Lactose intolerance / milk allergy?

MaryYVR · December 2011

Hi, I'm looking for some opinions as to whether my DS (13 mo) has a milk allergy / lactose intolerance.

Background:

DS was BF for just over 12 months. We introduced a little WCM at 10.5 months and it was quite well received. He had been underweight at that point and I figured he wasn't getting enough BM because I was pregnant. In the first 6 weeks after starting WCM DS gained 3.5lbs (no longer underweight now) and grew 1.5". His eating habits didn't really change at that time so I'm thinking it was the WCM that helped the weight gain.

Over the last few weeks DS has had a nasty diaper rash, with occasional bleeding sores (poor little man!). Anti-fungal cream did help but then it kept coming back and our GP recommended using Penaten. (During this time we've switched from CD to disposables to help keep him dryer). He hasn't had regular diarrhea (perhaps one BM a week seems watery) and drinks about 20 oz of WCM a day (usually split into 4). He's also been teething and when his teething is bad he can have up to 5 or 6 dirty diapers in a day. His normal is (and always has been since starting solids) 2-3 a day.

The rash has a tendency to get 60-80% better and then one dirty diaper can cause it to come back and it's obviously really painful for him.

We went to see our GP this afternoon and she was away and saw another one for the first time and she said the only consistent food in his daily diet is dairy (WCM, yoghurt and some cheese) and that may be the cause.

I'm skeptical because if he wasn't tolerating it well I would assume he would have more diarrhea, not be gaining weight and gas pains, which he doesn't seem to have. I'm sure it's a food that's causing the acidic poops (ever 48 hours or so) but not sure it's dairy. Any thoughts before I radically change his diet for the next few weeks to find out?

Thanks so much in advance!

LSU628 · December 2011

Since I assume you have had dairy in your diet the whole time you were BFing, if it were a dairy allergy I would think you would have seen symptoms much earlier.

MaryYVR · December 2011

Thanks. I would have thought the same thing although I'm well aware that allergies/intolerances can develop at any time. He really loves his milk and yoghurt so I hate the idea of taking it away for a few weeks if it's not the likely source.

Jacques715 · December 2011

A food allergy can become more intense over time. My DD is allergic to nuts/peanuts and I ate them while breastfeeding. She always had eczema as a baby and some colic symptoms which I guess could be attributed to her allergy. As she got older though the reactions became really bad so she now carries an epi pen. If you have real concerns why not get your LO tested? We had the prick test done last month for environmental allergies, it was not too bad! Good luck!

MaryYVR · December 2011

Nut allergies can be so challenging and not fun to have. I don't have concerns about a specific food (and allergy testing wasn't offered to us at this point). Besides a diaper rash that may be yeast-based, I haven't seen any other type of reaction to food that makes me curious. He seems to have a more acidic dirty diaper every other day that aggravates the rash. The GP suggested the dairy/milk but I really don't think it's the cause. I just spoke with my mum, who is lactose intolerant, and she really doesn't think he has dairy/lactose issues either. His diet may not be the most balanced as he's refusing meat these days and has been in a really picky eating phase over the last few weeks (when he wasn't before). He's been starting to eat a little better the last few days but he had suddenly shunned his former favourites a few weeks ago, leaving his diet way more limited.

It would be much easier if he would just tell us :-)

WaitingforGrace · December 2011

For reference, my MPSI baby (although soy is technically "unconfirmed) had no reaction to BM with dairy in it, but regular formula and straight dairy are horrible for her. We didn't see any issues from her until she was 6 months old and I started to wean her onto regular formula. I digress..

It doesn't sound to me like a milk allergy. If you want to test the lactose theory, I would try to cut out yogurt and cheese for a week and switch to lactose free milk.

I know what you mean about the diaper rash being so horrible. We have the same issue. I think that disposable diapers actually aggravate the rash. Our go to method is cloth diapers with a fleece liner. We put triple antibiotic cream on and then something with zinc on over it. Change every 30 minutes while awake and immediately after naps. Also as much naked bottom time as you can. The fleece liner saves your diapers from the cream and also helps create a feel dry barrier. I think the cloth breaths so much better than disposables that it helps dry it out faster. Oh, and don't wash the fleece liner with the diapers

loveemandle2 · December 2011

You can't really know fir sure in less you A) test for an allergy elminate the food for your LOs diet. So, in your kiddos case it wouldn't hurt just to cut dairy out of the diet for a couple of weeks and just see what happens. There are plenty of alternatives for cheese, and milk.

With my daugther.. she had dairy based formula from about 6 weeks until we switched her over at a year old to WCM.. At about 10 months she started developing eczema, and around a year she started getting diarrhea after drinking milk.. Come to find out she was allergic to dairy(eggs and peanuts as well). Allergies don't stay the same, and don't all manifest themselves in the same way. So, just b/c LO has been find up until doesn't mean there isn't an allergy. So, anyways.. just consider cutting those things out and just see what happens.

MaryYVR · December 2011

loveemandle2:
You can't really know fir sure in less you A) test for an allergy elminate the food for your LOs diet. So, in your kiddos case it wouldn't hurt just to cut dairy out of the diet for a couple of weeks and just see what happens. There are plenty of alternatives for cheese, and milk.

With my daugther.. she had dairy based formula from about 6 weeks until we switched her over at a year old to WCM.. At about 10 months she started developing eczema, and around a year she started getting diarrhea after drinking milk.. Come to find out she was allergic to dairy(eggs and peanuts as well). Allergies don't stay the same, and don't all manifest themselves in the same way. So, just b/c LO has been find up until doesn't mean there isn't an allergy. So, anyways.. just consider cutting those things out and just see what happens.

Thanks. I've tried DS on almond milk, rice milk and coconut milk. He won't even go near it (how he knows it's in the bottle/cup before he tries it, I have no idea. He was the same with formula but LOVES his milk), so it's kind of a big deal to completely eliminate it. I spoke with a friend of mine who is a GP and she said that the likelihood it's a milk allergy/intolerance is extremely low considering the only symptom he has / ever had is a rash that flares up every few days and only for the last few weeks, especially while teething. The MD we saw yesterday didn't ask about any other symptoms that could indicate an issue with dairy.

My friend was saying that if he had an issue with dairy, we would most likely notice a reaction (diarrhea, gas, stomach pains, discomfort, rash worsening with bowel movements) within a few hours of EACH time he had dairy, which is 4+ times a day. He never gets diarrhea and we've never noticed any other symptom.

At this point and at least for the next week or so, I'm going to try a different anti-fungal cream and try and let him go bare-bummed a little to keep him dry. His latest tooth just poked through today and in the past, he's had a bad rash while teething and it went away when the tooth came in, so here's hoping.

If that doesn't work over the next week, I think we'll look at eliminating dairy then.

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