Milk... What To Do

[Aleshia]

ok, my almost 4 year old son has NEVER liked to drink milk... since being gluten free for a week he is asking for milk to drink... he says its yummy... he used to cry if he even had milk on his cereal in the morning... the problem is that tonight after he drank about 4 oz of milk at dinner time and went to bed he woke up with a tummy ache... I'm assuming it was from the milk since he has normally had an aversion to it anyway so that makes me think he is lactose intolerant or something... so next time he asks for a glass of milk do I tell him no? or do I give it to him? the only other thing I can think of that could possibly have affected him was some rice chips he had that were sesame & soy flavor...

do you think its the milk or the soy that is bothering him? or perhaps both? also yesterday when my baby had some sesame soy flavored rice crackers he got a huge rash around his mouth... bright red... it went away within an hour though..

[Breila]

We are also dealing with milk issues here. From what the nutritionist explained to me, the villi (that celiac damages) is also where lactase is made, which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Without it, you become lactose intolerant. My DS's gut makes almost no lactase.

The nutritionist suggested using lactose free products and Lactaid in lieu of cutting milk out of the diet altogether, so we're giving that a try.

[Ridgewalker]

ok, my almost 4 year old son has NEVER liked to drink milk... since being gluten free for a week he is asking for milk to drink... he says its yummy... he used to cry if he even had milk on his cereal in the morning... the problem is that tonight after he drank about 4 oz of milk at dinner time and went to bed he woke up with a tummy ache... I'm assuming it was from the milk since he has normally had an aversion to it anyway so that makes me think he is lactose intolerant or something... so next time he asks for a glass of milk do I tell him no? or do I give it to him? the only other thing I can think of that could possibly have affected him was some rice chips he had that were sesame & soy flavor...

do you think its the milk or the soy that is bothering him? or perhaps both? also yesterday when my baby had some sesame soy flavored rice crackers he got a huge rash around his mouth... bright red... it went away within an hour though..

First of all, I definitely wouldn't give the baby those crackers again. Maybe note down the ingredients, so that if he shows that reaction with another food, you can cross reference the ingredients and figure out what caused it.

For your almost 4 year old... does he eat any other dairy products? I personally think the milk is more likely the culprit than the crackers, but it really could be either one. You won't know until you try them each again. If you decide to do that, try them a couple days apart so that there is no confusion about what a reaction might be attributed to. That's a hard decision to make! I know you don't want to give the poor little guy another tummy ache... but you also don't want to eliminate a food if it's unnecessary.

As a previous poster mentioned, many Celiacs are lactose intolerant at first, but can add dairy back in once fully healed/recovered.

[tarnalberry]

if he never used to drink milk, his body naturally won't produce lactase. regardless of damage from celiac, the healthiest of people, normally able to drink milk, won't produce lactase if they don't expose themselves to milk. it's a use or lose it feature. but it's not lost permanently. once you start exposing the stomach to lactose again, the body will begin to make lactase again as well, albeit slowly. so, you could start giving him small amounts of milk and see if he develops a tolerance for it. of course, milk isn't necessary in a well rounded, aware diet, so it's an option, but not a requirement.

[Aleshia]

if he never used to drink milk, his body naturally won't produce lactase. regardless of damage from celiac, the healthiest of people, normally able to drink milk, won't produce lactase if they don't expose themselves to milk. it's a use or lose it feature. but it's not lost permanently. once you start exposing the stomach to lactose again, the body will begin to make lactase again as well, albeit slowly. so, you could start giving him small amounts of milk and see if he develops a tolerance for it. of course, milk isn't necessary in a well rounded, aware diet, so it's an option, but not a requirement.

well, he would eat about 1/2 a bowl of cereal with milk on it about once a week and he loves yogurt and cheese... so dairy is definitely in his diet... its just that he doesn't normally like milk, he will choose water over milk and if given the choice juice over either (I'm sure the juice thing is a pretty normal kid response!)

[Aleshia]

First of all, I definitely wouldn't give the baby those crackers again. Maybe note down the ingredients, so that if he shows that reaction with another food, you can cross reference the ingredients and figure out what caused it.

