Lactose free baby milk, mums and dads some advice maybe

[Falkor]

Getting frustrated with Dr and health visitors etc..... They are so conflicting it's unreal.

My son 8 weeks is putting on weight like a good one but is not to clever also, the dr feel it could be his milk so we have now tried the formula they recommended even a low in lactose milk.

Now our Gp has said to try a lactose free but health visitors and midwives say no in baby boys due to a hormone soya contains, that is a female hormone and it could effect him in later life.

So we have a Dr going say lactose free and another health people saying different.

Have any parents had lactose issues with there babies, offer any advice.

Where going to try an organic milk for next few days but nothing else has worked so not holding my breath with this.

 

[goring dazza]

My third daughter was lactose intolerant and screamed day and night and the health visitor told us to go on it and she changed to the perfect baby once on it! Wether or not it makes a difference if boy or girl i have no idea! Have you googled it to see if any advice comes up.

 

[Frank Dux]

My son after about 3m was still pretty grizzly even after the colic was easing which had probably been masking the issues a little - the GP prescribed the lactose free milk (Some sort of Aptimel but I forget the exact name, can look tonight if you like) Within a few days, he was much happier & content - weening now & still on that milk at some feeds but a really happy fella most of the time.

Not heard of this hormone soya at all & it was never mentioned by various health visitors etc to us, so I can't say anything definitive, as they are the experts & you are right, it does appear to sometimes be a lot more opinion that fact from various people, but based on our experience the changing of the milk worked a treat.

Hope that helps & good luck

 

[Normal Rob]

I don't quite follw what you mean - are you saying that your baby is putting on weight too quickly?

I assume that you have a very good reason for not breastfeeding him - breast feeding naturally adjust the supply of milk too automatically cater for the bays needs, there putting on to much weight won't happen.

other than that the amount of regulation surrounding anything to do with nutritional care, especially in children, is staggering. If lactose free products are available then my own opinion would be that these products are safe to use.

 

[Falkor]

His not putting on to much weight, my partner was advised to stop breastfeeding by dr, they say the hormone I think it's estrogren or how ever it's spelt is in soya and there advising against it, my son is miserable every single colic medication not worked they even put him on a lactulose to see if that helps no difference.

But dr said soya, midwife and health visitor say no

 

[Iggle Piggle]

My third daughter was lactose intolerant and screamed day and night and the health visitor told us to go on it and she changed to the perfect baby once on it! Wether or not it makes a difference if boy or girl i have no idea! Have you googled it to see if any advice comes up.

We discovered our baby was lactose intolerant at 15 months old. Would have saved 9 months of colic I think if we had known, as well as my sanity. All I can say is lactose free milk is for WINNERS.

And to the OP I wouldn't worry too much about weight. My 15 month old is the size of a house (He weighs more than my 4 yr old) but now he has started to walk it is (finally) evening itself out. They don't turn into Suzanne Boyle at that age.

 

[happypig]

My lad is 15 now and as a baby he was lactose intolerant and was put on soya milk (Wysoy IIRC) on the doctor's recommendation. I think we even got it on prescription.

Personally I'd take the view that a doctor trumps a midwife and health visitor; the health visitor said "never mix breast and bottle" but mrs H was drunk dry at the end of the day by the greedy fecker and my sister in law said "try a bottle" so we did, he necked a full bottle of formula and slept for hours.

 

[brakespear]

Both my son and daughter had soya baby milk (can't remember which one, it had a green lid ) because they were colicky after feeding and the soya proteins help sooth this somehow (something to do with how the proteins coagulate or something I think). They seemed happy with it - smells a bit though

 

[brunswick]

Getting frustrated with Dr and health visitors etc..... They are so conflicting it's unreal.

My son 8 weeks is putting on weight like a good one but is not to clever also, the dr feel it could be his milk so we have now tried the formula they recommended even a low in lactose milk.

Now our Gp has said to try a lactose free but health visitors and midwives say no in baby boys due to a hormone soya contains, that is a female hormone and it could effect him in later life.

So we have a Dr going say lactose free and another health people saying different.

Have any parents had lactose issues with there babies, offer any advice.

Where going to try an organic milk for next few days but nothing else has worked so not holding my breath with this.

the ONLY decent baby milk is the "organic Hollie infant baby milk 1 and 2" - cheap if got from german distributer. the rest are full of crap.

