Author Topic: does anyone take their lo to see a dietician for MPI?  (Read 1168 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline lilisuze

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 46
  • Posts: 2285
  • Location:
does anyone take their lo to see a dietician for MPI?
« on: January 11, 2010, 11:02:02 am »
We have just been referred because our 5th milk trial has failed  :'(

I am not sure quite what to expect. LO has soy milk in his sippys and has done since 7months old when i managed to pursauade the health team it was MPI. He eats a variety of food and seems fine with soy yoghurts, philadelphia cheese (in tiny smudge amounts) and veggies, so not sure quite what they want me to do

Any experience with dieticians?

TIA

Lili xx
Little dude (2008) spirited monkey boy
Little pink (2011) textbook princess

Offline Mashi

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 408
  • Posts: 16805
  • Location:
Re: does anyone take their lo to see a dietician for MPI?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2010, 11:47:36 am »
We did see a dietician for MPI - when the diagnosis was made by the hospital paed apparently in our area it is normal to get a dietician referral.  I found it to be worthless, really - her only concern and purpose really, in seeing us was in regards to keeping calcium intake high enough without the milk. 

We saw her when he was 6/7 months old and just starting solids and then again at 12 months in preparation for our milk challenge. In our area it is done by the dietician but she told us we could do it at home if we wanted, but and was willing to give us all of the info and support to do it at home.  We didn't actually DO the milk challenge with her, we had the prep visit and got all of the info and got it all booked and then had to cancel it as DS got ill, and then we could not get another appointment in before we moved abroad. So, we did it ourselves at home.

So, by our hospital paed in the UK we were told to try the milk challenge at 12 months, and if DS failed it, then to keep 100% clear of dairy until he was no younger than 18 months, but preferrably until 24 months.  If LOs don't outgrow MPI by 12 months then it's not something to keep trialling and challenging him with, just sit tight and wait another year.   He had quite a strict view on the dairy - try milk and if LO can't tolerate milk then don't attempt cheese, yogurt, and the like -- stay 100% dairy free.

My paed here in Germany was a bit different - if he can tolerate cheese and yogurt that's fine, let him have it, but keep off of milk if he can't do milk.

I think that their differing views are pretty normal, from everything I have read here and elsewhere - some people are ok with bits of cheese and yogurt, others keep totally dairy free. Probably depends on the severity of the allergy/intolerance.

So in terms of what to expect, your dietician could be the kind who encourages bits of broken down dairy (ie cheese and yogurt) until your LO can handle milk, or she may be one to say that if he can't take milk, then keep him 100% dairy free for another 6-8 months and try again when he's two. (FWIW I sit on that side of the fence, as I think that the continued exposure to the dairy can potentially lead to more bowel damage making it harder to heal, but I'm pretty conservative and strict when I think of food issues!) She may not concern herself too much with the logistics of his milk challenge and mainly want to speak with you on ways to keep his calcium and fat levels high enough, hard to say really. You could see one dietician and get one perspective and then see her colleague across the hall and get another totally different perspective, kwim?

Doubt that is helpful at all, but I am interested to hear in what she does have to say! I hope either way you find it helpful and informative!