Lactose Intolerance

CheerLouth

Our 20 month old is possibly lactose intolerant. We are getting bloods done to see if anything shows up. In the meantime, our GP has advised us to remove the big dairy items (milk, butter, yogurts, cheese) from his diet. We can replace in a week or so with lactose free milk etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has a toddler who is lactose intolerant? I'm really struggling on what to give him for breakfast & snacks, other than porridge (which he hates) and fruit.

Poor little fella has spent the week crying because I won't give him his milk

fits

CheerLouth wrote: »

Our 20 month old is possibly lactose intolerant. We are getting bloods done to see if anything shows up. In the meantime, our GP has advised us to remove the big dairy items (milk, butter, yogurts, cheese) from his diet. We can replace in a week or so with lactose free milk etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has a toddler who is lactose intolerant? I'm really struggling on what to give him for breakfast & snacks, other than porridge (which he hates) and fruit.

Poor little fella has spent the week crying because I won't give him his milk

Can you give him lactose free milk? It’s faitly widely available.

lashes34

My girl is dairy free, there are loads of dairy free milks available. I use Oatly barista as its higher in calories than coconut or soya. You could give weetabix or make banana/egg pancakes or savoury muffins.

CheerLouth

fits wrote: »

Can you give him lactose free milk? It’s faitly widely available.

GP wants us to wait a week or two before starting him on the lactose free stuff

shesty

I have a few friends whose kids have dairy/lactose intolerances.
I am no expert and I know there are differences between the two, but having been around these kids a good bit, I notice they eat stuff like the following for snacks:
Alpro Soy milk and various butters/spreads that seem to be fairly widely available...almond and the like.I've seen them have small wholemeal rolls with ham or salami as a snack, and fruit.(lots of fruit). I think they have eggs for breakfast, or cereal with alpro milk or equivalent.Breadsticks, cracker, hummous are also snacks (and one of these is a fairly picky eater).
Apparently Oreos are dairy free, a dairy free breastfeeding mum I know eats them as her biccie with tea.Would make you wonder....!!!
They all seem to grow out of it over time, and apparently they can have some cakes in small amounts, as the baking process does something to break down dairy that makes them able to tolerate it (once it's over 200deg I believe).You may want to double-check that but the mum I know who tells me this is very reliable on the dairy free options.
Hopefully you find out your answers and can manage it.

CheerLouth

Thanks Shesty! Am hoping he will grow out of it! We got the lactose free milk & butter & are managing a bit better this week. He's eating a lot of fruit! Thank god, he is not a picky eater!

cbyrd

I'm dairy intolerant and I have 4 kids (out of 6) who are dairy intolerant too. Just be aware that lactose intolerance tests are not always conclusive. For some it's the casein that they can't process.
On that note, I use rice milk in cereal, its not a very strong flavour but naturally sweet so easier to switch over to.
I use gf oat milk to make porridge (with gf oats as we have coeliacs too)
I use pure butter, the sunflower one, for toast sandwiches and baking
Tesco have a great range of milk free foods.
There's a good selection of ice creams now and Tesco have lovely dairy free ice pops, a bit like super splits.
There's great recipes for smoothies using coconut milk that can be used as yoghurt or frozen and used with with fresh fruit for treats.
The selection is really great now, just be careful with soya products, specially with boys as it's a hormone interruptor and too much is not good.
Puredairyfree.com is a good place to start but once you make the switch it does get easier, specially as he's so young.
Best of luck.

CheerLouth

Thanks Cbyrd! I've just done a shop on Tesco & got a good few bits for him. They do have a lot of stuff! It's really been an eye opener as to how much stuff has lactose in it! We got him the lactose free milk, yogurts and the butter over the weekend so at least this week, lunches for creche haven't been so difficult! We are also giving him a lot of fruit and veg.

Thanks for the tip about the soya for boys - I would never have known that!

