My Daughter Has Devleoped Diarrhea

Had she never had any dairy up to this point? I only say that because you write like her having a dairy product is a new thing in her diet.
Another thing that gives the runs to most people is sugar-free candy. Sugar alcohol is great at loosening the stools. Just another thought.

Ok, I don't know much about the "dairy diarhea." What I do know is, two weeks of soft stools/diarhea is going to start-if not already-to cause her problems. I'm assuming and hoping you've seen her pediatrician about this. She can develope vitamin deficiencies, dehydration-even with mild diarhea, and lose the delicate balance of bacteria in her bowels she requires to properly digest her food, which only perpetuates the problem. Causing more diarhea.
That aside she probably didn't poop yesterday because her bowels were empty from the diarhea from the day before.
An easy solution for most seeming non illness related diarhea is infact regular yogurt. It dosen't matter what kind. Get whatever she likes, plain, fruit, drinkable, organic, Dora dosen't matter. The enzymes in the yogurt will help her gut regulat. I wouldn't worry about the dairy in the yogurt, cut it out elsewhere if you're concerned about it. If you give her and medicine for the diarhea I guarantee you'll regret it. Try the yogurt, seriously, You'll be pleasently surprised. So will she. She'll eat it forever =) -Melis

Hi C., I think it tends to be more of a water/fiber out of balance problem more than a milk issue. Most people don't drink enough water. You might need to get a filtered water pitcher or something to get her to drink more, but you just can't get enough, plus the more they get used to drinking it young, the easier it will be through out life when you go to people's houses or restaurants - plus it's cheap! Fruits and vegetables are another thing most of us don't get enough of. They're saying we need 5-7 servings a day (of course, her servings would be smaller than an adults); but stick to the natural basics. Hope that helps. T.

Allergy to dairy products is found out by diarrhea after eating dairy products. Subsitutes can be found at the grocery store or health food store. I like the rice mike myself. They even have rice dream ice cream.

We went through this once and it was viral. Pure and simple bug from school. She was feeling just fine every other way - no fever, no runny nose, nothing. Just soft stool and diarrhea - some days more runny than others, but definitely discolored (yellowish infact which could make one think lactose issue) and stinky.

Staying off dairy and other natural diarrhetics is a good idea anyhow. If she is eating normally, increase rice and plain non-fat yoghurt, hit the bland diet and keep up fluids. It's probably just something that will pass. All that being said, it still warrants a call to pediatrician to see if there is something going around they're hearing about.

My nephew would do the same thing when he had any amount of milk. I bet she has a milk allergy.

adult lactose tolerance entered the human population (they now think) through one tribe in northern Europe and four tribes in Africa (based on only five genetic ways it has occurred and their distribution), so it is not actually "normal" to be lactose tolerant (I think this is why Every Household In America had Pepto-Bismol in the medicine cabinet for so many years!). In my family, the girls get it 100% when we hit puberty, but I know I had it before that because I definitely grew up wondering why everyone freaked out if they got diarrhea because I had it like All The Time and it was clearly just not that big a deal for me (I'm sure it probably stunted my growth or some nutritional thing, but really, I was a Fine Kid in general).

That said, I missed a lot of school when I tried to be "good" in 8th grade and eat a breakfast with a serving of milk every morning--Xtreeeeeme Nausea, oy ...

At my worst (about age 22 when I figured it out), eating one Hershey's Kiss would make me nauseated. My sister got rejected from the Army, no kidding, because her lactose intolerance was too severe ... despite an appeal by her recruiter to the Surgeon general of the Army(!!!) because she was such a strong candidate otherwise and wanted to go into the intelligence wing (not so much the standard-rations problem). Dude!

Anyhow, if your daughter's not allergic (which from the advice you are getting I am sure you will check out ;) ), and if she has only got a low-tolerance (like me as a kid) and not an INtolerance (like me now), after you cut the dairy for a while she should be able to eat low-lactose dairy, maybe every other day (so the limited enzymes can build up enough to do their job)--like natural yogurts (not conventional ones, which often have lactose added BACK IN to sweeten them up) and hard cheeses and butter and cultured sour cream and cultured buttermilk (those last two are often chemically created instead of cultured, and the lactose is not then eaten up by the bacteria).

