Am I going to have to bin it all?

[Stardust1]

I have built up quite a nice little supply of frozen expressed milk and I'm quite precious about it (low betide anyone who puts anything near it in the freezer), problem is my poor little man has terrible reflux and Dr and I think it might be a dairy intolerance so I am currently on day 2 of cutting out all dairy and lactose from my diet. If it proves to be a lactose problem with baby am I going to have to bin all my lovely frozen milk, or can I add colief drops to it? I know it does something to do with lactose but I wasn't sure how it works exactly Any advice would be great thanks

 

[summer rain]

There is lactose in breast milk so not sure if cutting out lactose would help? In breastfed babies it is usually the cows' milk protein that's an issue. You could keep the milk for a few more months as many babies outgrow a dairy intolerance at around six months. Xx

 

[Care76]

Sorry I don't know the answer. But if you can't use it maybe you can donate it?

 

[Stardust1]

There is lactose in breast milk so not sure if cutting out lactose would help? In breastfed babies it is usually the cows' milk protein that's an issue. You could keep the milk for a few more months as many babies outgrow a dairy intolerance at around six months. Xx

Oh rubbish really? I totally though it was the lactose in the dairy, well i assumed looks like DH is gonna be eating and drinking all the lactose free cheese and milk I just bought!!

 

[Stardust1]

Sorry I don't know the answer. But if you can't use it maybe you can donate it?

Thats a lovely idea, not sure how I go about doing it though, I'll have to look into it. Thanks

 

[Stardust1]

Sorry I don't know the answer. But if you can't use it maybe you can donate it?

Thats a lovely idea, not sure how I go about doing it though, I'll have to look into it. Thanks

 

[summer rain]

There is lactose in breast milk so not sure if cutting out lactose would help? In breastfed babies it is usually the cows' milk protein that's an issue. You could keep the milk for a few more months as many babies outgrow a dairy intolerance at around six months. Xx

Oh rubbish really? I totally though it was the lactose in the dairy, well i assumed looks like DH is gonna be eating and drinking all the lactose free cheese and milk I just bought!!

No it's the protein cows' milk lactose cannot pass into breastmilk. Unfortunately though a lot of doctors unless they are allergy or intolerance specialists seem to be completely clueless about the difference between lactose intolerance and milk protein intolerance xx

 

[Care76]

We had our son muscle tested at the naturopath and found out it was the cows milk protein only. Maybe you could go and have the same test done to find out. It isn't invasive like the other tests. Chances are it is the protein though.

 

[febbride2012]

if you do want to donate it there's a page on facebook called human milk for human babies that find matches xx

 

[laodicean]

I've recently realised the same thing about my freezer stash. Have managed to be dairy free now for a month, and my son's skin now looks brilliant, so it's definitely worth carrying on with it. But my son managed to react to Ashton's & Parsons powders the other day (which contains lactose sourced from cow's milk) so he's clearly very sensitive and it's just not worth giving him milk from when I was eating dairy.

Advice re. going dairy free: make sure you're prescribed calcium supplementation and are referred to a dietician, as dairy is in so many things. Going shopping takes three times as long now because I have to read all the food labels, but I am doing a lot more home cooking so there are some benefits.

Sainsburys do publish a list on line of all their own brand products that are dairy free: https://www.sainsburys-live-well-fo...-eating/health-advice/product-guidance-lists/

I believe Tesco do the same, and Waitrose are really good about listing allergens at the shelf so that you don't have to take a print out shopping with you.

Good luck. It's hard work, but it's worth it if it makes your LO feel better, especially if like my LO he refuses to drink the hypoallergenic formula that's available for infants with allergies.

 

[summer rain]

Calcium supplementation isn't necessary, the calcium in dairy is poorly absorbed and in large enough amounts causes bone loss, it's one of the reasons why countries with high dairy intakes have appallingly high levels of osteoporosis. Bone strength is built up by weight bearing exercises and other minerals, especially magnesium are important too. My mum is in her 60s, she has been pretty much dairy free barring the odd yoghurt here and there since when I was born as I was cows' milk protein allergic and still am-though I only realised I still was when I had a series of nasty respiratory and throat infections that nearly finished me off. Anyway she is fit as a fiddle, looks nearly 20 years younger than she is and hasn't touched calcium supplements for years because they have been linked to an increase in heart disease for several years now. Even heart and osteoporosis charities no longer recommend calcium supplementation without a strong medical basis because there is little proof they help prevent osteoporosis but proof they can be harmful especially for susceptible individuals. Besides which there is plenty of calcium in dairy alternatives and it is far better absorbed than that which is in dairy. I get 75% minimum of the recommended intake of calcium from breakfast alone and calcium is naturally occurring in so many non dairy foods it would be incredibly hard not to get the recommended amount xx

 

[laodicean]

I'm afraid, as a doctor, that I have to respectfully disagree with you, but rather than getting into an argument about it I suggest that the OP talks to her GP about the issues and see what they recommend.

 

[laodicean]

Though given that the GP didn't seem to know the difference between lactose and cow milk protein allergies, maybe she should also try to see a different GP...

.. this is why dieticians with an interest in paediatric allergies are brilliant and are the best people to be referred to for advice.

