Intolerance or allergy??

[dbanana]

My daughter is 11 months old and at 9 months we had been noticing that everytime we gave her yogurt she would not sleep at night. Went to the doctor and he said to take her off of dairy and put her on a lactose free formula. we have been adding in food that have milk products in them and she has been doing very well so last night at dinner she had a very very very tiny piece of cheese and did not sleep and was throwing up and her stool was loose this morning. So i am wondering if she just can't have the main things and if we should still be watching in all foods for any milk products? Also is she allergic or does she have an intolerance??Any help would be great thanks!

[~ Vik ~]

Hi!

The main difference between an allergy and an intolerance is that an allergy is an immune response, while an intolerance is a reaction of the digestive system. With an allergy, the immune system mistakes a harmless food protein as dangerous and mounts an immune response against it. With an intolerance, the food either irritates the digestive tract or the person is unable to digest it (like lactose intolerance). Here's a website with a really good explanation and symptoms, etc:
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance
Unfortunately, nausea and diarrhea are symptoms of both intolerance and allergy. To know for sure you may have to get a blood test done Given the severity of her reaction I would keep her off all dairy myself, at least until you can discuss it with your doctor.
Hth
Vikki

[dbanana]

thanks for the info I am making a doctors appoinment next week too see what he thinks and if I can start to wean her onto goats milk or something like that. The formula she is on is sooooo expensive and she is almost a year so it will be time to switch her to something soon!Thanks again!

[~ Vik ~]

No problem!
There are lots of options for dairy intolerance -  soy milk, rice milk, almond milk etc. So don't be discouraged! My ds has a dairy allergy (he gets hives) and it's frustrating, but managable. Here's a list of calcium rich foods that she can eat:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=139773.0
Make sure you check out the stickies for mpi/mspi recipes too, there are some fantastic ones!
Good luck at the doctor's