For your almost 4 year old... does he eat any other dairy products? I personally think the milk is more likely the culprit than the crackers, but it really could be either one. You won't know until you try them each again. If you decide to do that, try them a couple days apart so that there is no confusion about what a reaction might be attributed to. That's a hard decision to make! I know you don't want to give the poor little guy another tummy ache... but you also don't want to eliminate a food if it's unnecessary.

As a previous poster mentioned, many Celiacs are lactose intolerant at first, but can add dairy back in once fully healed/recovered.

thanks I will write down the ingredients

he eats yogurt and cheese (loves string cheese especially) he has never actually complained of a tummy ache in the past its just that he will cry if I ever tried to give him milk in the past... thats why I was so surprised when he asked for milk... I was thinking he must be feeling better if he is actually requesting milk! I asked him in the past if he ever gets a tummy ache from it and he said no. maybe it happens later so he doesn't associate the 2 or something...

[Aleshia]

We are also dealing with milk issues here. From what the nutritionist explained to me, the villi (that celiac damages) is also where lactase is made, which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Without it, you become lactose intolerant. My DS's gut makes almost no lactase.

The nutritionist suggested using lactose free products and Lactaid in lieu of cutting milk out of the diet altogether, so we're giving that a try.

how much does lactose free milk cost anyway?

[Breila]

how much does lactose free milk cost anyway?

Honestly, I haven't checked, LOL. We were told that the lactose free milk tasted bad, so we've been using the Lactaid tablets. Brand name ones are $14.99 for 60 here, and I estimate we'll go through that in about a month or 6 weeks.

[jnclelland]

thanks I will write down the ingredients

he eats yogurt and cheese (loves string cheese especially) he has never actually complained of a tummy ache in the past its just that he will cry if I ever tried to give him milk in the past... thats why I was so surprised when he asked for milk... I was thinking he must be feeling better if he is actually requesting milk! I asked him in the past if he ever gets a tummy ache from it and he said no. maybe it happens later so he doesn't associate the 2 or something...

Yogurt and cheese have a lot less lactose than straight milk, so if he doesn't have a problem with those, that suggests a lactose intolerance rather than a casein intolerance - which is good! It might very well go away as his villi heal. In the meantime, try lactose-free milk and see if he tolerates it better.

Jeanne

[rick-spiff]

you can make your own milk out of nuts if he can tolerate that. put in some gluten-free vanilla or anything that will flavor like fruit.

options to buy at the store are soy milk, rice milk, hemp milk, almond milk. prices are between $1.00 and $3.00 for a quart.

if you make at home you can do rice, almond, cashew... pretty much any nut.

[mmcdaniels]

We've been gluten free since December. When we still allowed my son to drink milk he had a very bright green poop very soon after drinking the milk. He seems okay with occassional cheese but I really do try to limit dairy. This summer I'll experiment by taking out all dairy and seeing if it makes a difference. I'm hoping we can keep our Annie's rice pasta & cheddar and our ice cream. They are probably my son's 2 favorite foods.

I think everyone is a little different. With my son, I can tell if he ate something he couldn't handle by what I find in his diaper.

[AndrewNYC]

Everyone is going to have their own opinion on this subject, but I just thought I'd chime in and say that I don't think Lactase tablets really work as they are supposed to in all cases. I suspect, and I am almost certain that this is the case as to me, that lactase + milk still leads to damage, or at least slows my healing process from gluten. I found that rice milk is a much safer alternative. I'd recommend pacific or lundberg brands if you ever choose that route. Note that rice dream is not gluten free. Good luck

[CeliacMom2008]

We thought our son might have a lactose problem and started using Lactaid milk for awhile (turned out not to be a problem). The Lactaid milk wasn't that pricey (not like the rice, soy, almond milks). It tastes a little sweeter than regular milk, but is definitely still "milk" tasting. When we decided to reintroduce dairy we went slowly and mixed regular milk in with Lactaid during cooking and drinking. Here are some lactose facts I found when researching the subject:

Aged cheeses are lower in lactase and easier to handle.

Mozarella is NOT an aged cheese. Cheddar is.

Lower fat dairy (like skim milk) is harder to digest than higher fat (like whole milk and ice cream)

Good luck!