My son might be lactose intolerant...?

Question

My son is 13 months old. He switched to whole milk and started eating normal people food (no more jar food) at 12 months. Ever since then he has had terrible gas pains, and bloating. He will scream and scream like he is in the worst pain! My husband brought up that he might be lactose intolerant. I did some research about it and called our pediatrician and made an appointment for Sept 8th. Instead of cheese itz, gold fish, yogurt, milk, cheese, butter, etc what can he eat that doesn't have dairy in it? I look at the labels of processed food and most have some lactose product in it. I just don't know what to feed him. Were not 100% positive about the lactose intolerance until we talk to our pediatrician. What can I do until then to help him?

Answer 1

Well, your best bet when looking at food labels is to find the one with the least amount of a dairy product. Also, if it turns out that he is lactose intolerant then he doesn't have to stop eating dairy. Most doctors will give you a medicene to stop the gas and bloating/

Answer 2

If he really is lactose intolerant, yogurt shouldn't cause too much trouble because the live cultures break down the lactose.  He can also have butter and hard cheeses because they don't have lactose.  But be careful when buying cheese.  A lot of low-fat cheese has whey added to it, which is the part of milk that has lactose.  Basically, just check the sugar content.  Lactose is a sugar so cheese with 0grams of sugar is lactose free.  (Cheddar, Parmesan, etc.)  And, of course, he'd be able to drink lactose-free milk like Lactaid or Dairy Ease.

Answer 3

Start with all obvious milk products.  Milk, yogurt, cheese.  If you see a little change (it could take a week or so), then you might consider cutting it all out.  My kids LOVE soymilk, but there's kind of an estrogen debate going on out there about the use of soy and its affect on hormones.  Rice Dream is also pretty good.  I mix some Nesquick in with it to make it taste a little better.  My little guy (who is allergic to milk protein) couldn't tell the difference.  

There is also a soy yogurt.  Soy is okay...just not in large quantities like what kids drink in milk all day long.  

My kids like gummy anything...like gummy snacks, etc.  Baked potatos are good.  Fleishmann's Lite is a milk-free margarine.  Italian (Rotella-brand) bread is usually milk-free.  

I should, also, outline the difference between milk protein allergies and lactose intolerance.  Lactose is a sugar found in milk.  Some GI tracts are just not capable of processing it appropriately.  Some kiddos eventually get over this, but using soy or lactose-free formula as an infant kind of exacerbates the problems experienced during the transition to whole milk.   Milk protein is, of course, a protein.  A caseinate...found in most things that are made with milk products.  

http://www.mspiguide.com

In addition to gassiness, in a milk allergy you might see bloody or mucousy stools.  If he has had a change in his stool consistency, you are probably facing a little milk issue.  Its up in the air as to whether its just lactose or its milk protein.

I think you can get a toddler/infant lactose remedy over the counter, too.  I just remembered that I saw this at CVS last night.  It was in children's remedy section...with the Children's Pepto and other stuff.  

HTH

Answer 4

well there is a lactose intolerant pill and of course lactose intolerant milk. maybe try some organic foods.

Answer 5

i think his pains may be just from the change in diet. did you wean him into people food, or just stop jar one day and people food the next.

It can be hard on them sometimes. maybe go back to jar food and see if that helps him, if it does, then slowly introduce people food, try a soy milk or goats milk and see if that helps.