Allergic to Milk???

[TDR'smom]

Hello.   Beginning this week I have been trying to wean my 11 month old from formula to whole milk.  He is on a soy formula (Isomil) because regular Similac with Iron made him very gassy.  He has no problem with cheese, cottage cheese, yogurts.  However the past few mornings when I give him a little milk with his formula, he has a hard time settling for his naps and sometimes wakes up crying as if in pain?  Also, as he is settling to nap I notice he twitches and jerks around a lot more than before.  He also seems a lot more gassy.

Both DH and I are lactose intolerant and have to buy the special milk "Lactaid".

What do you guys think?

[Mom to M&M]

If he can handle cheeses and yogurt fine that he's not allergic. However, whole milk can be hard to digest - maybe start with 2% milk (easier transition) and once that is tolerated try whole milk?

[TDR'smom]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I was nervous to go 2% because I keep reading that you should do Whole Milk.  I will try 2% for sure though!

I also have not spoken to his pediatrician about it, as they recommend waiting till at least 1 year.  I am being impatient as usual.

Do you recommend mixing the milk in with his formula or maybe 2 separate bottles (1 with 3-4 oz formula and a 2nd bottle of milk)

Tracy's book says not to mix?

[Mom to M&M]

Nothing wrong with 2%. Yes it has less fat than whole milk but at least as much as soy milk and much more than rice milk. And you can eventually transition to whole milk and give him more fat in other ways - cheese, avocado, meats, flax oil, etc.

Personally, I agree with your Ped and plan to wait until at least one year for all dairy - but I tend to be cautious and DD has had intolerance issues herself.

My friend's Ped had her do the following:

First three days: 1/3 milk with 2/3 formula in all bottles
Second three days: 1/2 milk with 1/2 formula in all bottles
Last three days: 2/3 milk with 1/3 formula in all bottles

Then all milk. Also expect intake to go down once on all milk.

But I don't know how my Ped recommends yet - this is just what my friend did. I'd call your doctor to be sure.

[JennŠ]

Thanks for that Karen, the countdown continues until we start that.  (theme from some weird SF movie...)   

[NYCKelly]

TDR, I am having the very exact problem with my daughter.  She'll be 1 yo next week and I started to give her whole milk.  I noticed that in the middle of the night she's been horribly irritable and I was wondering if it was the milk as well.  She seems to take yogurt and cheese well but I've noticed that her stomach was gurgling and making strange noises.  I've been thinking of switching over to Lactaid milk and see if helps.

[TDR'smom]

NYCKelly,

I think it can not hurt to try Lactaid milk.  It has all the same nutrients etc.  DH and I are both lactose intolerant.  We can both eat cheese, yogurt etc to our hearts content however can not drink regular milk.  It has to be lactaid.  We get the gurgly stomach too. 

Was your DD on formula?  Another reason we felt DS might be lactose intolerant is that he had exzema and did not sleep well for the first 6 months.  He also had very loud farts and gurgly stomach.  We had him on Similac Advance with Iron.  At 6 months we switched him to Isomil Advance which is soy based and the exzema disappeared and he started sleeping better.  Might have just been a coincidence but we still have him on Isomil since it seems to be working?!?!?!?

You might want to check with your Pediatrician though just to be sure.  We decided to stop giving him milk and keep him on formula until his 1year appt.

Good Luck!

[NYCKelly]

Yep, up until last Saturday she was on formula.  She was using Similac Lactose Free formula.  I had her on it since I think 3 months old.  It's a long story but to make it short, she was on regular formula and was very gassly and colicky.  Then I switched her to Soy Isomil and she broke out into rashes.  Then I tried Carnation good start and although not as gassy she was still colicky.  Then I tried the Lactose Free and it seemed to help.  I don't know if the colic went away with age or with the Lactose Free formula.  Since it worked we stayed on it.  Thinking she may have grown out of it we gave her regular whole milk. 

I still had half a can of lactose free formula so I went back to it.  Last night she slept a little bit better.  She only woke up 3 times last night as opposed to 5 the last few night and only twice she cried a little but not screaming.   I'm going to finish up the formula and then try Lactaid.  My husband and I are semi lactose intolerant.  We can eat dairy but when drinking regular milk we have to eat it with something like a piece of cake. 


Kelly