How To Tell If Your Baby Is Lactose Intolerant

If your baby is lactose intolerant it means he cannot digest the sugar in milk - where as if he were allergic to milk he would have had a reaction to the protein.

Lactose is present in almost all kinds of milk - even breast milk has 7% lactose. Mothers who are lactose intolerant are likely to have babies who are lactose intolerant. Many infant formulas also contain milk ingredients and you should pay attention to the label. Even Lactose-Free formula has a low dosage of lactose and, although doctors will tell you it is too low to cause any reaction, my own baby couldn't digest it.

So how can you tell if your baby is lactose intolerant? The most commons signs include lots of gas, bubbles, burps, and flatulence following feeding. My son used to cry in high pitch voice and would almost always have smelly diarrhea after feeding.

This does not necessarily mean your baby is lactose intolerant. You still need to follow a process of elimination to narrow down the cause of the symptoms.

1. Try different bottles until you are sure his gas is not bottle related.


2. Try a different formula - there is a difference in ingredients between them and he might be able to better digest another version.


3. If no change occurs, switch to lactose-free formula.


4. If all else fails, switch to soy formula.

If you reached this point then can almost safely assume that your baby is indeed lactose intolerant. I would still recommend that you ask your doctor for intolerance test to be absolutely sure.

I left the soy formula as last resort even though, as I mentioned, lactose-free formulas are not really lactose free. Many studies have shown that the use of soy formula, especially with boys, can delay the onset of puberty because of the high levels of estrogen present. I don't allow my sons to eat soy products at all, but since I couldn't breast feed, and they couldn't tolerate the lactose-free formulas, I had to give them the soy version.

Once you switch to non-lactose formula you will notice immediate change in the baby's reaction: no more gas (at least back to normal levels) and the stool will be solid and less smelly. A word of warning though: soy-based formulas tend to be smelly too, but in a different kind of odor...

If you suspect that your baby has difficulty digesting lactose, follow through the process of elimination before you reach the final conclusion of lactose intolerance. What ever you do, medical guidance is always recommended.