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Attachment Parenting
3003girl
member
Xp - pedi's view dairy intolerance - wwyd?
3003girl
member
I posted this on the food allergy board- hoping some of you might chime in.
https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/55577738/ShowThread.aspx#55577738
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Xp - pedi's view dairy intolerance - wwyd?
I dont have any issues with this so I may not be the best person to give advice but...
Since you've identified and fixed the issue, is it really that important that he recognizes it for what it is? I mean, from what I understand it is quite common for babies to react to the milk protein's from mom's diet. I would definitely be giving him the side eye - and taking my LO somewhere else if any serious medical issues arise, even if I had to drive for hours to get there. But I guess I don't really see any reason to try to "prove" him wrong. He seems pretty set in his ways.
Do you think perhaps many of his patients are formula fed and he's a little clueless/confused in the breastfeeding department?
Sorry you're dealing with the milk intolerence - that's a bummer
I don't know anything about this from a scientific perspective and can only give you my own experience, for whatever that's worth. I have been lactose-intolerant for years (confirmed when I was 19, was probably intolerant before that). Miraculously, I was suddenly able to drink gallons and gallons of whole cow's milk during my pregnancy, something I craved intensely. My GI said it was normal for lactose intolerance to go away during pregnancy, but did warn me it would probably return post-partum.
I decided to ignore his warning and indulged in pizza & ice cream the first few weeks I was home with DD. The effects on her were almost immediate after I ate these kinds of things (and I didn't feel so great myself). She would have nasty, green poop the days I ate dairy. I started suspecting she was sensitive to it. Once I cut the dairy back out for good, everything was okay for DD in that department.
Maybe it was just a coincidence or maybe the fact that I was lactose-intolerant myself had something to do with it. I have no idea how my own body's ability or inability to break down lactose would impact how it passed into my breast milk and I was too overwhelmed with a newborn to think very much about it at the time. However, when I did try to give DD cow's milk around 14 or 15 months, she would immediately get diarreah every time. The same thing happened every time she ate ice cream or drank cow's milk at a friend's house. It has only been this summer, at age 3, that I've noticed she can have some ice cream or chocolate milk from the Farmer's Market (which I steal a sip or two from because it's so darned good) without any adverse reaction. I *think* she has outgrown her intolerance, but again, I've never been to an allergist or gotten too worked up about it. DH is lactose-intolerant, too, so it's pretty easy to limit DD's consumption of dairy in the house and the worst that has happened when she ate it out of the house was a bout of diarreah.
this totally.
I don't really want to prove him wrong, it's just that I wonder if there are other issues related to milk intolerance that need to be addressed by a doctor. Like what milk alternative to go with? And what if it is an allergy and not an intolerance?
He's associated with a really good children's hospital in the city, so we would go there if anything major was wrong.
I guess it's ok if I just self diagnose and keep mum to him about it, but thinking of her one year appt this week got me wondering...
I answered your OP, but thought I would follow up on these questions here. I would absolutely take LO to a pedi allergist for testing for traditional allergies (even if your pedi was supportive, this is a good idea... and your supportive pedi would likely recommend it). For us, both boys could not digest dairy or soy protein (even as broken down in breastmilk), so I had to eliminate both from my diet. Their reactions were pretty strong, especially to dairy (pretty much immediate discomfort and screaming and blood in the stool within a day or so of exposure), but allergy testing showed only slight reaction to soy (not dairy). The only medical issue I can think of, is watching for reflux issues that sometimes follow with digestive issues. The milk alternative is sort of preference, I used Silk Almond Milk but planned on giving DS goat's milk if he hadn't outgrown the intolerance-- my pedi was good with that.
The only thing here that would be a red flag to me is if he starts doubting you or misdiagnosing a medical problem b/c he thinks you're a kook. Ari's 1st pedi totally ignored obvious reflux/allergy symptoms b/c he was clueless. We went to a 2nd pedi & shortly thereafter he exhibited Sandifer's Syndrome (mostly torticollis) due to the pain of reflux, but they didn't put all the symptoms together & thought the sudden torticollis onset was a possible brain tumor & put Ari through a series of unnecessary tests, including MRIs. After these came back negative, I got the "you're just spoiling him" spiel. I didn't know about reflux or allergies at that time, but thanks to this board I was told that was prob the issue. We basically had to figure it out ourselves, fight to get it recognized, & then switched to a more friendly pedi, who's own LOs had similar issues. I think since you're only dealing with dairy tho, it's prob not as big of a deal - you know what's up & you're already doing what you need to do. Just FYI, if you reintroduce, be watchful of symptoms other than GI issues. I have a dairy allergy & only have GI probs if I eat a lot of it. Small amounts give me more sinus issues, ear infections, acne flare ups, eczema, & asthma flare ups. Just be aware of the non-GI symptoms of dairy intolerance/allergy.
As far as other health problems that can crop up, you're really only looking @ increased likelihood of other food or environmental allergies. As far as whether its an intolerance or allergy, they are honestly the same thing - intolerance usually means IgG mediated allergy (more GI symptoms, etc), allergy means IgE mediated (which is more associated with anaphylaxis or other serious reactions). I'm oversimplifying but treatment is the same either way - pull the offending food. If anaphylaxis were a problem, you would also have to carry an epi-pen, but that's a rare reaction for dairy & you would probably know if that was the case by now.
For a milk alternative, there's debate about whether it's necessary if your diet is nutritionally complete. Soy is usually the 1st rec, but there's debate about the estrogenic effects of it. Hemp milk is highest in protein & has good fats in it. Coconut is full of good fats. Rice milk doesn't have much nutritional value except it's Vit D fortified, but if your LO can't tolerate anything else it will do.
Thanks webmistress! LO's first symptom from any challenge we have done has been congestion. She gets all stuffy overnight and is miserable. Sometimes there are GI issues, but it's more the congestion and bags under her eyes.
Thanks for info RE: intolerance vs allergy.
I think I'm just not going to bring it up, or mention it in passing at the pedi's.