I have suspected for a while that R (7 months now) has an intolerance to dairy.
In the early months she was VERY windy and often woke out of sleep and she needed to fart (her preferred way of getting rid of wind) and then would go straight back to sleep. We did also have some mucousy nappies on and off. I blamed foremilk/hindmilk imbalance and block feeding really seemed to help the wind issues and nappies got better. I did at that time cut back on dairy. So stopped drinking glasses of milk with meals, no more yogurts or slices or cheese but I did still take milk in my tea, had cheese in meals (like lasange) and obviously there would be hidden dairy in things I was eating. But for the most part it helped.
We have just started solids and I noticed (or thought I noticed) that she was reacting to an organic cereal I was giving her with cows milk in it. I stopped it about 2 weeks ago. I noticed she was quite constipated and there was mucous in her nappies when she finally went. Other foods she has had: carrot, squash, sweet potato, potato, apple, pear, apricot, banana, apple and blueberry puree (from a jar). She has toast on occasion as finger foods but doesn't really end up eating a lot.
So having not given her the cereal or banana (thought that could be adding to the constipation) for about 2 weeks, today at lunch I gave her a fromage frais. She was due a nap about an hour later and i couldn't get her settled at all. She seemed uncomfortable and I could hear wind in her tummy. After a while I got her up and she lay gurgling away at me on the sofa and then she did a poo. It was really explosive and full of musous. More than has ever been there in the past.
Any thoughts? Could she show a reaction that quickly? My GP said unless she is having diahorrea there is no way she has an intolerance
but he didn't really seem to know a lot about it. He also told me you couldn't cut dairy from your diet as it would affect your bones!
She has obviously been exposed to dairy since birth through my milk. Do I just continue as I have been and avoid giving her yogurt, cheese etc? Or do I need to be thinking about going dairy free? My GP also said exposure in small amounts will help her get used to dairy if she is having issues and not to worry too much. Or should i just expose her in small amounts? I have no idea!
In terms of symptoms, apart from the very mucousy nappy today, in general she is still pretty windy and is a poor sleeper at night (but I do put that down to me not tackling night feeds) but apart from that she is a happy wee soul who just goes with the flow.
TIA xx