16 month old with lactose intolerance

[jiwel]

Hi I am a first time mom of 16 month old twin girls.  My younger twin was diagnosed with lactose intolerance at a month old.  She is a very picky eater and I am having a hard time getting enough of anything in her to help her sleep through the night.  She is a "Mommy's" girl and doesn't like Daddy when she is tired and not feeling well.  So..  that means that I am either sleeping on the living room floor or up every couple of hours trying to soothe her or feed her because she is hungry.  Any advice would be great!  I am tired of just being tired all of the time and seeing her suffer with gas pain every night is getting harder on me.  Thanks.

[Hollyadmin]

Jill,

You must be absolutely exhausted!  I can't imagine having twins to start with, but then having sleeping problems too.

Are you able to give her something like Pediasure? I'm sure that's pretty high in lactose, but maybe there are alternatives? It's what we gave my daughter during her picky stage.

I've developed LI over the years too, so I can sure empathize with her

As far as night time feeding...not being in your shoes it's hard to say, but I wonder if she's just gotten into a bad habit at this point? What would happen if you just didn't feed her during the night?  I'm wondering if you might have a few rough nights breaking the habit, but it seems to me it just might be something she's used to. On a personal note, our son is also a picky eater, and has gone to bed without eating hardly anything, and doesn't wake up at night (at least not from hunger ). So that makes me wonder about the habit thing...

[armstark]

Oh man - do I feel your pain!

My (now) three year old woke every two hours for the months and months.  Then when he would sleep for longer, he would wake up screaming at 3 or 5am.

I suspected he had a milk issue and the docs were no help.

After trying a few things suggested to me, I took him to a naturopath.

He suggested that it was the milk protein "casein" that he was intolerant to, not necessarily lactose.
So we took him off ALL dairy - that means all the milk by products too (lactose, whey, casein, etc... there are lots).  He also said that a lot of people who can't do milk, also have issues wth soy (which he totally does)

Within a week, he was sleeping peacefully thru the night, his exzema went away and he had solid bowel movements.

This worked for him - and I don't think it's a cure all, but it can't hurt to try - if she is already minimizing her milk intake, then it wouldn't be a big stretch.  I felt like I was grasping at straws too...

[Melanie]

You must be exhausted!  I feel for you.

My son was diagnosed with a full dairy and soy allergy, and has been on hypoallergenic formula since he was 1 mos old.  he's now 15 months.  He's never been a great eater, or drinker of formula.  Which worries me everyday since he doesn't get calcium/vitamin D from dairy.  So I need to be very creative with how I mix his formula, and the food I offer him.  I also offer him a vitamin D supplement. 

I read a lot of very similiar stories to ours: excema, colic, reflux, and now allergies.  They seem to go hand in hand, and it really helps to hear from other moms how they coped, and the things they learned. 

You may want to try totally eliminating dairy and soy for a bit and see if there is any improvement.  If you need any help on identifying ingredients in food, I'd be glad to give you some tips.  Maybe once her belly is settled, she'll sleep more restfully.  I'm sure she is totally exhausted as well. 

[jiwel]

Thank you so much for your insights and stories.  They definately help me feel that I am not alone in this.  I would love to hear what everyone feeds their children besides the soy and milk.  I have heard of rice milk and almond milk but I am not sure if that is what we should be trying and also, what can you use for cheese besides soy cheese and regular cheese (my kids like pizza).

Thanks!

[Melanie]

Hi jiwel,

I just posted what my son eats in the thread above.  We don't use anything like cheese.  I have seen rice cheese, but it contained soy. 
I'm not sure where you live, but Whole Foods in the US might have rice cheese.  I was in Florida last montha nd found rice yogourt.  Unfortunately, I live in Canada and nobody in Canada carries it.  I found that there is a wider selection of dairy/soy free foods for little people in the US.  Also, there is a specialty food shop here in Canada that carries some processed foods.  They might have rice cheese.  Let me know if you want more info. 

Funny enough, my older son loves pizza, but doesn't like any toppings.  he just likes the crust, and sauce.  So I make my own pizza dough, and put sauce on it for them.  They don't like vegetables either so I don't bother. 

Hope that helps!
Melanie

[jiwel]

Thanks so much Melanie!  It is a help.  I wish Canada had more choices for foods and it doesn't help that I live in a smaller Manitoba city either.  My parents are actually holidaying in the US right now and I will mention the rice cheese and yogurt and see if they could bring some home for us to try.  If it works, I will have to start trying to convince our heath food store to try and bring some in.

[fbsurvivor]

Like Holly, I deal with Lactose Intolerance.  I can't get myself to give up the dairy, so I just live on Lactaid.    Although, I imagine you can't do that with your daughter.  I find acidophilus (you can get acidophilus milk) and yogurt help.  In addition to the lactose free formula, there's lactaid milk.  There's lactose free ice cream, .  I'm sure that would help a fussy eater, although probably not make for a great mom.  They also sell goat's milk, which some people with lactose intolerance are supposed to tolerate better.  Cinnamon also helps.  I have no idea if you can give that stuff to a 16 month old.
Also, I wouldn't worry so much about filling her up with solids.  Is there lactose free formula or lactose free milk you can fill her up with before bed? I agree too w/Holly, that I found my daughter wasn't really hungry at night.  She just wanted the comforting and I had to wean her off of that.  But, I think a mother usually knows what is really going on.  So, if you think it's hunger, you're probably right. 
My daughter also has had a lot of gas and I've found that sometimes it's actually teething.  Apparently the drool can get in their stomach and cause tummy troubles.  I use those homeopathic teething tablets and they work well.  I feel for you, twins!  You must be about to keel over.

[aldis]

Ya, it's pretty cool!  I'm still hesitant though...I've heard from parents who said it cured their baby's colic overnight, and others who said it didn't do a thing. Not sure why the discrepancy. And I'd say it's about half and half each way...