Can You Give An 11-month-old Lactase Supplements?

[hornbeck0920]

I suppose I don't really belong here anymore since Tommy (my baby) tested negative for celiac disease. But I need help and have looked for it elsewhere and I was hoping that all of you would be kind enough to not judge me for not just giving up dairy. (Which I did for 7 months when I thought he was allergic and he still had a mild "reaction" and I kept accusing my husband of sneaking food to him.) He only nurses to fall asleep and at bedtime he really fills up with booby, then he's up about every 45-60 all night long. Now that I know it's not an allergy and that there is a simple solution, I'd like to take advantage of it. And I have! For two days I've been giving him Lactaid and he has actually slept all night! He only did that once before when my milk REFUSED to let down and I had to give him formula. And by *once* I mean just one night when he was five months old. But the label says it's for ages four and up. Do they just say that to cover their butts? Will it hurt him? His birthday is September 26 and I was hoping he could have some cake and ice cream. :-)

Also, does anyone know where I can find info about infants with LI? All I can find when I google it are sites that say, "Lactose intolerance in infants is very rare." Gee, strange. Back when I thought he was allergic I kept finding sites (and people) that said, "Milk allergy is very rare. It's more likely that your baby is lactose intolerant." Oh well.

Yes, I will definitely ask his doctor and a pharmicist, but his doctor didn't help at all when I thought he had reflux (I'm now almost certain that he's allergic to oats and my morning bowl of Cracklin' Oat Bran did him in, as I'm sure his RAST test will prove when we finally get the results), nor did she seem to care that he had chronic sinus infections (which mysteriously cleared up when we started our gluten-free diet...I'm pretty sure it's an allergy to either barley or rye...btw, what are some ingredients that barely or rye, specifically, might be hidden in?...also waiting for the RAST for those), nor does she believe that bananas give him hives. Plus I thought he was autistic for a few months because he quit babbling, waving, and smiling, but she thought I was worried for no reason because he was only four months old when it started. So, I'm not too sure she would really care about another one of my theories. Besides, I kinda ticked off the receptionist there... I've been really frustrated and took it out on her. Anyway, I WILL talk to a qualified medical professional, I just wanted other opinions, too. :-)

Thanks for any help...baby's up for some reason...

I'm back with another question. I'm going to try to get ahold of the good people at Lactaid, but I wondering if anyone knows if the chewable pills have barley or rye? I haven't had a chance to look at the label so I don't know if there is any malt flavoring. Also, I know there are some lactase pills for kids. Do those have barely or rye in them?

Thanks!

[jerseyangel]

I can't help you with the Lactaid question since my "baby" is 22!

I will move your thread to the "Parents of Babies and Children" forum because you're more likely to get answers there.

And of course you're still welcome here

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I'm sorry I don't know anything about the lactase issue. But congrats on breastfeeding him--that can only be a good thing! It is certainly possible, though, that he might be reacting to gluten or casein that gets into your milk because of what you are eating. Cracklin' Oat bran contains wheat, too, so he might be reacting to gluten.

I do wonder how they were able to conclusively rule out celiac for him if he is only 11 months--there is a very high false negative rate in testing children. My gut feeling is, if YOU think he is reacting to something, then he is reacting to it. Doctors and husbands are notorious for not taking mothers seriously, as though the 25 hours a day we spend with our children aren't enough to make us as knowledgeable as they are. Trust your instincts.

If you are at all worried about either leaky gut or autism, please, please, PLEASE do some major research on vaccines. I'm not saying you shouldn't do any vaccines--just that you should only do one at a time, with several months in between, and avoid vaccines with thimerosal like the flu shot and (last time I checked) the chicken pox vaccine, as well as any vaccines that are for diseases you think are not a big risk to him.

And be aware that the MMR supposedly requires 2 doses--but the second dose is ONLY because 5% of the children who get it don't develop immunity, so the pharmaceutical industry decided to require 2 doses for the entire population. Gee, wonder who's making money on that decision?

www. nvic.org is a good place to start research.