We don't have the results of the bloods yet but definitely see a difference in him already. We aren't going through half as many nappies or changes of clothes!

snoopy29

My 14mth is dairy, soy and egg intolerant. He's still on neocate milk but we are also introducing oatley milk too which seems to be going well. He eats a lot of home roasted sweet potatoes fries, sausages, pasta bolognese, beans, turkey burgers and sausages, sandwichs made from pure butter. I live in NI and there's lovely yoghurt from the coconut collaborative which Im not sure if you can get in Ireland. Bagels are also dairy free and veda bread (again dunno if you can get that). Were on step 2 of the milk ladder i.e. digestive biscuit which isnt going so well at the moment.

brokensoul

snoopy29 wrote: »

My 14mth is dairy, soy and egg intolerant. He's still on neocate milk but we are also introducing oatley milk too which seems to be going well. He eats a lot of home roasted sweet potatoes fries, sausages, pasta bolognese, beans, turkey burgers and sausages, sandwichs made from pure butter. I live in NI and there's lovely yoghurt from the coconut collaborative which Im not sure if you can get in Ireland. Bagels are also dairy free and veda bread (again dunno if you can get that). Were on step 2 of the milk ladder i.e. digestive biscuit which isnt going so well at the moment.

Milk ladder veteran here!

My LO is nearly 2 and a half now and we are at the top of the milk ladder, I remember the digestive biscuit phase though. It is painfully slow as a process but it does work.

snoopy29

yeah weve been here twice before and keep having to stop. Second time around I kept him on the malted milks for over a month until his nappies settled and then moved to digestives last week but again have had to stop cause he's got terrible wind, really cranky, bad nappies and his skin has flared up again. Beginning to lose hope at this stage

Hurrache

CheerLouth wrote: »

Thanks Shesty! Am hoping he will grow out of it! We got the lactose free milk & butter & are managing a bit better this week. He's eating a lot of fruit! Thank god, he is not a picky eater!

Our son grew out of it and he's fine for the most part now. Took us a while to identify it was an intolerance to lactose, and we had him on the Alpro stuff as a result. We introduced the lactose free milk, it actually tastes pretty normal compared to the soya stuff.

We then slowly introduced items with trace lactose into his diet, mostly mature cheddar cheese as aged cheddar cheese only has trace amounts in it.

Next up were Petit Filous yogurts, and before long he doesn't react to it and has a normal diet. Although he doesn't like ice cream, how many 4 year olds turn that down! He would have had sorbet during his intolerant period so he never had a taste for it.

lashes34

brokensoul wrote: »

Milk ladder veteran here!

My LO is nearly 2 and a half now and we are at the top of the milk ladder, I remember the digestive biscuit phase though. It is painfully slow as a process but it does work.

How long do you stay at each step if no reaction?

shesty

Funnily enough my own four year old does not love ice cream!She will have a few spoons and that's her limit.Mine don't have dairy issues, but I would have to introduce it very slowly in the weaning process, they don't react all that well to yoghurt, cow's milk in ready brek or the like til they are well over a year, so I don't really bother.She doesn't like drinking cups of milk either.Very aware of those allergies since a few of my friends have kids with dairy/gluten/egg allergies etc.I am always at a bit of a loss what to get for those kids if we are bringing something small for them!

brokensoul

lashes34 wrote: »

How long do you stay at each step if no reaction?

About 10 days. Just to give it long enough to gauge changes in nappies, skin etc.

DavyD_83

Slightly OT, but we've moved off neocate and have 7 tins of Neocate (approx €35 per tin) left over.
Not trying to 'sell', just want to pass on to somebody who will use instead of dumpingIf anybody is still on neocate and would accept donation, or have any ideas we've to donate it just let me know.
I put up on adverts, but no interest shown..

CheerLouth

If there is a womens aid near you, they might take it? I know the Women's Aid in Drogheda are always very appreciative of formula donations.

DavyD_83

Perfect, we'll check it out. Had heard (purely anecdotally) that charities and the likes wouldn't accept formula, medication or nappies, which has always seemed mad.
Will check for a local version or similar