 

[summer rain]

My GP is a former paediatrician and has been working for many decades, in her opinion there is no benefit in taking calcium or other supplements if diet is adequate and whether dairy free or not but yes, best to ask one's own GP and also look into the research. It's a an undeniable fact that in countries with lower dietary calcium intakes and where calcium supplements are unheard of that rates of osteoporosis are far lower. If you do feel calcium is important it is far better got from diet and it is very easy to get it from dairy alternatives alone let alone all the other foods that have naturally occurring calcium xx

 

[Stardust1]

I've recently realised the same thing about my freezer stash. Have managed to be dairy free now for a month, and my son's skin now looks brilliant, so it's definitely worth carrying on with it. But my son managed to react to Ashton's & Parsons powders the other day (which contains lactose sourced from cow's milk) so he's clearly very sensitive and it's just not worth giving him milk from when I was eating dairy.

Advice re. going dairy free: make sure you're prescribed calcium supplementation and are referred to a dietician, as dairy is in so many things. Going shopping takes three times as long now because I have to read all the food labels, but I am doing a lot more home cooking so there are some benefits.

Sainsburys do publish a list on line of all their own brand products that are dairy free: https://www.sainsburys-live-well-fo...-eating/health-advice/product-guidance-lists/

I believe Tesco do the same, and Waitrose are really good about listing allergens at the shelf so that you don't have to take a print out shopping with you.

Good luck. It's hard work, but it's worth it if it makes your LO feel better, especially if like my LO he refuses to drink the hypoallergenic formula that's available for infants with allergies.

Thanks thats really brilliant info. I'm a vegetarian so I'm gutted to have found even things like quorn contain milk products
My son suffers from eczema as well so I'm really hoping the lack of dairy will improve that, although since I've stopped the dairy this past week he's had a flare up but i"m not sure if its caused by the Zantac the DR prescribed.

I probably should look into calcium supplementation though as I already have osteopenia in some of my bone due to a lack of oestrogen caused by a prolactinoma I've had since I was a child.

In defence of my Dr he did just say Dairy intolerance, it was me that assumed that meant Lactose

 

[laodicean]

I'm a vegetarian so I'm gutted to have found even things like quorn contain milk products

Bugger. I'd just cooked myself some quorn sausages seconds before reading this. They'd been in the freezer since before I started the diet and it never even occured to me to check. Doh!

In defence of my Dr he did just say Dairy intolerance, it was me that assumed that meant Lactose

Ah, fair enough! I retract my earlier comment!

 

[laodicean]

Okay, seriously, I do not want to get into an argument about this, but there are a couple of points I feel need to be made:

My GP is a former paediatrician and has been working for many decades, in her opinion there is no benefit in taking calcium or other supplements if diet is adequate

You've said it yourself, and I can tell you from my own experience as a breastfeeding mother whose calcium needs are triple what they used to be and who suddenly had her diet severely restricted from its previous range that my diet is not adequate and I require supplementation.

I am against supplementation for supplementation's sake, but sudden dietary upheaval on a background of increased need anyway is very good indication for supplementation.

It's a an undeniable fact that in countries with lower dietary calcium intakes and where calcium supplements are unheard of that rates of osteoporosis are far lower.

That is not a fact that is backed up by the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

https://www.iofbonehealth.org/epidemiology

If a fact is undeniable then you need to quote sources so that I can critically evaluate the paper. As it is, I'd hypothesise that low rates of osteoporosis in other countries ("countries" being non-specific, because there's a big difference between, for instance, The Netherlands and Papua New Guinea) would be because of low diagnosis rates rather than because of low disease rates. Basically, if you don't go looking for it, you won't find it.

And since the gold standard way to diagnose osteoporosis is via radioisotope bone scanning, using a fancy piece of expensive equipment that many countries can't afford, I'd guess that most places couldn't go looking for it even if they wanted to. Osteoporosis can not be diagnosed by X-ray. It's a developed nation disease because the developed nations can afford to diagnose and treat it.

 

[summer rain]

There have been many studies done in different countries around the world, one measurement of osteoporosis is the rate of hip fractures in older people, which needs no special equipment to test. If you google something like 'hip fracture rates highest in US' many studies come up in their complete original form. I'm not here to argue either but if one googles 'calcium myths' you can find a number of very interesting pages that quote legitimate research papers that can be found in full online also. There are also, like you get with any topic quack websites though it is interesting that even the paleo extremists, such as the Weston A Price Foundation who say consuming large quantities of animal products is essential to health, they also have come to the conclusion that dairy is not a good source of calcium. I have never seen any studies either showing that those who were dairy free for a large part of their lives have higher rates of osteoporosis or other issues purportedly caused by lack of dairy intake.

When my GP referred to an 'adequate' diet she said the vast majority of people do have an adequate diet and that it is perfectly possible to have an adequate diet when dairy free. In some countries such as the US, everything has milk or dairy in, it really isn't the case here in the UK. The vast majority of products you can find in the supermarket are dairy free and there are so many alternatives available. I did state clearly though that calcium supplements aren't necessary without a strong medical reason for taking them, in the case of the OP and those with certain medical conditions it may be advised to take a supplement. For example my sister has crohn's and also has arthritis and does not like any dairy substitutes and she is not meant to have dairy products as it causes her crohn's to worsen. She takes a calcium supplement but also ensures she takes a high dose d3 at the same time. However most average people without underlying health conditions do not require calcium supplements nor do they need to consume dairy to get adequate dietary calcium-even bearing in mind the extra guidelines for breastfeeding or pregnant women xx