[janelyb]

well couldn't you just take the lactaid pill and then since you are nursing it will transfer to him? You might wanna double check if it is safe to take while nursing before you do so. I would think avoiding dairy would be the safer and easier solution then taking a pill.

My son and I are both casein introllerent/allergic, meaning we can not have anything that has to do with cows milk (whey,casein,milk,cream,etc....). I'd say check with your childs doctor if him taking the lactaid pill is really ok at such a young age.

[mother2gf3]

I agree with the last post. According to my childrens dr. There is a very high chance for false neg in children under 3. 11 months seems really young for them to rule out celiac entirely. Just watch and if you really think so get him tested when he gets older. Just as an added fun note saw the name hornbeck, not so common of a name it caught my attention its my mothers maiden name.

[arlingtonmom]

I know this doesn't completely answer your question, but I just wanted to add something. My son is currently on a gluten free diet to see if it helps relieve symptoms he is having. Our ped gi also believes he may be lactose intolerant (not as a temporary condition as a result of gluten intolerance but as a primary trait). Anyway, we're going lactose free next month. She told me the Lactaid tablets need to be taken every time before lactose is ingested. I'm not sure if this is what you've been doing with your son. She also recommeded a new product called Digestive Advantage for Children that only needs to be taken once a day. My son is 3, so I'm not sure if the dosing is safe for infants, but my doctor did say that if we couldn't find the ped version he could take the adult version. So, she must have felt it was fairly benign. Either way I'd check with a doctor first. The label of the product will probably say some disclaimer like check with your doctor before giving to young children, so I don't think you'll get an answer from a manufacturer.

Hope this helps.

[gfgypsyqueen]

In case you were not able to come up with an answer for the Lactaid question...I wanted to add a note about the cake and ice cream. My kids love the regular (contains wheat) and gluten-free versions of Cherry Brooke Kitchen chocolate cake. It is dairy free and nut free which fits our needs. They have a frosting too. And my 2 yr old LOVES Tofutti brand chocolate ice cream. It is dairy free. At least that way his birthday party is covered

[2boysmama]

Lactose intolerance in children IS very rare. Breastmilk contains lactose as well, so if your son was lactose intolerant he would be VERY sick by now. Here's some more info on it: Open Original Shared Link

The issue is likely to be something you're eating (dairy, glutens, etc.), or possibly something you're feeding him (if he's taking baby food or table food).

Here's more info that will hopefully help you out, as well: Open Original Shared Link

[hornbeck0920]

I wanted to thank everyone who has responded and add a couple of things. To Arlingtonmom, I just found Digestive Advantage today and bought some and can't wait to talk to Tommy's doctor Tuesday to see if it's okay for him! That sounds too good to be true! I've been grinding up Lactaid and mixing it with a teaspoon of water and giving it to Tommy in a medicine dropper. It has helped a lot. He hasn't cried at all! But, unfortunaltey, he had a diaper blowout today with green, runny poop. I've stopped giving him Lactaid until I can talk to his doctor, but I just wanted to try it for a couple of days to see if my new theory is correct. While I was at the Digestive Advantage site I read testimonials from people diagnosed with LI saying that Lactaid didn't help them, but DA did. Like a said, Tommy has been pretty happy, but his poop indicates that something is still amiss. I'm SURE now that he's LI since any little bit of milk used to make him scream but with Lactaid he's pain-free. But that diarrhea he had today makes me think that it's not doing quite enough for him.

