[mommy amber]

I was picking up gas drops for my toddler today and noticed that they make lactose pills for toddlers/children.
DD was diagnosed as lactose intolerant as an infant...seemed to outgrow around 1yr and has now developed problems again (I think...we haven't done elimination but it does seem to correlate with how much dairy she takes in).
DH is very lactose intolerant, so we already keep soy milk around...but he enjoys cheese, etc...so he does dairy pills on a daily basis...but I feel a little hesitant about a 2.5 year old taking them every day...
What do you think? Has anyone tried them with their LO's?
What are the chances she can "outgrow" this again? I don't want to make it worse by substituting lactose digestion with meds if her body might acclimate eventually...but I also want her to enjoy the foods she loves w/o ending up in pain later!

 

[babygrant]

as far as i understand it's impossible for a breastfed infant to be lactose intollerant becuase breastmilk contains lactose. So it would be an intollerance/allergy to the proteins in the milk.

Personally I would never give any sort of lactaid, etc pill like that because if the body is reacting to the allergen, it should not be ingested.

 

[kjbrown92]

I tried it with my milk intolerant child (about a year ago, he's 8yo now). It didn't do anything. I didn't think it would, but I thought I'd try. I agree it sounds like she's milk intolerant, not "lactose" intolerant. And my DS keeps "outgrowing" it then getting it back...

 

[mommy amber]

that's interesting about the lactose in bmilk and cow milk...I hadn't realized...we know she's not actually allergic, she was tested...her ped said it was just an intolerance...perhaps to the protein then???
Something is suddenly making her SO GASSY...cranky, very restless at night and there have been no new foods
BUT my colostrum (I'm 34wks pg and still bf'ing) has come in in full force over the past 3 weeks or so and I have noticed changes in her bm's..much looser and more frequent. Could the colostrum and not dairy be the source of this problem? Or my increased intake of dairy passing through my milk?

 

[Panserbjorne]

colostrum on it's own-no. Increased consumption of dairy if that is the culprit-absolutely. I would also toss into the ring if you are buying things to handle her discomfort something isn't right. It's not normal to be cranky, gassy and in pain. In the mean time you could use castor oil packs on her belly with herbs as remediation, but that is not addressing the underlying cause.

 

[Ruthla]

Colostrum does have laxative properties, completely separate from allergy or food sensitivity issues.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of lactaid pills- IMO, if you can't tolerate a certain type of food, then you shouldn't be eating it, period. But, I have relented and purchased Lactaid pills for my 12yoDD. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have any problems with dairy proteins or fats because she can have hard cheeses with no problems, and small amounts of yogurt with no problems, although she gets stomache aches from milk (even milk baked into products when she doesn't know the milk is in there) or too much yogurt. She's also old enough to know what pizza and ice cream taste like and doesn't want to miss out ALL the time.

So I have the lactase pills on hand for her. She generally tries to avoid eating foods that will hurt her stomach, but she likes knowing the pills are available if she eats too much cheese, or accidentally eats milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate, etc. I had no problem with her using lactase at DS' birthday party where I served pizza and ice cream cake. I keep plenty of non-dairy sweets on hand for her, and she only uses the pills maybe once or twice a week- some weeks not at all. I figure that, at age 12, she's old enough to take charge of her diet to some degree and decide for herself if she wants to take the pills or not.

No way would I give the pills on a daily basis and continue to feed milk to a toddler. At that age, I'd make an effort to provide nondairy foods on a daily basis and only use the lactase pills for special occasions.