Forum : Mums

Hi, my nephew was lactose intolerant and threw up violently after every feed, took 4 months to get him diagnosed. We are going back 6 years though so don't know what milk he was on, but it was on prescription. It did sort him out when he went lactose free. The pepti junior has a lot of sugar in though doesn't it?
Usually with lactose intolerance they are either severely intolerant like my nephew and can't keep anything down and lose weight, or like his little friend who was only mildly intolerant can have loose stools and skin problems like ezcema.
Was he constipated on the original milk? If so then it would make me wonder if its lactose intolerance as they are usually the other way. Which milk was he on before the pepti?

hey!
my daughter was lactose intolerant. its very common in children under one. she has grown out of it now thank good ness it makes life very awkward as there is milk in everything!
she wasnt diagnosed until she was 4 1/2 months old and only because i had enought of the drs telling me she was "just one of those babies that gets constipated" because i know its not normal the way she was behaving bless her. everytime she needed a poo she would scream and scream because she was in agony and she would push so hard she would make her bum bleed. then she was just get an uncontrolable runny tummy. she didnt throw up very much but iknow alot of children do. she was extremely colic-y and so unhappy.
i tried for a week completely taking all milk out of her diet and by the end of the weeks he was fine. so i tried introducing the milk back in and she just started all over again.
the drs finally listened to me and out her on lactose free milk on prescription. i cant remember the name, i just rememebr it smells so rank but it works! we also got given gaviscon for infants which helped settle her tummy if she ever did have milk by mistake. and infacol was my life saver because it helped with the colic so so much that stuff is amazing i didnt find anything else that was even nearly as good.
i weened her reasonably early purely so she cud just have less milk where possible. ul find almost all the pre made baby food has milk in it.
and my biggest word of advbice is DONT GIVE UR BABY BABYRICE that stuff is the devils food. it blocked my poor lil girl up so so much she was sxreaming so much we actually rang NHS Direct and the nurse heard her screaming in the background and just said take her straight to A&E.
i found baby massage very helpful. a warm bath and then get oil or cream and rub ur babies tummy in a clockwise motion. quitely firmly. and rub downwards. at the bottom of their tummy by their bladder rub left to right. this helps to move wind to their bum and also gets stubborn constipation moving. quite often u can feel hard poo built up by their right hip. if u do rub downwards helping it move out. and when ur baby is pushing for a poo put ur hand on the soles of his feet so he somethign to push on and try rubbing his feet.
majority of children do grow out of it by the time they are a year. the way it was explained to me is, our bodies dont have the enzyme to break down that milk protien before we r one. most ppl have milk and their bodies begin to produce the enzyme. and some ppls bodies dont. and unfortunately like ur baby and mine, they just dont. its not genetic but it is gene similiar. so if u have a family history of it, like my partner was when he was little and my mum and sister still are, then you are more likely to have a baby with it.
really sad and so upsetting. i hope this helps you abit because its sooooooo horrible when ur baby is in so much discomfort!

lol sorry alot of info. but hope it helps!

If he's no better on the lactose free milk then I would be questioning if he is really intolerant or if he's suffering with something else, if it was a lactose intolerance then changing milk should have made a noticeable improvement. If his only original symptoms were constipation and colic (which isn't a medical condition just a general term given to unsettled babies - this can be because of wind, reflux, various conditions) then I would maybe speak to your hv and your gp again, it may be that he just needed to be put on a different milk with a wind remedy like infacol as sweetiemummy suggested (it worked brilliantly for my son) or there is a comfort milk which contains less lactose but is formulated for windy constipated babies.
If he was on sma to start with that's quite well known for causing constipation and wind in some babies.
Obviously don't change anything without speaking to your gp or hv first, I would just be questioning the original diagnosis if the lactose free milk isn't helping.
There's some websites here showing symptoms of lactose intolerance and also some info on the comfort milk.

http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/feeding_and_nutrition/feeding_problems_and_allergies/article/milk_allergies_and_intolerances

http://www.foodreactions.org/intolerance/lactose/symptoms.html

http://www.babyexpert.com/baby/health/is-your-baby-lactose-intolerant-534880

http://www.foodreactions.org/colic/

http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/our_products/baby_milks/comfort_milk

Another possibility could be silent reflux, if he's not a sicky baby but in discomfort then acid comes up from the stomach and then they swallow it back down again - infant gaviscon will usually help with this too.
Good luck, hope you can find something that helps and he is more settled soon xx

Hi everyone thankyou for your replies.. He was on sma lactose free before pepti junior and the first ever milk he was n was cow and gate and was stil constipated.. he has been on infacol but was sick every time he had it thats why weve tried colief drops.i went back to dri today told them he no better so they give me diff milk again they stil cant telk me if hes lactose intolerance cos the poo test hasnt [censored] back and they sed naw they think its just constipation because ther is no diff with the other milk hes rbeen on comfort milk too n pediatrion took him of it ...im just so confused in wat to do ..when he tries to poo theres a slight bit in his nappy n he screams in pain.. Xx

Oh poor little man why did they take him off the comfort milk?
I hope you can get things sorted out soon its awful to see them in pain you feel so helpless. When should you get the results from the stool sample?
If it does turn out to be just constipation you can give small amounts of water in between milk feeds which should help, also mixing a tiny bit of fresh orange juice with the boiled water can work wonders. I would always check with your doctor or hv first though :-))xx

They took him if it just incase he is lactose intolerance..theyv said it will take another week for the test its pathetic. U do give him boiled water aswel bur that dont seem to help eather u think hes got some hard poo stuck n tht wats causin him not to poo n I realy dont think hes latose intolerance cos the milk hes on would of helped him am sure..n I think its acid thts the prob too I could be rong but thts my oppinion..it is awful seeing him cry like. He does..hope your little ones ok naw :-) xx

Sorry I mean your nephew xx

Try a bit of orange in the water. If the lactose intolerance test comes back negative then it might be worth trying the comfort milk again which will hopefully help with the constipation and getting a prescription for infant gaviscon to try for the possible reflux. I know its hard but at least your gp is trying different things to sort this out, my nephew wasn't diagnosed for 4 months and was losing weight as he was being so sick. He's fine now was 7 yesterday and my sister gradually reintroduced dairy as he got a bit older and he's fine with it now, most kids grow out of it :-)))xxx

They pt him in nutrigem nw a think its calld its for premature babies its bin makin him sick and not settling at all so iv put him back on comfort milk guna c how he goes .. They sed pediatrion cnt see him for another 6 weeks so am just guna try ma best with him they dnt seem to no wat they doin guba get sum gaviscon too. Glad ur nephews ok naw bles him ..:-)) xx