Hi Vicki, it is possible that she can handle small amounts of the lactose. In regards to cheese I found this::
"
Yogurt and kefir. People can be more tolerant of traditionally made yogurt than milk because it contains lactase enzyme produced by the bacterial cultures used to make the yogurt. However, many commercial brands contain milk solids, increasing the lactose content.
Cheeses. Traditionally made hard cheese (such as Swiss cheese) and soft ripened cheeses may create less reaction than the equivalent amount of milk because of the processes involved. Fermentation and higher fat content contribute to lesser amounts of lactose. Traditionally made Swiss or Cheddar might contain 10% of the lactose found in whole milk. In addition, the traditional aging methods of cheese (over 2 years) reduces their lactose content to practically nothing.[1] Commercial cheese brands, however, are generally manufactured by modern processes that do not have the same lactose reducing properties, and as no regulations mandate what qualifies as an "aged" cheese, this description does not provide any indication of whether the process used significantly reduced lactose.," (From Wikipedia) not sure if that helps though.
I also found a chart which shows how much lactose is in certain dairy foods. I'm also adding the link to their website
http://www.stonyfield.com/wellness/MooslettersDisplay.cfm?moos_id=37. Hope this helps, and hopefully someone with lactose intolerance experience can offer more:
Product Lactose Content (grams)whole milk - 1 cup 11
2 % milk - 1 cup 9-13
skim milk - 1 cup 12-14
lactose-reduced milk - 1 cup 1.5-3.5
yogurt* - 1 cup 4.3-12
cheese - 1 oz 0.4-0.8
cottage cheese - 1 cup 5-8
butter - 2 pats 0.1
ice cream - 1 cup 9
cream - 1 Tbsp 0.4-0.6
* Bacterial lactase from live active cultures in yogurt survives transit through the stomach allowing digestion of lactose present in yogurt. This enables lactose-deficient individuals to tolerate the lactose present in yogurt in moderate amounts, (8 to 16 oz) with fewer or no symptoms. (New England Journal of Medicine: 310:1-3,1984).
