas, not constipation. She did get constipated even when on the lactose free milk, but that was b/c she wasn't drinking enough water and too much milk. Once we got that straightened out she was a much happier kid.

J. - I agree I don't think this is an allergy that usually causes all kinds of rashes and possibly breathing problems in extreme cases. I don't think it's intolerance because that usually means very loose stools, not constipation.

I had a very similar issue with my boys when making the transition to whole milk. Anytime you switch the little ones diet there is definitely an adjustment period. Their bodies are not as well adapted to the change in food as we are as adults. It takes them much longer to adjust to a new food. One of the things we did was to stick to the daily dose the doctor advised. Apparently many people give milk with no daily restriction and too much will be a problem.

The second thing we did, which our Ped advised, was to give a daily cup of prune juice (we watered it down to 50%juice/50%water). Our boys loved it and it kept them having a daily bowel movement which was not rock hard.

I know every kid is different, but with any diet change I think you need to ease them into it so I think the general rules should apply.

Best of luck!

J.,

I feel so bad for you and your son. When my dtr was 8 1/2 months old, I gave her the baby yogurt, to see if she is allergic to milk as she is doing great on soy. After one t-spoon, she vomitted non-stop. Her pediatrician said that at the age of one, she will give my dtr a test to see if it is an allergy or an intolderance to milk. My dtr is only 10 months old now and I can't wait for this test. See is your son's pediatrician can do the same. ---M.

Have you tried switching to low fat or skim milk? My sister couldn't tolerate whole milk as a baby, but was ok with skim. Just another thought....
Hope you son feels better very soon!

It has been my experience that lactose allergies don't bind you up..they go the other route.

Try mixing the milk with Pediasure drinks. They come in Vanilla, Choco, and Strawberry. Giving my daughter these drinks is the only way I can get milk in her..we are all lactose intolerant and it doesn't bother her digestive system.

Nanc

Wow, you just exactly described my daughter. She is 18 mos old, and I finally found out that she is Lactose intolerant. I give her Lactaid, and stool softener, or karo syrup every night. She is finally able to have a bowel movement without blood curdling screams. It took us a while to find the right answer for her. An allergist helped a lot. I hope this helps, good luck.

Hi J.,
Yes!...it can most certainly be lactose intolerance. From your description it sounds like it is. Whole milk can be really hard on a young baby's system....at 7 months old, I would encourage you to revisit breastfeeding or go with the formula and I would stick with organic in that case whenever possible....see how that is for him. Everyone is different and the fact that he seems to be ok with yogurt may have to do with the fact that yogurt has beneficial digestive enzymes. My daughter can eat yogurt but she cannot eat cheese or drink milk. She too experiences severe stomach pains and gas and cannot go to the bathroom. For some kids dairy will bind them up, which is what seems to be happening with your little one. I may want to try taking the milk out of the picture for a week or a few days and see how he is. You can also try an organic goats milk formula if you can find it....goats milk is the closest to human milk and is therefore much easier on the digestive system of most people. It's all about trial and error when finding the right foods for our body. Severe pain to me would indicate that something is not working and from what you mentioned on his diet it sounds like milk could be the culprit. Good luck with this!
Good luck!
S.
_______________________
S. Tate-Giordano
Holistic Health Counselor, member of the AADP
www.shannontategiordano.com
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