What are symptoms of lactose intolerance (children)?

[sheryl]

If you child is sensitive/intolerant or allergic to lactose in dairy products, what symptoms do they demonstrate?

 

How did you confirm an intolerance? Test?

 

How have you remedied the situation? Meds? Food restriction - full or partial?

 

Thanks.

[Chris in VA]

Well, I'm LI.

I get gassy, and often have cramps or a tummy ache if I ingest too much lactose. I don't drink any milk, for example. I can have a wee bit of ice cream (like a couple tablespoons) every now and again, and I can have a fair amt of cheese or yogurt. The culturing seems to help me tolerate it. I can't have much day after day, because it is a cumulative effect.

 

I just confirmed it by the symptoms when eating it and lack of symptoms when not.

 

I can have lactose-free milk. I can take Lactaid. But it's best for me just to avoid it all together. I take a calcium supplement and am supposed to eat a lot of leafy greens (but I don't).

[AK_Mom4]

When DS20 was little, he would get gassy and cry. He would also vomit occasionally. His cheeks would also turn bright red.

 

Now that he is older, he gets a bad stomach ache and headache with too much dairy.

[ThisIsTheDay]

My dd has always struggled with stomach issues of one kind or another.

 

She would often get stomach aches that she, on her own at age 13, discovered occurred after eating foods containing milk. It was easy to test--she stopped all foods with milk products for a few days and then reintroduced. Fortunately for her, she can still eat those foods, as long as she doesn't eat too much. For example, she can have pizza or ice cream, but not both in one evening.

[Socalimom]

My dd5 was very gassy when we put her on formula at 10 months. She was even flatulent while sleeping. Our dr suggested lactose-free formula and her gassiness became minimal. We tried regular cow's milk at 12 months and the flatulence returned. So she's been on lactaid milk since and no problems.

 

My dh is also LI. He has stomachaches and cramps when having any dairy. Though he can drink lactaid too. For him, white cheese has less side effects than if he were to have yellow cheese.

[Hunter's Moon]

There is a test that a GI can do. They make the patient drink a glass of milk with some sort of solutuion in it, and then for three hours or so they have the patient blow into a tube that leads to a bag every 30 minutes or so. It measures levels of Hydrogen and is called the Hydrogen Breath Test. When lactose isn't digested, it will release large amounts of Hydrogen.

 

If lactose causes pain, though, I wouldn't do the test. Just take lactose out of diet. I can tolerate yogurt and certain cheeses (cheddar, provolone, swiss)

[wonderchica]

Diahrrea (sp) can be a symptom as well.

[weddell]

It really depends on whether you are talking about an intolerance or an allergy. Lactose intolerance is usually caused by the lack of an enzyme that breaks down lactose into something people can digest. If the lactose isn't broken down, people get gastro symptoms. Many people who are lactose intolerant can have a little dairy before it becomes a problem.

 

Allergies are a different thing. They are caused by an improper immune response. My dd is allergic to milk. If she has even a tiny bit of dairy, she vomits (within 30 second to 1 minute of eating), starts breaking out in full body hives and her throat starts to swell shut. At this point she needs an epi pen. She has to have COMPLETE avoidance.

 

Lactose intolerance isn't uncommon, but true allergies to dairy are only in a really small percentage of people.

[Sputterduck]

It really depends on whether you are talking about an intolerance or an allergy. Lactose intolerance is usually caused by the lack of an enzyme that breaks down lactose into something people can digest. If the lactose isn't broken down, people get gastro symptoms. Many people who are lactose intolerant can have a little dairy before it becomes a problem.

 

Allergies are a different thing. They are caused by an improper immune response. My dd is allergic to milk. If she has even a tiny bit of dairy, she vomits (within 30 second to 1 minute of eating), starts breaking out in full body hives and her throat starts to swell shut. At this point she needs an epi pen. She has to have COMPLETE avoidance.

 

Lactose intolerance isn't uncommon, but true allergies to dairy are only in a really small percentage of people.

 

Lactose intolerance in very small children, though, is extremely uncommon. Breastmilk is has more lactose than cow's milk. So if a child is fine on breastmilk and not formula, it's not the lactose. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine, so I usually insert that somewhere in threads like this. lol

 

Usually, it's the casein protein in cow's milk that causes very small babies problems.

Edited December 11, 2011 by Sputterduck

[sheryl]

Thanks everyone....got the info I needed.

[Harriet Vane]

My ds gets a bad stomach ache within about 15-20 minutes of eating dairy. For him there's an obvious connection.