Dairy Intolerance?

[mia's mama]

So my 13 month old DD has been eating yogurt, and cheese for the past 5 months or so, with no reactions to speak of. She has one or the other (or both) every day (she greatly dislikes meat and I have a hard time getting protien into her). At 12 months I slowly started giving her cow's milk- and EVERYTIME I give it to her, she gets a horrible diaper rash! No reactions of any other type, and I thought maybe it was coincidental, but she has only had a bottle of cow's Milk 5 or 6 times, and the diaper rash follows a day or so later....and it's always a bad one.
Could she be allergic, even though she tolerates yogurt and cheese just fine? I tried goat's milk, but she refuses it. We have instead been doing a combo of rice and soy milk, which she likes. The rice milk alone does not have enough fat or protein, and I worry about the effects of too much soy in her little body over time (due to the high estrogen levels in soy products).

Any suggestions?

[bea_mama]

Not sure about the potential allergy, but my DD (now 2.5) has always refused cow's milk (she nursed until 15 months). She loves yogurt and cheese and eats a ton of both. I never tried rice milk or soy (worried about too much soy, as you are).

I've talked to her ped about it on multiple occasions and he is fine with her not drinking milk as long as she eats all the other dairy. She drinks either water or diluted calcium-fortified oj.

She eats unflavored, whole milk yogurt and gets enough fat from that, cheese, and other food at this point. I'd recommend talking to your pediatrician and evaluating how much calcium and fat she's getting from other sources - odds are that she's fine. :)

[magdesilver]

The proteins in cow's milk straight are in a different (more allergenic) form than the proteins in yogurt or cheese. That could be why your DD can tolerate those well but not the actual milk.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/dairy.htm

[mia's mama]

Thanks you guys.
I thought that might be the case, magdesilver...thanks for the info!

[Ohana]

She might also be lactose intolerant. DD does fine with cheese and yogurt, but straight cow's milk sure did a number on her tummy! At her ped's recommendation, we started her on Lactaid. She loves it (because it's a bit sweeter than regular milk), and it does not cause the diaper issues.

Before we tried the Lactaid, we gave DD soymilk. If you go this route, shop around for the ones with the highest fat content per serving.

[AusMarchBride]

Obviously I'm not a child (well I hope it's obvious ;) ) but I agree that you can be intolerant of milk, and yet fine with cheese.

I get the most awful diarrhoea and stomach cramps if I drank say half a glass of milk, and yet, I love hard cheeses and eat them almost every day, with no ill-effects. I can also eat ice-cream and cream and butter (obviously not huge amounts) without a problem. So, for me, and maybe for your daughter, there is definitely something different in cows milk versus cheese.

[mia's mama]

She might also be lactose intolerant. DD does fine with cheese and yogurt, but straight cow's milk sure did a number on her tummy! At her ped's recommendation, we started her on Lactaid. She loves it (because it's a bit sweeter than regular milk), and it does not cause the diaper issues.


I actually tried this too, as my mom is lactose intolerant, but still the same old diaper rash. I'm thinking it might actually be the milk proteins and not the lactose in DD's case. According to MIL, DH was allergic to whole milk as a child, but was able to tolerate skim milk...she said is was the actual protiens that were a problem for him?

[Brady]

I'm so glad to find this post..
I started my son on whole milk a few days ago, he was fine the first couple days.. then he was having pretty loose stools. Last night he woke up and vomited and had diarrhea. Nothing else has changed except for the milk addition. I wonder if it could be an allergy or a lactose intolerance? I notice his bum is also red.

Any of you that have dealt with it, does that sound more like an allergy or a lactose issue? He always eats cheese and yogurt, no issue there. Just doing some online research (of course :o ), but I am going to give the Ped. a call and see what they think.

[Kiley]

*bump

I think DS (10 mo) might be dairy intolerant; including cheese & yogurt. So, what do I feed him instead of these things? Especially, when he's 1 and partially weaned while at daycare?

[pontmarie]

DS has issues with the milk proteins. He has yogurt and cheese just fine, but regular cow's milk, no way. His ped had suggested introducing it when he turned one and his reaction was immediate so he's off it now.

[Marisa]

Kiley, you might want to try the soy alternatives (soy milk, you can even find soy cheese and yogurt). However, the proteins in soy and cow's milk are similar, so it might not be wise to load up on soy either. Instead, offer solid foods that are high in the same kinds of nutrients as milk -- calcium, protein, 'good' fats, and make a vitamin supplement part of his routine.

[pontmarie]

Thanks for reminding me, Marisa - DS had a immediate reaction to soy as well, but that may work for you. I agree, we try to incorporate calcium, etc. rich foods into DS's diet so we don't have to rely on dairy.

[Kiley]

Yes, we will try soy. However, I'm scared to do soy due to the hormones. I have done no research on the topic so I know nothing except that soy "could" be bad. Anyone care to enlighten me? :)

What about rice milk? Also, what kind of soy or rice milk do you recommend? What's the difference between the refridgerated kind and the shelf kind?

We haven't tried whole milk with him. I guess we'll wait until he's a year in August. We have tried cheese and yogurt and while he loved these items, he got patches of ecxema on his face and that usually clears up after he stops eating those items. He also spit up a lot when I drank cow's milk so I cut that out (but not cheese, yogurt or butter) several months ago.

[mia's mama]

Just wanted to come back in and say that DD outgrew her milk intolerance, if that's what it was) and has been drinking organic, whole oow's milk since 15 months without a problem.

Also, Kiley we had Mia on Rice milk for a short time, but FYI it has much less protein compared to cow's and soy milk...I too was worried about the effects of soy though.

[Toonces]

Kiley ~ I was worried about soy too so my DD's Ped recommended goat's milk. She tried it and didn't like it, but it didn't cause any hives like dairy has. She's still BF and we give her rice milk on occasion.

[kmack]

does a diaper rash caused by dairy intolerance usually appear right away? i.e. if i gave DD something at lunch could she have a rash by dinnertime? also, is the rash generally around the bum-hole, or is it all over? i gave DD 1/2 of a jar of green beans with mashed potatoes in it before i realized there was milk and butter in it (don't know why i assumed they would have done just potatoes for babies?) and now she has a good rash.

[Kiley]

does a diaper rash caused by dairy intolerance usually appear right away? i.e. if i gave DD something at lunch could she have a rash by dinnertime? also, is the rash generally around the bum-hole, or is it all over? i gave DD 1/2 of a jar of green beans with mashed potatoes in it before i realized there was milk and butter in it (don't know why i assumed they would have done just potatoes for babies?) and now she has a good rash.

Was this the Tender Harvest kind? I gave DS the carrots and brown rice (thinking it was just carrots and brown rice). After he spit up half the jar, I checked out the ingredients...butter and onions were in it. Seriously, a BABY needs butter and onions in their food? I learned my lesson but I found it really irritating.

Don't know about the timing for the rash...sounds like that could be the cause.

[kmack]

yes, it was Tender Harvest! i was annoyed too when i read it. i think Earth's Best has a couple of soups with the same thing. come to think of it, i think i have the TH carrots and rice too,i'll be sure to stay away for the time being.

i was trying to think if i gave her anything else new, and realized we just switched formula today. we were doing Similac Advance and today tried Advance 2 for older babies. i was just assuming that the milk base in it was the same as the first one?