 

[beorhthelm]

im not following what the problem is, he's not putting on enough weight? or isn't very alert ("not too bright?"). mine didnt put on much weight at first but is very active.

either way in Dr vs health vistors, the Dr always wins imo. the health vistors can get into fads, for instance their pathological devotion to breast milk only.

 

[Falkor]

im not following what the problem is, he's not putting on enough weight? or isn't very alert ("not too bright?"). mine didnt put on much weight at first but is very active.

either way in Dr vs health vistors, the Dr always wins imo. the health vistors can get into fads, for instance their pathological devotion to breast milk only.

His weight was very low at first but now doing amazing his just so uncomfortable

 

[Falkor]

Pharmacist we spoke to also said go on dr advice but to get a second opinion if worried, it does contain the hormone but he said loads boys are on it, but it has to be prescribed

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

This Hemp Milk stuff is pretty good for adults, not sure about babies though... http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1339509048552

 

[Thunder Bolt]

You may like to try goat's milk as it has less lactose than cow's milk, if you're worried about the soya hormone.

 

[bpbill]

Don't always assume a Doctor knows best (they are only human after all, do not necessarily know everything and can be fallible) and in all honesty your not going to get a unified answer from here, especially with the paltry information you have given us

You would get a better answer from Mr Google.

Our youngest has problems with Lactose and he has Goats Milk however he was Breast fed to a year and I'm not sure that would be recommended for a three year old

 

[mwrpoole]

We had a few milk issues with our little one earlier in the year and tbh, neither the Dr or health visitor were much help. Suggesting lactose free milk is their standard response to any milk problems and may not necessarily be the issue. We did try it but he didn't like it (Cow & Gate Soya version) and i couldn't blame him as it smelt disgusting! Luckily i've got private medical insurance with work and we insisted on seeing a pediatrician. 2 days later we're in Harley St and best move we ever made. We now use some milk called 'Nutramigen AA' which is working out great. It's on prescription only which is just as well because its £30 a small tin. Our Dr has played a blinder on this and given us a 6 month prescription for it by which time he should be off it anyway.

 

[Nathan]

My daughter was lactose intolerant and the doc gave us some baby gaviscon powder to put in her milk. Seemed to work, and we kept with the SMA milk all the way through. Then she moved onto full fat milk and we still kept putting in the powder. Think she was on the powder for about a year. The lactose was a nighmare as she just wouldn't settle and took a while before the docs did anything. Hope it gets sorted.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

the ONLY decent baby milk is the "organic Hollie infant baby milk 1 and 2" - cheap if got from german distributer. the rest are full of crap.

You forgot to tell him to ignore the quacks' advice

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Don't always assume a Doctor knows best (they are only human after all, do not necessarily know everything and can be fallible) and in all honesty your not going to get a unified answer from here, especially with the paltry information you have given us

You would get a better answer from Mr Google.

I'm afraid that last bit is ridiculous. You will find a thousand conflicting answers, with no checks on accuracy.

There are several issues here -

Health visitors are nurses with additional training. If they have concerns they will refer to a paediatrician.

Likewise, some GPs do not have a lot of paediatric experience and if you are genuinely concerned, ask for a paediatric referral.

Lactose intolerance can happen, but is actually very rare in babies. There is no harm in trying a lactose free formula (its not going to turn him into a girl!).

Other, more common, options include cow's milk protein intolerance (CMPI) or reflux. For the former, we would NOT recommend soya milk as there is a 10% overlap in intolerance with cow's milk. Goat's milk is not nutritionally adequate for a baby (neither is cow's milk for under 1s). A hydrolysed formula would be needed but I would try reflux treatment first.

Reflux relatively common and is not a problem if the baby is gaining weight and is not distressed. 'silent reflux', which my son had is painful but the baby does not vomit. A trial of gaviscon and possibly ranitidine would be warranted if this is suspected - a proper history and examination would guide this.

On another note, there are very few reasons to advise the stopping of breastfeeding. It sounds like that advise was inappropriate in this case.

I hope this helps.

 

[Falkor]

The health visitor said about ratidine, but the Gp said no, he can't take gaviscon due to he has trouble pooing and it can make children constipated.

So where at a sticking point we have been sent to a paediatrician but that might take weeks. Just going to try the hipp organic see if that works.

She was advised to stop as he was constantly on the breast day and night and she was getting no sleep at all, and health visitor advised maybe going on the bottle, as soon as we did he slept a decent amount, it's just hard getting him to sleep due to pain his in.