My daughter keeps being sick

[Jem26]

I gave my daughter a fromage frais on Satuday and she had bad runny poo after it, same thing on monday aswell as bad sickness. Yesterday she had a fromage frais for breakfast and was abit windy the rest of the day but nothing too bad. I noticed she had been constipated for 2 days which is unusual, she had 2 runny poos after those 2 fromage frais on the 2 separate days.

All of today she has been very very sick, sick after feeds & any solids (even non dairy) but she is happy in herself and her nappies are fine. Her cheeks are also very red & dry, which she has had for a while now.

As I have said in my other posts she is 5mths old and was told she had a milk intolerance at 6 weeks old and was put on Neocate, we tried her on Aptimal at 4mths & dietician said she seemd ok after a week so it may of been she just had diet related colic so she can have dairy and normal formula. In the last week she has been incredibly windy again and as I said today very sick. I don't think its a bug at all because we are all fine and she is ok in herself and her poo's are now ok not runny at all (too much info for you)

If it is a reaction to the yoghurt would she be sick on the day after having dairy or the day after??? can it cause the runs & constipation?? I have rung my dietician and left a message for her to ring me and ive put my daughter back on Neocate formula until we get to see the dietician.

Sorry ive rambled, im so confused.

Ju

[Pam]

I think I would cut the yoghurts out completely for a while and try to stabilise her before you try anything else new. Reactions aren't always immediate and aren't always the same.

A lack of fluids caused by diarrhoea and vomitting could have caused constipation and this might be put right by drinking more water. My daughter suffered very badly with constipation rather than diarrhoea before going milk free - so it can affect people in different ways. I think that D&V are more likely to be a result of lactose intolerance as the body can't deal with lactose so needs to expel it one way or another, whilst a problem with milk proteins causes other symptoms (only my theory).

Go back to basics and only give her things that you are safe with for a couple of weeks to give her chance to recover and then gradually introduce new things very slowly, one at once so that you can identify anything that causes problems. Even if you have to go to a milk only diet for a few weeks it might help her to recover enough to start again. I think weaning is recommended around 6 months these days so by waiting a few weeks you won't be stunting her development in any way.

[Jem26]

Thanks Pam, so do you think she sounds milk intolerant? thats what they thought she was. Julie

[Copper]

It sounds like a dairy intolerance to me too. I would go along with Pam's advice.

When I suddenly developed an intolerance to coconut it really affected my intestines badly. It left me with IBS for a week. I could only manage small meals for the first few days and then I had pains in my stomach for a while. I guess this is what is happening to your baby. Pam is right in that you need to stick to safe foods and let her insides recover.

[ellsie]

I agree with Pam and Copper. Let her have a few weeks to settle down. If you do decide to try again perhaps just give one or two spoons and wait for a few days to see what happens. Personally I would leave it altogether until she is 18 months or so when she is more developed to cope and is on a better variety of foods.:)

[Jem26]

Thanks Ellsie,

I have only weaned her for a few weeks now & not fed her food every day, just whenever I get chance or if she seems more hungry. I am going to stick to just milk now until 6mths then introduce fruit & veg and take it slowly but do it daily.

Its for the best to let her recover inside. She is back on the Neocate but being terribly sick on that aswell, alot less than she was on Aptimal but suppose its just her body getting use to the Neocate again.

I find this such hard work & very confusing;-)

Ju x

[rebecca c]

Your doing fine, my intolerences cause constipation followed by diarrohea (never could spell that), it is a typical IBS reaction apparantly.

Her dairy intolerence may clear up or may go away or may manifest itself in different ways (which is what happened to me as a child) like having a lot of mucus/ear infections/ecsma/asthma so keep an eye out for these things.

As I've said the dieticians seem to think a reaction will occur one or two days after having milk. But this is not the experience of everyone on this site (maybe because assessing your symptoms is not always a straightforward process this is especially true of a baby who can not tell you what is wrong)

[Jem26]

Thanks Rebecca,

She is still being very sick even now she is back on the Neocate, maybe its just her body getting use to it again?

Do you think it sounds like a milk protein intolerance? thats not an allergy is it?

My friends daughter has milk allergy and she get wheezy & comes up in hives, my daughter isn't like that, she gets very sick, bad tummy pains, trumping alot;-), sickness, runny poo or constipation.

Julie

[Copper]

As I understand it an allergy to the milk protein tends to make things swell. This is a very serious condition. It does sound like your daughter has a lactose (natural milk in sugar) intolerance.

Is Neocate soya free? I know that some babies also develop a soya intolerance.

I am lactose intolerant and I try hard not to replace all of my dairy with soya as I don't want to develop a problem with soya too.

We all react differently to lactose which makes it difficult to diagnose. In my case if I have too much lactose in a day it catches up with me in the night. I spend all night feeling really sick and then once it has cleared the system I am ok. I am very tired the next day but other than that my stomach is fine.

[ellsie]

I have an allergy to protein and I also get hives wheezing and anaphalactic shock. Your friend needs to have an Epipen for her daughter if she doesn't have one no as allergies can get worse. If she does have an anaphalactic shock it is life threatening and can be helped by the Epipen. Your daughter sounds more like lactose intollerant to me. It's hard work when they can't tell you what's wrong. I hope your wee one settles over the next few days.;)

[Copper]

Ok I have answered my own question now. Neocate does not contain soya so you don't have that to think about. I guess it is just a question of waiting a few days for your baby to get over her intolerance reation to dairy.

I hope she feels better soon.

[Jem26]

Thanks, I was told by my dietician it was milk protein intolerance. She had a stool sample done and it showed no lactose problems.

Ju x

[ellsie]

From what I understand an intolerance is to lactose- milk sugar and an allergy is to milk protein. With the symptoms your daughter is showing it seems to be an intolerance which would be lactose. Dieticians are not allergy specialists and ,as many people here will probably tell you, often know very little about this topic. Your daughter needs to be diagnosed by a doctor and they may want to wait and see till she is a little older. In the meantime just let her sdettle as you have been and see how she is in a few days.
Linda:)

[Copper]

I am pleased you said that Elsie as I felt sure an intolerance was to lactose and the protein would be an allergy.

If she has a lactose intolerance it might go away when she is a bit older BUT from my experinec and that of my eldest daughter, it will come back again at some point.

Let us know how she is doing.

[Jem26]

Thank you both, very very confusing. I have left a message for her dietician to ring me so I can meet with her again for a chat. My dr knows very very little about intolerance/allergy and couldn't help me unfortunatly so I had to get intouch wiht a dietician myself.

She seems 10x better now back on Neocate, have layed off any foods and she is sleeping through the night again and has uped her bottles to 7oz!!

[ellsie]

Perhaps your GP could refer you to a specialist who knows more about it. Where do you live as some of us may know of other help in your area.

[Lou C]

Hi Jem, I'm no big expert on the different formulas, but if your little one is generally okay on the formula she is on I would start the weaning just mixing very basic things with her milk, baby rice as the bulk, then for a bit of flavour add a bit of pureed apple, pear, potato, carrots etc. and steer clear of anything like yoghurt, or packets with a long list of ingredients. My understanding is that you can be intolerant to other things in the milk other than lactose, it's the reaction that determines whether it's classed as an allergy (usually an immediate reaction, vomitting, hives, etc.) or an intolerance (can be delayed, overproduction of mucus, bloating, bowel problems, eczema etc.) I think generally doctors and dieticians are a bit ignorant to intolerance, if it's not something straightforward that they can get a definate "test" result for. Lou x good luck!