auntie or anyone ? about milk

brightyellow2

Long story short my ds has had dx of spd and speech disorder. He had a tiny bit of progress up until about a month a ago. We took him off of cows milk and since then he is understanding and acting upon simple commands, using at least one word a day and oddly his sensory issue have gotten better etc. Anyone have info or know if this could be related? So excited about his progress but I'd like to find out more about it.

Miss Bella Grace

Hi there.  I have actually never posted anything ever.  I am just an occasional lurker, but I am such a believer in this subject I had to tell you about our son.  He was a completely typical infant.  He met every milestone on time.  He smiled and laughed constantly and was even a pretty good, consistent talker.  As soon as he turned a year old he almost completely stopped sleeping and developed sensory issues. His speech also decreased rapidly. Looking back, this was the same time I transitioned him to cow's milk and started solids.  I researched and researched sleeping issues and finally came across the GFCF diet.  I was so desperate for him to get better, I thought we would give it a try.  I got the book "Eating for Autism" and it really helped start us out on the diet, offering everything from recipes, dietary supplement suggestions, to real stories of success and hope. My son started sleeping through the night in around a month without cow's milk, casein or gluten.  His behavioral problems and sensory problems and bowel issues are I would say 90% better with the diet change.  He has been on the diet since he was 18 months old and he is now three and a half.  He is still almost non verbal, and has some sensory problems but overall the diet has been a miracle for him.  I won't lie. This diet is extremely tough.  But you can't cheat at all. I thought one bite won't hurt him.  But I quickly see it does. It's hard telling him he can't have certain foods but we try to quickly take his mind off of it and offer an alternative.  We also remind him that foods like those make him sick.  We also eliminate a lot of food dyes and preservatives, as well as nitrates.    I agree with Auntie. Our beautiful kiddos do have it hard enough as it is, and the diet is not for everyone.  But in our case it is an unbelievable difference.  Not every child with problems has gut issues, but my son does and those foods are toxic to him.  He was always so extremely constipated to the point he would cry and so would I at bowel movements.  I wish I would have known about these gut issues sooner, because I feel my son would be so much farther ahead if I had only known his food intolerances sooner and taken those toxins away from his little body.  So I would encourage anyone with ASD like behaviors to try it for a couple of months, especially if your child has bowel issues.  It is worth the try in my opinion.  I have a 9 month old little girl, who for now seems typical.  But so did my son at that age.  She has been exclusively breastfed and when we feel breastfeeding has come to end, whenever that may be, we plan on transitioning to an alternative milk like my son drinks and will not be putting gluten in her diet until we are sure her gut is mature enough to try her on it. Sorry this is such a long post.  I just wanted to make sure you knew our beautiful son's story with his gut and that you are not alone in feeling like these foods are an issue.

brightyellow2

Thank you both for the info. My ds was EBF and had hit all milestones now looking back at a year is when the regression began and I started with cows milk. I know this isn't for everyone and may not be his issue but its to coincidental. His gut symptoms that began at that time also were chronic diarrhea and constant yeast infection since I can remember.

wellfleet04

I wonder about the EBFing, too.  My kids were both dairy intolerant when I was nursing.  I had to cut all caesin and whey out of my own diet because it was passed through breast milk to my kids.  If your kid did have issues with milk, wouldn't they have them as infants while BFing? 

 If you do wind up cutting out dairy, it isn't really that hard once you get the hang of it.  Especially if you can still do soy, which I could with one kid but not the other.