how to remove dairy from 14 mo diet

[zomigi]

My DD is 13.5 months old and has been having problems, on and off, with frequent pooping, diaper rash, and runny nose since November. After having a really bad night last night -- she had a huge poop right before bed that worsened her diaper rash, and woke up in the middle of the night crying from gas -- I want to try taking her off dairy to see if it helps. I'm not convinced it's just a virus or teething anymore.

She's been weaned from breastmilk since 7 months, and has been weaned from formula for a few weeks (it was cow's milk formula, btw). So she's on whole cow's milk now, though she doesn't drink a lot. Should I just give her soy milk? I'm afraid she won't drink it -- it tastes so different from cow's milk. What about going back to soy formula?

I'll cut out all the cheese, yogurt, etc (some of her favorite foods, poor girl) but do I also need to cut out everything that even has dairy in it (like the gingerbread I just made that has some yogurt in it? I don't think she's allergic to dairy and super-sensitive to it, because as I said she drank cow's milk formula and never had a problem when I ate dairy and was breastfeeding her. I just think she might be lactose intolerant or a little sensitive, if such a thing is possible. So I'm wondering how extreme to go in the no-dairy thing.

Also, how long do I need to stick with this experiment to see if it's working? How many days does it take to see changes?

[lucyem]

You probably want to ask in the allergy forum. Lots of moms there with experience.

[deditus]

You need to remove it all - butter, milk , yogurt, cheese, whey, additives in processed food like crackers, cereal, bread, etc. Most people who are intolerant to milk will react to any trace. Also many who are dairy intolerant also react to soy, so I wouldn't replace milk with soy milk just yet. Give it a good 2-4 weeks without either. We are dairy free and I use coconut milk products as my dairy replacement - I make yogurt and ice cream from it. Occasionally I use almond or hemp milk.

[Ruthla]

Did the problems start around the time she weaned from formula to cow's milk? If so, then it might be a problem with lactose or with unmodified cow's milk proteins, not with dairy proteins as a whole. If that's the case, she might do well if you put her back on formula, or just cut out milk but continued giving her cheese and yogurt. If you suspect lactose intolerance (which is very rare in kids under 5) then lactose-reduced milk would be tolerated.

If the problems started around the time you introduced another food into her diet (such as corn or wheat), then I'd try cutting out whatever it is that you introduced when her problems started.

If you can't identify any "new food" with these problems, and you want to do a clear "dairy free" trial, then you need to cut out ALL dairy, including small bits of yogurt in baked goods.

[zomigi]

But again -- DD has had dairy through my breastmilk her whole life and has had both milk-based and soy-based formula for many months, with no significant problems. I really don't think she's completely intolerant/allergic to it. I think she's like my husband -- he eats tons of dairy, but it tends to give him an upset stomach, particularly straight milk, so he usually drinks lactose-free milk.

We tried giving her a bottle with some soy milk in it this morning, and she refused to drink it, as I suspected.

[zomigi]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Did the problems start around the time she weaned from formula to cow's milk?

I think it was November when we started giving her cheese and small amounts of dairy cooked into stuff. In late November, she started pooping every time we fed her anything, and she got a horrible diaper rash. We took her to the doctor and they said it was a virus and they couldn't do anything about it. She did seem genuinely sick at that time. But the frequent pooping went on for a couple weeks. Finally she got to about 2-3 poops a day, and she's doing this still, with diaper rash coming and going.

We introduced cow's milk right around the start of January. It was right at the same time that she got this bad runny nose, BUT she also started teething with her first molars right at the same time too, and she always gets a runny nose when she's teething. Over the past four weeks, her runny nose has gotten a little better, but still continues, but so has her teething -- her fourth molar is now cutting through. We took her to the doctor again, and they said virus again. It's possible, as DH and I have felt down periodically in the last couple weeks.

[Ruthla]

A GI virus can affect the intestinal flora (the "good germs" that are supposed to live in the gut, or GI tract) and that can lead to GI symptoms that last for weeks or months after the initial virus is over. Yeast overgrowth is one possibility, but sometimes it's just an overgrowth of hte wrong kinds of bacteria in the gut; this can lead to either frequent BMs or constipation, and the poops themselves can be more acidic and irritate her skin.

I said earlier than lactose intolerance is rare in children under 5, as this is when kids are designed to be drinking breastmilk (breastmilk has lactose in it.) However, kids can be temporarily lactose intolerant after having a GI bug, when the gut flora is out of whack.

You might want to try her on lactose free whole milk and see if any of her symptoms improve, before trying the whole dairy-free diet. If lactose is the issue, you should see results within a few days, possibly even within a few hours. If it doesn't help, then you can still try the complete dairy-free diet (which takes a few weeks for results.) Also, if it is the lactose, I'd start her on probiotics (since messed up gut flora is the most likely cause of lactose intolerance in a toddler.)

[zomigi]

Thanks Ruthla! Lots of good info. I'll talk to DH about it and we'll decide what to do.