ATTn Dr. Moms, need help

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 6:15 pm

I'm using "amother" for this, because I'm going to try to be as detailed as possible and I've spoken to ppl about this IRL. After speaking to a highly recommended professional GI, he said that he didn't have anything that could help me, so I'm turning to the wise panel of experienced mommies, maybe you can help me.
I've been taking my 2.5 year-old who's been getting gassy, irritable, and wants to be held while having a bowel movement. Last week we had 3 nights in a row when he woke up with stomach pains and kept us up until we gave him a suppository and then he was able to go back to sleep. (Except for x-mas eve when we had run out, so we didn't really get to sleep much until almost 5am). I've suspected lactose intolerance, and Monday night he had a yogurt and pizza which I had forgotten to treat with lactase drops/lactaid pill. My pediatrician has given us a prescription to get Lactaid from WIC, but he's never had any tests to determine with certainty that he's intolerant--we've only noticed that when on regular milk he gets a stubborn diaper rash and he gets even more irritable. I don't suspect an allergy b/c he's fine with Lactaid. Tuesday night the only dairy he had was in a dairy chocolate spread, but again he was up half the night screaming in pain. Wed night we had left over cholent and again he woke up around 1am, but we got more suppositories so we treated him right away and were all able to get to sleep. The GI said that there's "no such thing as lactose intolerance in 2.5 year-olds." Last week's episode was after a long stretch of major "improvement" He used to drink a lot of milk, I would let because I never knew what was going to upset his stomach so I was hesitant to push food with him and thus, lose another night of sleep. At our last visit to the GI during ch"hm succos he said "no more bottle" and we finally agreed, and since then he has been eating more food, but he wakes up every night around 1am and comes to my bed--I don't know why. I've checked for worms, and don't see anything. He's been better the last few nights--except for the night time visits, but he hasn't been crying, so I won't complain. Do we chalk up last weeks epidsodes to lactose intolerance and just move on? Do I seek out another GI? What do I do?

penguin

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 8:00 pm

I would get probiotics made for kids. Ask at your local health food store. And definitely keep him off all dairy for a good three weeks and see if there's improvement. I would also avoid things like cholent, broccoli and cabbage.

If you see improvement after three weeks, you can experiment with yogurt and then hard cheese. But you should definitely keep away from anything containing any dairy to see if that helps.

chatouli

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 10:10 pm

How strange that your dr told you 2.5 year olds can't be lactose intolerant. My DS is definitely lactose intolerant and has been since birth. He's about to turn 3 and our pediatric gastroenterologist told me that's his issue.

I started off when he was a baby eating dairy (I was nursing) and giving bottles of regular formula sometimes. He screamed almost nonstop for the first 10 weeks of his life until I went off dairy and switched to similac sensitive. Within 3 days he was a new baby. So when he was old enough to go off formula, I was scared to give him real milk and gave him almond milk or coconut milk. I tried cheese and yogurts with him. He developed a diaper rash that wouldn't go away and didn't improve with creams at all. His stools were also very loose and stinky, they smelled almost like vomit.

I had taken him off dairy completely at 18 months and the rash disappeared. His stools improved too, but then at his 2 year old well visit, the ped got upset because he had fallen off his weight curve completely. So we went to see Dr. Oren Koslowe in Morristown NJ. We ruled out celiac with bloodwork, although he did feel that it was still a remote possibility - has your son been tested for it? Anyway he and the dietician suggested lactaid milk , lactaid pills with true dairy, and cheddar cheese. Yogurt has lactose in it so it needs a pill. My son bh gained weight again and his rash is mostly gone. When he gets a rash, diaper cream will take care of it. I've noticed watermelon seems to bother him a bit but otherwise he now eats normally and isn't in pain.

I hope some of this is helpful. I think some young kids are lactose intolerant, but I know it's rare and Dr. Koslowe said it could be a symptom of celiac.

Health is a Virture

Wed, Dec 31 2014, 12:34 am

remove all dairy and soy from his diet for a few weeks and see if symptoms improve. If you are a bit more daring, you can remove gluten too for a temporary amount of time. It sounds like it is probably a form of lactose intolerance. I would try completely removing milk from his diet temporarily because it could be also other proteins in the milk besides lactose. If he has no symptoms for a month then slowly reintroduce it back in the form of hi-fat yogurt and more easily digested milk products. (with lactose enzymes) if you feel it is important for your child to have milk (we just don't have...makes life simpler)

amother

Wed, Dec 31 2014, 8:33 am

OP here. Despite going to a very highly recommended pediatric GI, I was very disappointed that he barely touched my kids (I took another child to see him as well, but his issues are much less pronounced), no tests, no bloodwork, and basically only told me 3 things: 1)reduce milk consumption 2) It's all "parenting" issues. 3)laxitives/fiber. He only prescribed the medication for my older son's reflux after I suggested that his issue was reflux--and surprise! It seems to have cured him. --Sorry, just venting my frustration

I can't say that I'm a "perfect parent" but my specialty is early childhood, and besides my own children, I've been taking care of kids practically my whole life. I've been putting my foot down plenty regarding the milk drinking habit, but until Succos I wasn't seeing much benefit--especially b/c it would cause quite a tantrum if I didn't give him the milk. Now I realize that "I want milk" is code for "my stomach hurts". He'll wake up first thing in the morning and say "I want milk". This morning I finally got him to admit his tummy was bothering him

I just don't know how I can do an elimination diet for him considering what a fight it's been to cut down on the milk to where we're at. I'm surprised that the GI had nothing to offer us (he didn't even suggest the elimnation diet). He barely eats any soy. I've thought of celiac, but not enough evidence to support a gluten sensitivity, but I have read that it can have many symptoms. The main thing is that he's not underweight--actually 97th percentile for weight (he's a chunky monkey, but not chubby--he's been at this percentile his whole life, he's very active, and actually NOT a big eater)

The weird thing, is that this child had NO issues as an infant regarding lactose--I nursed him until a year (never changed my diet), and he had regular formula. It was sometime after his first birthday when he had been on whole milk for a few weeks that we noticed issues.

amother

Thu, Jan 01 2015, 5:12 am

OP here, to answer some of the above questions:
1)We try our best to give him Lactaid milk, but since it's so expensive, once our WIC checks run out, unless there's no time, we will treat regular milk with lactase drops--but they take 24 hours (can put in individual servings, but it's time consuming). We do think that there is a difference b/t the lactaid and the treated milk, but not enough of one that it's not worth it.

2) No blood in the stool so far as we can tell, but he often "wants up" or to be held while he's trying to eliminate--can be at very in opportune moments and for unpredictable lenghts of time--especially, we wouldn't mind trying to toilet train him, and while he's interested and has a few successes, this cannot be helpful in the process

3) He's had regular bloodwork for WIC, though not since he turned 2, and to test his thyroid b/c he's so big, but has come back normal. He was iron deficient at one point, but I think that's better now.