lactose intolerance

I haven't read everyone else's replies LP but when have you started the solids - is it night time or day time? DS struggled really bad with wind pain when we introduced solids for dinner and we were only giving him the plain rice cereal suitable from 4 mths... I changed it to mornings and that helped somewhat and then when we went to all 3 meals a day + deserts I was giving him yoghurt at dinner time and this just doesn't work for him, bloats and gives him wind so I've now changed that to his lunch time desert and I give DS fruit or custard for desert at dinner time. We also used gripe water and infacol pretty much up until 6 mths with his night time bottle and dream feed. I still use gripe water if he wakes 1 hr after going to bed with wind. But this has been better the past 3 nights when I haven't given him yoghurt at night time. The Lactose can certainly bloat them and make them uncomfrotable even if they are tollerant of it.

Hi Lori Pori, We went through exactly the same with our LO (now 7months). Initially we went down the reflux route but nothing helped until I eliminated all dairy from my diet. Almost immediatly our DD2 went from crying/screaming for hours every day to being a much more settled baby. She also went through a period of failing to thrive so through me trying different elimintation diets we also worked out that she has problems with soy and sulfites (and possibly many others) so is now on a dairy/soy free formula and thriving. Perhaps your Ped could put you on a dairy/soy protein free formula to see if that improves thigns? Good luck Sarah :)

Bless her for helping out, although I know exactly what you mean. I'm OK with DS being with his dad, but other than that I feel I'm shirking my responsibilities if I hand him to someone else to look after! I shall have to get over this before baby #2 arrives :D. I'm glad Cecile will be working with you to see if you can get something sorted. I felt better after seeing her, just because I felt like I was actually trying to do something about it and that perhaps there would be light at the end of the tunnel! And of course it's a million times harder being so far away from family :(. Chin up, though - you might be on the road to recovery now!

Did they test for a milk protein intolerance? He might not be able to break down the proteins...meaning he's not allergic to dairy which is why you wouldn't see results using a lactose free formula.

Hey Lori Pori, please don't feel like you are alone in any of this as you are not. Remember friends or even sites like this are a godsend when you are going through such tricky times. I remember sobbing, really sobbing and feeling such a failure as a mum because I wasn't coping. I used to dispise my husband leaving for work in the morning while I was left at home with a screaming, unhappy baby. I couldn't imagine why we thought it was going to be such a wonderful thing to have a baby, I was sick and tired of people stopping me in the streets telling me that my screaming child was hungry and needed feeding. I felt i was judged by everyone, and I hated every minute. I was totally exhausted, more than I have ever been in my life, but do you know what? I figured (as our family grew) that this little one was not going to bring me down and I started to put into practice sme survival techniques. I got a fantastic baby sling and would strap the child to me whilst continuing to do the household chores (cumbersome yes, but you can mop the floor and empty a dishwasher safely!) I would turn the hoover on when the crying became too much. I would go for a walk with headphones on, in the night I would ask husband to drive round for an hour just to give me some peace. I came across a wonderful 'white noise' cd that you played under the crib and it really stopped the crying instantly. I guess i just decided that enough was enough, I deaserved a life, as did the other children, and I was going to get tough. My children are all well adjusted stable kids, I don't think for one minute that my survival techniques have affected their development. Please, please keep communicating, you are not alone, and I promise you motherhood is absolutely fantastic when you get over these insurmountable hurdles..... and I can vouch for that as I have gone through it 4 times and would do it again. Please let me know if you want to talk about anything, talking and communicating will help.... I promise you. Goo luck tonight xxx

Do you have anyone who could take baby for a couple of hours while you get some rest? It's so hard here when we often don't have family around. I know I find it difficult to ask friends to help out as I'm always worried I'm just adding to their burden :(. Seriously, see if you can get a second opinion. I'm no expert - far from it! - but babies don't just wake screaming for no reason.

Dear all, my heart goes out to you. Reading your messages brings back so many awful memories of when my children were little babies. Firstly, please take any comfort you can in the fact that it does get easier as the children get older by the month. My first child screamed all day, would never settle more than half an hour during the day, and to say I was exhausted was an understatement. I ended up putting her on soya milk and the difference in her was amazing. In one week she had turned from a little terror to a fantastic calm baby. My number 2 went straight onto soya after a few weeks f breast feeding and all was great. My third child was protein intolerant, this was diagnosed after a stay in hospital due to blood found in his nappy (the consultant said his intestines were red raw) my son was on a very restricted diet until he was nearly 2, but once he had been correctly diagnosed (he too went down the reflux road!) he was much happier. My last child was prob the worst, and in fact due to the fact that all my children seemed to have tummy issues the consultant at the hospital also put her on a protein free formula. I can't remember the name, but we were living in the uk at the time and I know you could only get it on prescription. Please please don't feel like you are not doing a good job as you are, you are seeking as much advice as possible, but I know that doesn't help when you are absolutely at your wits end. Take every opportunity offered in terms of help. I remember a girl friend driving round to my house and telling me to strap my screaming baby in her car and she was going to drive around for an hour to give me some peace... what a friend!! If there is anything I can do to help, or talk you through then please contact me as I really can relate to everything you have written. Children are a blessing, but good God nobody points out that the initial months can literally push you near the edge!! Good luck ladies xxx

When I was diagnosed with PND I did a fair bit of reading on possible causes and it seems one of the main reasons for it is sleep deprivation. Or, if it's not a direct cause, it certainly makes it far worse. Hopefully you'll soon feel better and be able to cope better with the situation - it's horrible when you have so little sleep and everything seems so, so much worse. Perhaps just try a visit with Cecile to see if she has any other suggestions. Or, try another opinion from a different paediatrician. Try anything and everything you can! I so hope you feel better soon and get baby sorted.

Lovely, thanks. I just spoke to my sister and she said she was given Gaviscon, infant Z-something and some drops to make his tummy produce less acid. She says it made very little difference at first, until he started on solids, and he grew out of it at 7 months. Probably not much help to you :(. I'm going to see if I can find a non-soy milk later - I'll post if I do to see if another type of milk might help you.

I'm afraid I don't have any advice and I'm sorry to post a question when you're clearly in need of help and not questions, but where do you get lactose-free Aptamil from? DS had rotavirus earlier this year and has had temporary lactose intolerance since, and it doesn't seem to be resolving now he's back on normal Aptamil so I'd like to try lactose-free again. I hope you manage to get something sorted soon. Perhaps you need another trip to the doctor? Or even try seeing Cecile de Scally. She helped us enormously with sleep issues and may have some suggestions for you to try regarding diet. Actually, how long did you try the reflux meds for? My nephew had terrible reflux till he was 7 months old and screamed pretty much all day and night, and my sister was sure the meds didn't work, but it ended up taking a good month - if not more - before they actually made any difference :(.