There are lactose-removed milks now (we use Organic Valley) ... after you remove dairy for a few days, try one of those. I've heard goat milk is also lactose-low.

As she gets older, if lactose intolerance is a concern, watch multivitamins, some pills use lactose as a filler (another "responsible" thing I did to myself in jr. high and high school, every morning until I read the ingredients). Also, any stress that negatively affects my overall health will also lower my tolerance--sometimes when I am not stressed I can eat soft cheese, sometimes when I'm stressed I avoid parmesean ...

Hi C.,

In the past when our family has had similar issues, it was often a parasite! Yucky, I know, but everyone gets them, but normally they pass through our systems. But, sometimes, they don't. I know a doctor in Woodburn who could probably tell you what is going on. Let me know if you want the info.

My bet is she is becoming lactose intolerant. My four year old can drink anything with out lactose in it. If he gets a milk from say starbucks or something when he is out with family he has it not as soon as your daughter but with a few hours of consuming it. I would ask your pedi. what he/she thinks. There are so many wonderful subs for regular dairy now days it isnt that bad. We just gave up diary except for cheese altogether. Rice milk is really yummy i think!! good luck and i hope you figure out what is causing the tummy trouble.

That really sounds like a dairy issue - although it may only be to milk! Usually kids who have issues with milk can still have cheese, yogurt and such in small quantities. I would definitely ask to have her tested for her tolerance level (like I said it probably isn't all the way one way or the other - just somewhere in between). I'd caution against replacing with soy since it can create hormonal imbalance, but you can find lactose-free milk and rice milk at pretty much any store. I hope you get answers!

I had the same problem with my two year old when he developed an allergy to milk. It was sudden after drinking the stuff for a whole year. I had to have his blood drawn to do the test, but it was worth it when we realized we had been making him sick.
good luck and there are a lot of good tasting soy milks out there...

This is a problem I have, and most of my family members that have a milk sensitivity react the same way-my son was around that age (he's 15 now) when milk started causing him problems. I can't say for sure that's what it is for your daughter, but I think it's worth checking into. Maybe cut out milk for a few days and then try it again and see what happens? I'd also talk to your doctor if you think that's what is causing it. Good luck!! (And just so you know, there are a lot of vitamin-fortified milk replacements on the market!!)

this happened to me when i was 12, i'd drink milk and get the worst stomach aches. but then i noticed i was getting the runs when i was active, or at a certain time every night, and it turned out i have irritable bowel syndrome.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibschildren... is a fairly comprehensive resource on the disorder. at this point in my life, i only get flare ups when i'm stressed and during those times i have a hard time with dairy, sugar, acidic produce, and refined carbs.

Before you get too worried...this can happen on occasion. I suggest trying something like regular yogurt on her..like vanilla or even mix some plain into something. The cultures may make her better. If that doesn't work...you may need to lay off all dairy at least for a month or so and start slowly back to it. If she's had the flu, or even a cold that affected her tummy this might have made her lactose intolerant. My daughter has had the same problem on and off her whole life. If she has any sort of tummy problems milk is the first culprit usually. We simply lower how much she gets and up her other calcium-rich foods. She is able to eat cheese even when milk bothers her though. Also, if you eat things like blue cheese that has enzymes in it that are good for the tummy too. If she can stand a small bite..it might help.

When all else fails..try jello tea. It might be she just has a tummy bug that's sort of stuck. Jello changes the ph balance of the stomach and doesn't let the bacteria stick that are causing the problem. My guess is within a day she might be better even. (It's always worked for us.) two tablespoons jello powder for 8 oz. of hot water. Dissolve and add am ice cube to cool. She ought to like having her own special tea too. My daughter loves it. We give that for all stomach flus and they last barely 24 hours usually. Good Luck!

Could she be becoming lactose intollerant? I think that is one of the signals.