Lactose Free

[ashlees-mom]

OK, I see that Ashlee definately needs to be lactose free, but does that mean I just have to keep out the obvious, or do I have be as neurotic about milk as I have to be about gluten? I thought she would take it really hard, but after 4 bouts of diarrhea yesterday morning, she seems totally OK with it! I have noticed people saying they sometimes have problems with soy as well, so would rice milk be the best option? I doubt she would drink it, but then I could make some recipes with it at least! Should I be keeping her off all acidic foods as well? She has been big on tacos lately, but she has lettuce and tomatoes in them (the only veggies she will eat, but are they hard to digest?) and she loves oranges. I have been letting her have a couple of slices of orange each day, but I wonder if that needs to be cut out as well.

[lauradawn]

I don't know about everything you asked, but I do know that you should be careful with the rice milk. Apparently there are some brands that are ok, but I think for the most part they are made with a barley enzyme, and therefore would not be gluten-free. You clould try almond milk. Be careful with that too. Just make sure you check.

As far as the dairy. My kids can not handle milk, or cheese....however they are fine with dairy derivatives such as casein, and whey... Those are in many baked and premade things. I think it depends on the sensitivity of you little one. It is something you will probably have to experiment with. If she's having a really hard time right now, you could take her to very minimal diet with no dairy or soy, and then add back in later as she recovers. Make sure you add things back in one at a time or you won't know what it was that bothered her. And remember sometimes it can take a day or two or even a few days to see a reaction. So if you alleviate dairy for example, leave it out of the diet for a couple weeks and if you decide to put it back in the diet, give it a few days to see what happens.

It is a frustrating process but if you get to the bottom of it you will all feel so much better