To twoboysmama, that link is exactly what I needed! I was trying to figure out why he would be LI since I'm sure it wasn't the rare congenital form. Now I'll do some research on Secondary Lactose Intolerance. We've both had so many problems since he was born! The first time I nursed him he broke out in hives and puked! Of course, I didn't know they were hives. I thought he must be getting bug bites and I almost asked for a new hospital room! The nurse told me that the little bumps he had were the normal "baby zits" all newborns get. But Tommy's my third baby and he had them on his face, chest, back, arms, and thighs. My other two only had them on their faces. Plus, Tommy would get new ones every time he nursed. Those new ones replaced the ones he'd gotten earlier in the day that had mysteriously disapeared. Hmm...I've never watched a zit form right before my eyes, but I've seen Tommy's hives pop up out of nowhere. I eventually figured out that bananas were causing them. (And possibly pears, but I never gave him pears as a test, like I did with the bananas.) Interestingly, while we were on our gluten-free diet, our car broke down and since we live in a tiny town with no grocery store and couldn't get a ride to the store, Tommy and I had to eat "normal" food. I put off giving him gluten containing foods and gave him a banana for breakfast. He didn't get hives from it. I thought I had made a mistake about him being allergic to bananas. He continued eating them almost every day without a problem until we went off the gluten-free diet. On our third day of a normal diet, he ate a banana and a few minute later his chest and back were covered with hives! I've read that some people with food allergies can have a little of one allergen without a reaction, but a lot of it OR that allergen combined with another allergen will cause a reaction. I think that's what Tommy's dealing with as far as the bananas go.

Back to milk! I started drinking three glasses of milk a day when he was three months old. That's when his milk problems seemed to start. I talked to a lactation consultant who told me that the amount of lactose in breastmilk is constant, reagardless of the mother's diet, so he *had* to be allergic to milk. I lived the next 7 months of his life as though he were allergic (no whey, casein, etc.). When he was ten months old he had some cheese and didn't squeal, so I thought, "He must just be allergic to whey!" Stupid me. :-) I gave the poor kid powdered milk because I read that the high temps used to make it would denature the whey proteins. His reaction to the dry milk made me reconsider LI. I'm glad I did!

Also, when he was six days old I noticed a really gross smell coming from my c-section incision. Sure enough, it was terribly infected. On my way to the doctor I popped open and started leaking foul-smelling fluid. By the time I got to the doc's it looked like I'd peed my pants. I was on a total of 6 or 7 antibiotics (3 or 4 at any given time) for 9 weeks. I had to pump and dump for seven days at a time, two different times when OB prescribed Flagyl, but for the other seven weeks I nursed him with 3 or 4 different antibiotics in my system. Even when I was on Flagyl I was allowed to nurse him twice a day. I wonder what that did to him? Could that cause LI? Did it wipe out all but the strongest germs in his gut and give him an infection of super bugs? Or could the drugs themselves have caused LI? Can he be cured (eventually, when he's older) by gradually increasing the amount of lactose he consumes? These are the questions I'll be looking to answer now that I know he probably has SECONDARY LI. Whoever said that ignorance is bliss? :-)

So, yes, I've been exploring the possibilites of food allergies since he was three months old. I'm now sure that he's not allergic to milk. However, MY milk still kept him up a few times at night before Lactaid, just not as bad as when I ate dairy. So apparently, the lactose in my milk is just a *little* too much for him to deal with. (I also know that switching sides too soon can cause "lactose overload" as Dr. Sears calls it, but I swear that he sucks me dry before I switch!) So even if we go back to our milk-free life he's still going to suffer a little without a lactase sup. before getting booby. BTW, he lost 2 lbs in about a month when he was around 2 months by refusing to nurse or take a bottle. He filled up on water. His doc wasn't worried because he's a chubby baby. This was when I thought he had GERD, and since she had never seen him spew his meals out all over the walls, floors, picture window on the opposite side of the room, she thought he was just spitting up and probably thinks I'm nuts. BTW, I'm almost certain now that oats make him puke. That's why we started a gluten-free diet in the first place. Everywhere I looked for info on oat allergy, I read that it's very rare and more likely to be a cross reaction from a wheat allergy. Everything is so freakin' rare! ARGG!

Again, thank you all! And I'll keep checking here to see more advice!