I'm trying to figure out if my 3 year old son has lactose intolerance or maybe a milk allergy and am wondering if anyone else out there has had a child with these signs/symptoms and if and how you figured out what it was. He used to drink milk but slowly stopped drinking it in the past year to the point where I give him OJ supplemented with calcium/vit D instead. He also doesn't like ice cream. He will eat cheese and yogurt sometimes, usually one or the other once a day. He has a lot of very loose BMs (I would call them borderline diarrhea) and I've been trying to track when he has them but they seem almost daily. The other day I did notice after he ate baked mac n cheese (which has lots of milk and cheese in it) he had a very loose BM that night and again the next morning. So, I know I can do an elimination diet but I've heard that isn't necessarily very good at diagnosing it because milk is in a lot of stuff. I know I could do a milk challenge where he gets up and only drinks a big glass of non-fat milk and then nothing for a few hours but I think that would be really hard to get a 3 year old to do. Anyone advice?
Edit: I just want to add that the milk we drink is "organic" which means it has no added hormones and antibiotics. Also, I know that we don't NEED milk and am totally fine with him not drinking milk. The problem is I have two other children who love milk and they have no issues with it so eliminating dairy is a bit tougher than if he were the only child. But, if he truly is lactose intolerant I will adjust his diet accordingly. I'm mostly wondering from what I described above if it sounds like lactose intolerance and, if so, how did you go about confirming it.
I would buy him some lactose free milk and tell him to try it. Tell him it is special milk. After he eats cheese or drinks milk ask if his stomach hurts him. Usually,you go to the bathroom shortly after. Give him some dairy ease pills and see if that may help after he eats dairy products.
You should talk to your pediatrician about this. Protein allergy and lactose intolerance exhibit very similar symptoms and it could be either and both can be diagnosed through blood or breath tests. However, both of those diagnostic measures means that the child has to be exposed to milk in order to get the diagnosis, which can be uncomfortable for a child who does have a problem with milk.
Good luck
Is his only symptom loose stools? Lactose intolerance causes cramps and gas in addition to usually diarrhea and sometimes constipation. Is he irritable or has eczema? If its several loose stools in a short time period then I would be concerned but it its just one or 2 loose ones a day and nothing else I would not really be worried.
I doubt its lactose intolerance, thats severe in children and is typically grown into as adulthood and your body builts up the intolerance to lactose, something our bodies are only meant to digest the first few years of life on MOTHERS milk, never on cows milk. It sounds like its just a dairy intolerance, protein intolerance.
Eliminate cows milk dairy from his diet, like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc things that are direct. Baked goods shouldn't affect him too much but for the time being cut those out too, it takes two weeks for the body to totally eliminate dairy from the body.
My son became lactose intolerant when he was 3. Did fine until then. Found out that it's not that uncommon after the age of one for that to happen and then later to become able to digest it again. My son had stomach pain, no lose stools or anything else. It might be why your son is avoiding milk products. It was a bugger to figure out what was wrong with him but after withholding milk products for awhile I figured it out. Even had an upper GI done! Anyway his main problem seems to be milk and ice cream though he seems to do ok with cheese. My solution? Well first I would really advise you to do some research on the internet about your child not needing milk. It's true, they simply just don't need it. It's a myth from the past :) If that makes you uncomfortable then you can give him a yummy calcium chew every day or a Tums and his calcium is covered. And while we are on the subject of milk, you would be surprised that most milk is full of hormones as well. They are finding more and more children are "developing" faster (developing breasts, pubic hair etc...) because of it. If you do buy milk be picky and get hormone free. Braums milk is hormone free and doesn't cost you an arm and leg for it.
Also there is a liquid product called Liquid Lactase that you can use in your milk. You put in a few drops, wait 24 hours and you have lactose free milk for drinking and cooking. You can store up on it and get it on Amazon. Also you can use chewable Lactaid tablets before he eats/drinks anything with milk. I keep a few on me all the time for those "ice cream" moments.
Best Regards,
C.
