My one year old (this weekend) has weaned off of day time bottles (her own choosing) but she still takes one at about 4-5 in the morning. She goes to bed around 7pm, so will let her get this bottle as long as she needs to. I introduced whole milk to her in her sippy cup and she drinks only a little now and then. We started last week and the issue is she also happened to be sick with congestion as well. She is over that, but for over a week now has very loose, dark and strong smelling bowl movements. She is having them in the middle of the night and she never use to go during the night. At first I thought it was part of her sickness, but she is over that now and still having them. Is it the milk? She has been on the milk based formula, wouldn't she have had a problem with that if she was reacting to milk? I have stopped the milk today and will keep her off for a week and see if things improve. I feel bad only giving her water all day though! She has no fussiness or stomach upset at all. She will be at the doctor for her well child next week and will obviously talk to him then. I wanted to ask this to you all in the meantime.
Can my child have been fine with milk based formula and have a problem with regular milk? Can the ONLY sign be runny stools? What I have read about milk intolerance also including fussiness, stomach upset and vommiting. She doesn't have any of that. Thanks!
Thank you all. I will go look at all the soy/lactaid options and pick the one with the highest fat content. I'm trying to keep her on formula, but like I said, she has self weaned. For the last 4 weeks at school, she won't touch the bottle I provide for her and at home, she doesn't do more than an ounce either. It is the one middle of the night bottle she will still drink completely, so I will continue to do that for sure. She hates formula, even stage 2, in the sippy cup and throws the cup disgusted every time. She wasn't a huge fan of the milk, but she did drink that much better than the formula. It is hard for me to do the formula milk combo when she won't drink it! I did that with my son I remember. He never drank milk after the bottles either, except for chocolate. I don't understand, I love milk! Thanks again!
Sounds like a lactose intolerance issue. Rice or soy milk are a good substitute (they are fortified with calcium, vitamin D and A) for the meantime until you get to see the pediatrician. Some kids prefer the vanilla flavored ones, but my daughter who I had to introduce to milk later due to intolerance liked the plain one just fine. She preferred the rice milk over soy, but drank both.
Hope this helps.
K.
My kids and I have had that same type of reaction, the stools would either be hard and dark or very loose. I had us all checked for allergies but nothing came back as positive. I then took myself to a gastroenterologist and he determined quickly that I had a Lactose intolerance. I then began drinking lactose free milk one specifically called LACTAID from publix. I decided to also give it to my children, and since then we have not had any more problems. Its worth a try can't hurt anything and is great for a childs digestive track.
FYI - lactose is a natural sugar in milk and lactaid is a milk that they merely removed the natural sugar and added regular sugar. Taste is slightly sweeter then regular milk.
Milk reactions can occur later on despite uses before. In high school I noticed milk and ice cream made my stomach upset, cramps, and helped clean my but out. Now after a couple of kids I dont have such a strong reactions to milk products
My daught before one years old started getting a rash on her face where the formula would run down and gassy. We switched her to lactose formula and then around one year we tried milk products and she did good for awhile. Then she broke out again. After awhile she could tolorate milk products again.
If you suspect a milk allergy, instead of keeping her off of milk all week long, get a half gallon of Lactaid. It's milk for people who are lactose intolerant. I used to drink it when I was intolerant years ago but I have seemed to "recover" from this milk allergy and now I can drink regular milk. Anyway, Lactaid milk tastes JUST LIKE milk. There is no taste or smell difference. The only obvious difference is price but until you can get her to the doctor, try Lactaid. It will also allow you to see if this condition with her stools clears up while on the new milk. It's worth trying, you have nothing to lose but I wouldn't let her go a whole week without milk.
My suggestion would be to back off the regular milk and continue with a Step 2 type formula since she is used to formula. My little one is exclusively breastfed and I started giving her milk at around 13 months and days that she had more milk than breastmilk her stools were off. So we are slowing increasing the amounts that she gets as she begins to self wean. You do have to give her something besides water during the day. She still needs the formula if she can't drink the milk. Her system is probably just not ready to handle the whole milk yet. Be wary of other types of milks as they may not have the fat content that little ones need. And I'm not crazy about giving soy to the little ones either for a variety of reasons. You would need to do serious research into the use of alternative milks to make an informed decision about their use.
Hi, M.. Straight whole milk is very different from formula which is based on milk. Formula has a lot of stuff added, and some formulas have the milk proteins and fats partially broken down so that they are easier to digest. That's why whole milk can give a child a different reaction than forumula.
