Is whole milk Lactaid ok for a 13 month old?

[Anonymous]

Is there any reason I shouldn't be giving my 13 month old Lactaid? He seems to have had some diarrhea with regular whole milk (though no other form of dairy upsets his stomach) and so far has been ok with the Lactaid.

[Anonymous]

Our Pediatrian said to try it (DS is lactose intolerant) unfortunately it didn't help him out but they told us that if he could drink it that would be a good alternative to regular cows milk.

[Anonymous]

Have you considered the other "milks" out there? Rice, soy, coconut, almond, etc? We have trouble with tummy aches if my son drinks too much whole milk at a time, so we alternate it with rice or coconut milk.

[Anonymous]

We always used Lactaid because DH and I are both lactose intolerant. No issues.

[Anonymous]

It would be unusual for it to help a child of that age as lactose intolerance is also very uncommon at that age -- most babies/toddlers that react to dairy are actually milk PROTEIN intolerant, not lactose. I'd think it likely your reaction is yet to come.

If it doesn't, however, I'd go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be unusual for it to help a child of that age as lactose intolerance is also very uncommon at that age -- most babies/toddlers that react to dairy are actually milk PROTEIN intolerant, not lactose. I'd think it likely your reaction is yet to come.

If it doesn't, however, I'd go for it.

OP here. Thanks for this. I'm so very confused what is going on with DS. He has been eating dairy in the form of yogurt, cheese, and milk (baked or mixed into things) since 6 months and has never experienced a reaction to any of this. I've also never been dairy-free in terms of my own eating, therefore my breast milk has never been dairy-free either; again, DS has never experienced any sort of reaction to it. He only has diarrhea when he's been given whole milk. He's been on the Lactaid for a few days now and has had solid poops. I took him off the Lactaid and put him back on whole milk for one day and he had diarrhea the next morning. Now maybe it's all coincidence...

If he were milk protein intolerant, would he have been reacting all along to other forms of dairy/my breast milk?

Also, he'd gone through a bad stomach virus recently and had lingering diarrhea. The dr mentioned that babies sometimes temporarily turn lactose intolerant (she stressed it was a difference reaction than to casein) and she had him go on lactose-free formula (or she suggested soy but I don't want to do that). It cleared up his diarrhea and he was fine going back on breast milk. He was not on cow's milk at that point. Is his diarrhea just a matter of him getting used to cow's milk or does he have an issue with lactose? FWIW, he's half-Asian (I'm the Asian parent, though I have no issues with casein or lactose), and Asians are generally lactose-intolerant...

[Anonymous]

We've been using it since our daughter was a little older than that - no issues. I'm lactose intolerant, so it wasn't a surprise to me that she might be too. We actually ended up switching to soy and almond milk because she was congested all the time and the doc suggested that less dairy equals less mucus, which seems to be true. So if congestion/allergies turn out to be an issue, consider those too.

[Anonymous]

I don't know the answer to your questions, but for what it's worth, most adults who are lactose intolerant can tolerate cheese, yogurt, and milk baked into foods but cannot tolerate a glass of milk. So it's possible to me that this could be the case with your son.

[Anonymous]

We tried lactaid for a month before switching to soy. We did a blood protein allergy test and then the poop test for the lactose intolerance. My DD gets severe loose stools when she has regular yogurt and cheese but is fine with milk baked into food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If he were milk protein intolerant, would he have been reacting all along to other forms of dairy/my breast milk?

No, not necessarily at all. (I'm the pp you quoted and replied to). Also, human milk contains lactose -- actually, more than cow milk!

From what we know about allergies and proteins through breastmilk, either not every mom passes them along or they're only passed along part of the time. Confusing, I know. Also, drinking it directly rather than it being diluted through you will make a difference. Even when we're talking about direct consumption it is not at all unusual for a child to be able to tolerate, say, butter, cheese, yogurt, but then unable to tolerate milk.

Now, don't misunderstand -- an intolerance doesn't mean it is "a matter of getting used to" at all -- if it bothers him, he shouldn't consume it. An intolerance is very likely to be outgrown before school age, however. I can't speak to any sort of propensity based upon your genetics but it is my understanding that lactose intolerance is still very rare at this young age, so I'd think it is still likely to be the milk protein.

[Anonymous]

22:19 again. Hey, if he's ok with Lactaid, absolutely, give it to him. Obviously what matters is him having something to consume without pain. I do think it is a bit of a puzzle, however!

[Anonymous]

(and maybe it is a temporary lactose intolerance post-illness)