switching to cows mild and now gassy! Is this normal?

[Ollie76]

Hi,

I've finally decided to switch my 14 month old to cows milk.....I hesitated b/c she has reflux and was on hypoallergenic fomula ( not b/c she was showing obvious signs of allergy but as a precaution).  I have noticed, since the switch, that she is quite gassy.  I guess I'm noticing b/c she was NEVER gassy before.  Could it just be that it's a big change on her system? 

Not sure what to do....

Thanks!
Chantal

[* Paula *]

Hi Chantal,

I hope you don't mind, but I am going to pop this over to the Eating for Toddlers boards, as the topic is more suited there 

The Cows Milk could quite possibly be cause her to be really gassy.  When I switched my DS his tummy took a while to adjust and he was having very regular bowl movments and they were a horrid colour (sorry if TMI), however when I switched my DD recently,there was no effect on her what so ever.

How long have she been on the cows milk?  Does she seem in any discomfort?  I would give her tummy time to adjust and if she does not seem any better with it you could discuss it with your GP.

[deb]

Both my kids STILL get WAAAAY gassy with cows' milk, and they're 3-1/2 and going-on-7! We have it so seldom unless it's in the form of cheese or yogurt (cultured, so the culturing pre-digests some of the milk sugars) that it's not usually an issue, but when the grandparents stuff them full of cake and ice cream and candy it's only a matter of time till clouds of methane surround them. 

There's so much out there to conume that isnt' straight-up cows' milk that it's eay for us to avoid it. Water is our biggie, and watered-down juice (as in a cm of water at the bottom of a 1-liter or 2-liter plastic juice jug, topped off with water), and yogurt smoothies, and in Nat's case rice milk (not actually a dairy drink at all) make up most of my kids' drinks and have for a long while.

[Spectra]

You could always try another type of milk, like rice milk, and see if he seems better.  It's not as fatty as regular milk, but that can easily be taken care of with other foods.  For us we added an ounce of coconut milk to the rice milk, while some people add the omega oils.

[Katet]

My eldest didn't tolerate cows milk at 13mo so I didn't offer again until 18mo, by then he did ok, to this day he still doesn't drink much of it (unlike his brother who didn't have any dairy until 10mo & no milk until 17mo & loves it) I'm pretty sure that is because, like me, he has a low tolerance for it (I was taken off it for 3 years as a child) & can really only cope with the small amount I have in a coffee unless (like Deb says) it is cultured.
If it bothers you I'd stop & see if her gastric system matures in a few months take it month by month.

[We Three]

When I switched my dd over to cow's milk (from hypo-allergenic formula) at around 13 months, I did the change very gradually, adding about 1/2 ounce of milk to her formula, and waiting a week in between.   

With goat's milk, the fats are more broken down and easier to digest  (just learned this TODAY from Dr Oz on Oprah....!!!) and is recommended for those who have a hard time with cow's milk....

Maybe have a chat with the ped???

Best of luck!!

[* Paula *]

Hi Chantal,

What have you decided to do?  How are things going?

[ryan's mum]

I switched my refluxer to cow's milk at 12 months and we had problems with tummy pains and night wakings ( more than we were having )Cow's milk is heavy on the tummy and harder to digest . We made the switch to rice milk and he was fine .Even now at 5yrs old he can only have a small amount of cow's milk which is usually just on cereal .

[Ollie76]

Thanks SOOO much for all of your replies.  I decided to try to wean my DD from her morning milk to see what happened.  For the first few days, I really thought I saw a difference, today is a bad day again.  I'm just not even sure if it is the milk in the first place b/c some days she seems ok.....  She had some pears, dry shreddies and toast for breakfast and about 1/2 later started to cry and lay on the floor moving her legs up and down!  Something just doesn't add up.

[deb]

Gluten? From the wheat in the cereal and bread? Would there be milk IN the cereal and/or bread, as in made with milk?