Try that Good Start stuff (I'm not sure what the name is) or something similar. It's milk for toddlers who are ready to go from bottle to sippy cup. It's easier to digest and has more vitamins than whole milk.
You can also give her soy milk that has been enriched with vitamins and such. Her stool shouldn't be affected badly, but she may have gas from it until she gets used to it.
Any kind of changes to a child's diet are going to produce some changes in digestion and stool.
Don't be afraid to give her natural juices which you know she's not allergic to. Orange juice can sometimes be a problem, so try unsweetened apple juice -- that's good for the digestion and stool, by the way.
I hope everything works out with her transition.
Peace,
Syl
Milk is highly overrated. She does sound sensitive. If you are worried about calcium, you can get calcium from almonds, almond butter, almond milk, dark leafy greens, sesame seeds, sesame butter, and broccoli, and they are easier to digest and absorb than milk. If you stop giving her milk now she may become less sensitive. Try her again with milk in 6 months for instance. Her digestion is still maturing. My daughter is 4 and hardly consumes dairy. When we let her have a lot she gets very mucusy and catches colds more easily. My daughter is a picture of good health on a vegetaraian diet. You can do it. There are plenty of choices out there. Watch out for soy milk though, because of estrogen-like chemicals in soy. you should not give that to her daily.
M.
I would suggest calling the doctor before your appt. and ask about that. You may want to keep giving the formula until then to ensure your daughter is getting enough nutrients, water just isn't enough for her at that age. One of the signs that my 16 month old was allergic to dairy was blood in his stools and a bad rash on his fingers and feet. We have since had allergy tests to confirm this. Good luck, and remember the doctor is only a phone call away!!
Your daughter may not be alergic to cow's milk, but she may just not be ready or be having a little trouble with the transaction. I always found it strange that at exactly 12 months it is ok to switch to milk when everyone's bodies are different. My daughter was breastfed until 10 months when she started to bite and she transitioned to formula until just after 12 months when I slowly switched her to milk. I noticed a major difference in her stools as well. I would suggest slowly integrating milk into her diet - start by putting 1/4-1/3 whole milk mixed in with her formula, then after a few days or a week go to 1/2 & 1/2....then slowly you can remove the formula entirely. This really helped with my daughters transition. Remember, you have to have the nutrients and fat that is in milk and formula for your babys brain and body development...I would strongly advise against giving only water. Even if you have to continue the formula until you can discuss with her pediatrician...good luck!
My 3 yr old is lactose intolerant and it just happpened when he turned 3. His first symptom was loose stool and he has vomited 2 times. He's been taking to soy milk very well! The only thing my doctor told me was to keep him away from dairy for a while then reintroduce it in a few months. For sure ask your doctor, but just becasue she doesn't have ALL the symptoms right now, doesn't rule it out.
I would try soy or almond milk to see if her stool gets better while you wait for the appoinment. It's usually not too big of an issue with regards to taste when you switch from one to the other to find out if she is lactose intolerant.
Those two milks are the easiest to find in the store and most are not allergic to them.
Good luck!
My daughter had a similar problem, although I wasn't surprised since she never tolerated milk-based formula well. Her dr recommended lactose-free milk, but unfortunately she didn't really like it and I couldn't get her to drink much. She would drink a soy a little better, but still not much of it. I decided to keep trying with the regular cow's milk by gradually mixing it with formula and every few days adding a little more milk and a little less formula. She's now tolerating it much better. Her reaction was similar to your daughter, but she also would get a nasty dipaer rash. By introducing it more gradually she didn't usually get a rash and if she did it was much more mild and went away quickly. She does still have more frequent bowel movements than on just formula, but a normal consistency.
If you aren't going to give her regular milk until you see her dr, I would recommend either trying the lactose-free milk, going back to formula, or trying pediasure (which is also lactose-free) until you get the dr's recommendation. She needs the fat and calories of some kind of milk until you decide what to do (in my opinion :) ). Good luck!
Milk reactions definitely change with age, and yes her only sign could be the runny stools. It IS a little puzzling though that your daughter didn't have issues with the milk based formula and is now reacting to milk. I would've thought she'd have SOME amount of chronic fussiness or spitting up as an infant, but then again EVERYONE is different. Maybe you could try the Lactaid milk and that would help. I hope she feels better!!
