4 year old and stomach pain

[ScootchsMom]

I'm taking her to the ped today since this has been going on for a while, but I thought I'd see if any one had any opinions on what this could be...

For about two weeks, DD has been complaining her tummy hurts. We tracked what she was eating and her complaints seemed to come any time after she ate or drank anything with milk in it. (She has never had a problem with milk before) I switched her to lactose free milk and cut back all other dairy, but she is still complaining her tummy hurts. She also has a remarkable amount of stinky gas lately.

She doesn't seem constipated, goes at least once a day with no complaints, and she doesn't have diarrhea. She also takes Calms Forte 4 Kids daily, but the pains don't seem to be connected to when she takes it. Nevertheless, I'm stopping it for now just to rule out another possible cause.

I don't know what to think. I'm keeping her home from school today to go to the ped, so hopefully we'll be able to get some answers. But I'm worried, as all moms would be.

What does it sound like to any of you?

[zjandosmom]

If you are thinking it's dairy related you need to eliminate ALL dairy for 3-4 weeks. Your dd's symptoms sound a lot like my ds3 who does have a dairy and soy allergy. You have to look 'hidden' dairy as well to do a proper elimination. My son had stomach aches, bad gas, skin issues. He is so much better off the dairy. Good luck.

[ScootchsMom]

Thanks. Dairy is where my brain keeps heading. DS is very sensitive to dairy as well, has been since birth.

Is there an allergy test for dairy/soy? Also, is there a list of foods anywhere that would be dairy/soy free so that I know where to start? DD is a picky eater as it is, but she loves chicken, ham, rice, and seafood, so I'm sure we could do it for two weeks.

Also, she loves her chocolate milk in the morning. What could I replace that with? Rice milk? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just trying to not panic because I don't know what I'm doing here!

[zjandosmom]

I'll try to find a link that lists the 'code' words for dairy. I sub rice milk for cow's milk. For butter in baking I use cocnut oil or Spectrum palm shortening. I have even found a chocolate chip sub made by Enjoy Life. It is overwhelming at first but it really isn't that bad. Make a trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joes (our Kroger here is actually pretty good) to do some label reading. For me soy was the hardest so if you are only dealing with dairy it really isn't that bad. I would give it a solid 3-4 weeks with zero slips before you rule it out. My Dr said the easiest and truest test of a dairy allergy was to eliminate it and see if there were any changes. It's cheap and relatively easy (compared to blood work). HTH There are some great ideas on the allergy threads

[zjandosmom]

found a link http://www.kellymom.com/store/freeha...en-dairy01.pdf