When N was an infant we started noticing some significant gastrointestinal issues- certainly not severe, but absolutely bothersome. As an exclusively breastfed newborn she was experiencing a significant amount of gas, tummy troubles and general pain beginning at about 1-2 weeks of age.
At first, it was attributed to "normal newborn" stuff, but it wasn't getting better. In fact, it just continued to get worse. She was in pain, awful pain. She wouldn't have a bowel movement for days on end (which can be normal) but when she would it could be runny and green. In between she would have a rock hard tummy and just scream. It was heartbreaking. So, I knew something had to change. Initially, I did an elimination diet that I found through Dr. Sear's website. Basically, I cut out dairy, soy and gluten. Yep, I was pretty much hungry all. the. time. Not sure if it was just me, but I could eat just about anything and everything when I was first nursing. Always hungry. However, N was doing better within 2-3 days and it just kept getting better after that. So something was going right.
I continued on with the elimination diet and slowly starting adding things back in, except soy; best to avoid that anyway. I tried on a few occasions to add dairy back in with not good results, it was then I decided to embrace my dairy-free lifestyle as it wasn't fair of me to keep experimenting with my daughter. I had hopes that she would eventually outgrow it. As she started to eat more solid foods, around 8-9 months, I could eat butter, yogurt and some cheese (very little). Not to mention I was nearly 20 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. Happy day!
Fast forward to N about 11-12 months, still nursing but also eating a pretty significant diet of whatever we ate. I was cooking with dairy, eating cheese and generally not worrying about it. The symptoms returned...Because I wasn't interested in solely treating the symptom and trying to avoid unnecessary medication, I made an appointment with an allergist.
After a lot of conversation, some testing and a very pleasant and informative appointment it was determined that N is dairy intolerant. Not always easy to detect in a toddler, but the signs were significant enough to the physician and myself. Interestingly enough, the doctor highly recommended we eliminate or avoid high concentrated corn products and gluten, as well. I was told that generally it is a myth that she will ever grow out of her intolerance, but someday she may be able to tolerate them better. It is a choice I will leave up to her as she gets older, but for now, we find it best to completely avoid the dairy. There are a few exceptions- butter used in cooking doesn't seem to bother her and she is also able to digest yogurt and dairy kefir. Which I attribute to their extremely low amount of lactose. The probiotic factor seems to cancel it out and actually seems to help.
Surprisingly, it hasn't been as difficult as I initially anticipated. My husband is also trying to avoid wheat to combat some issues and overall, we are all doing well with the lifestyle change. So, all in all we aren't doing it necessarily to be trendy or cool, but because it helps us all. However if eating healthy, whole and unprocessed foods is hip than consider me on that bandwagon.
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