My Lactose Allergic 13 Month Old..

My son has a dairy allergy and we were worried about his calcium and vit D intake. He did not like the soy milk (any flavor) so we give him orange juice with calcium and vitamin D (the vitamin D helps absorb the calcium.) Additionally his dr has me give him tums as a calcium supplement. I didn't see anyone mention either of these and I just thought I would add it as another option.

Good Luck!

My husband was also allergic to lactose when he was a baby. they told his mom to make chocolate milk as the chocolate breaks down the lactose. They make chocolate soy/rice milks as well and usually when they are so young they can use the calories. If you are worried about the benefits milk provides, chocolate is not the worst alternative.

late response, but sounds like a dairy and mammal milk allergy, not a lactose allergy. Hives is the main concern.

i'd recommend a ped allergist
children's memorial has great ones, in city and in glenview
800-kids-doc
we see dr. Jen Kim in glenview

if you haven't yet, try regular soy milk. also you can slowly into it by mixing with any other "milk" he's liked and slowly change proportions

also www.kidswithfoodallergies.org is the best resource i've found - support groups - recipes - info etc

the parents on there can totally help w/ protein

kirkman's hypoallergenic calcium powder is what we use (www.kirkmanlabs.com)

not sure if you figured out or changed the nursing situation, but maybe he knows it's not making him feel good, that is if you're consuming dairy/mammal milk products

i hope things are better and he doesn't have other allergies

Ask your doctor if you can try goats milk. If he says no just plan out his diet. there is lots of fruits, veggies and meats that have protein in them. And you can get calcium from fortified orange juice and other foods.
Many children have this problem it is just something you have to work into his diet.

S.

We us a lactose free milk in our house and that is what my son drinks as well. Since the lactose is already broke down it is a tiny bit sweet but my son loves to drink it. They have it calcium fortified and it's covered by WIC.

Just wanted to mention that even if your breasts never feel "full" anymore, you are still producing plenty of milk. Your body just gets more efficient at it. Also, at this age, babies are very efficient nursers, and can get enough milk from as little as 3 nursing sessions a day. Breastmilk actually changes and contains more calories/nutrients per ounce as your baby grows. So if you are nursing first thing in the morning, before naptime (or right after work if you work full time) and before bed then that should be sufficient.

Also, remember that a pump cannot extract as much milk as a baby, so don't think you have a low supply just because you can't pump a lot.

My son is 17 monthes and the same way (but yucky diapers instead of hives). He does like soy toddler formula though. We give him Enfamil Next Step Soy that is designd to be used up to 24 monthes. He gets as much juice as he wants during the day time, but we make sure that he gets a cup of toddler formula in the morning and in the evening. I'm also going to start gummy vitamins this week. Isn't it funny, I don't worry about my diet at all, but I'm probably overly worried about balancing his diet.

There are so many different tasting soy milks out there.... I would keep trying different brands. The Plain might taste better to him than the Vanilla. You could also try chocolate if you're desperate. What about Lactaid? Isn't that more like regular milk?

Have you tried lactose free cow's milk? My 15 month old likes it.

You can try goat milk. It's easier on the system, but very expensive. Also, my son likes the Lactaid milk. There are organic versions of it too, but harder to find and I've learned that Lactaid is BGH free which has been my biggest concern about dairy. Our pediatrician suggested our son might outgrown this, but he now prefers the lactaid to regular milk, so that's our normal now!

We had to use Enfamil Lactose-free. Our daughter was unable to handle the lactose in other formulas, couldn't keep in down, and really constipated her. But she was allergic to the soy. So we put her on this. I would definately recommend using this. Once we switched our daughter to this, she did fantastic. FINALLY! We must've went through every formula imagineable.
GOOD LUCK

Hm, my boys were both lactose-intolerant (outgrew it) - they liked soy & rice milk as long as it was vanilla - maybe try almond milk or lactose-free dairy?

Hi!

Yes, there are some other alternatives. My family does not drink milk at all due to my thoughts on how cows milk affects our health as humans but thats a different question.

You can also try almond milk and my son loves goats milk. It is cheaper at trader joes than jewel. Perhaps try the unsweetened version of the almond milk because the regular is pretty sweet. It also comes in plain or vanilla flavored. There is also goats cheese and yogurt as well as cream cheese. My son only likes the goat mozarella or goat cheddar from whole foods. It comes in a long bar for around 7.99. The cheaper stuff he just doesnt like. There is also coconut milk yogurt from whole foods that tastes great. Make sure you are giving lots of dark leafy green vegetables.......he/she will get all the calcium he needs from those.

Good Luck to you!

B.

If you want to keep breastfeeding, I think that would be great! To keep your supply up drink lots of water, there are even teas and supplements that help - mother's milk that contains fenugreek, or the fenugreek liquid itself - available in healthfood stores. If you want to stop breastfeeding, you can try goats milk or the soys (each brand tastes different, I love west soy best). But my Dr. says it's OK to not force milk if she just won't drink it. I give her calcium vitamins and I just make sure she eats healthy, getting lots of fruits, veggies, and proteins. My child will eat cheese and yogurt, so that's the only dairy she gets and all the Dr.s I've talked to say that's fine.

My 14 month old son has also had a milk protein allergy since birth. It took a week or so, but, we did transition him from nutramigen to the Silk brand of soy milk. Also, he likes the So! brand of soy yogurt. You can find it at whole foods.
Good luck.

Sorry that I am just popping in and don't have time to read the other responses, so this may be a repeat!

Please speak with either the pediatrician to determine how many calories/fat/nutrients from fluids are required daily in lieu of breast milk, dairy milk or formula. It is dangerous to start an infant on a rice milk, even the enriched kind, in place of the above. It does not contain the correct nutrients required by a growing infant.

If possible, continue to nurse. You may have to limit the dairy in your diet. It depends on the mother and child, but some studies have detected dairy protein passed through breastmilk. If he will not take to the breast, pump as much as is needed and give it to him in a bottle or cup, mix with cereal, etc.

And if your child has a true allergy, please check with your allergist before starting any other kind of nut milks, such as almond!!

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network is a great resource. I believe it is www.foodallergy.org. Or google "FANN". Also, there are several parent-support groups in the Chicago area for parents of kids with allergies. You can google MOCHA (Northside), POCHA (Oak Park), POCA of DuPage to find out more.

Good luck!

Is there a reason that you think your supply is low? Are you opposed to continueing to breastfeed. That might help in outgrowing the allergy. If you don't want to continue, goats milk is as close to human milk as you can get.

I the suggestions below are very well. I myself drink the lactose milk. (I love it!!) But you should remember everything is going to taste different from your milk. When it was time to transition my son. I did 3/4 breast milk, 1/4 whole milk for a week, then 1/2 for the next week,and the last week we did 3/4 whole milk, 1/4 breastmilk. That way by the forth week he did fine with just milk. So which ever you try I would definately mix it so he can get used to the taste. Good luck.