Can a Child Suddenly Become Allergic to Dairy?

A bout with diarreah no matter the cause wipes out a stomachs defense system. There are little hair like things that help a stomah digest. Cow's milk is especially hard on a childs stomach after a stomach bug. You might try soy milk for a week or so until the hair like things (I cannot remember the proper name) have a change to regenerate.

When you get sick with a stomach virus you are supposed to avoid all dairy products. you are also supposed to replinish lost fluids with gatorade, pedialite, or powerade. (something with electrolytes). also, chldren are not supposd to have more than 16 ounces of milk per day and to drink whole milk until 2yrs old then switch to 2%. This information is all from the Dr. Call your Dr. they will give free advice on the phone. Fruits wouldn't be good either. Bland, non dairy food good!

There are lots of problems with homogenized, pasteurized milk. You might go to the Weston Price Foundation site for more info: www.westonaprice.org/. This is a good nutrition resource in general and will help with understanding the difference between fresh raw milk and the kind we get in the grocery stores.

Also www.notmilk.com/. This site doesn't support milk at all, though I think for some the raw milk is a good choice and for children in particular raw goat's milk seems to be the most compatible choice.

A good option for diarrhea, in addition to addressing these food issues is to give a good probiotic. Try the Candida Wellness Center for a good quality probiotic that is suitable for babies/children. They also have lots of information available. www.thecandidayeastanswer.com
Probiotics can alleviate diarrhea quickly which can be important for a young child.

Not to sure about suddenly becoming allergic to milk, but my daughter had this same virus and we were put on BRAT diet with no dairy at all. It lasted 14 days and she would not eat hardley anything. I was so worried I had the doctor's do a stool culture, but it all came back fine so it was just a bad virus. Once it finally cleared up I started introducing yogarts back to her diet. After giving her that for a couple of days plus some cheese I started giving her milk and she was fine. Sorry to hear your little one has this virus it is horrible just keep him on a very strict diet and he should be fine within a couple of weeks.

I think suddent dairy intolerance is a definite possibility. Also, they say with stomach viruses that milk creates a very nice growth environment that makes it take longer for the bug to go away which is why you should avoid it for stomach bugs.

Another thing that it could be is giardia which is a microscopic parasite. I read somewhere that this is common in daycare situations because of all the diapering that goes on-it's transmitted by feces or water. When you get this little bug, it causes dairy intolerance. I would just call up the Ped's office and ask the doctor what his take on this diarrhea with milk thing is. He/she will tell you if it's serious enough to warrant testing. In lieu of that, I would bar any cheese or dairy for two to three days after the last diarrhea episode if you could manage it. That should give any viruses time to clear out all the way and if it starts back up after you reintroduce dairy, then you would need to consult a Dr. to rule out giardia and officially diagnose this as an allergy/sensitivity.

Sorry for the long post. I wish you all the best, diarrhea is YUCKY!!! So sorry for you and your little buddy!

I'm so glad you posted this - I was wondering the same thing. I thought my 17 mo daughter has a stomach bug - she was throwing up and had diarrhea. I put her on the BRAT diet for several days, and didn't have any issues, but when she went back to regular whole milk, the diarrhea started again. I put her on goat's milk, and she hasn't has a problem since. Cheese doesn't seem to be an issue, though. Weird. Good luck.

My now 18 mos. old had the same issues a couple of weeks ago and we are still on Lacaid milk for her. What my Ped. said was that when they have an illness that casuses the diarreah it can wipe out all of the good bacteria that is needed to digest the enzymes in the milk so it passes right through them. She also said that it could take months for the bacteria to rebuild. She stated that it is not an allergy but an intolerance. So what I have done is kept her off of the milk by using Lactaid. She tolerates the cheeses and other milk products okay. Hope this helps.

Wow...you are going throught the same thing as me. We have 17 month old twins, and a couple of months ago, I started noticing that one of them had severe diarrhea after having milk products. We saw our ped a few times & she sent us to a Gastro. She did a colonoscopy & endoscopy to determine that he in fact has a "lactose intolerence" -it was a nightmare. Honestly, that's most likely what it is & just take it upon yourself to eliminate milk for a while (and not just 2-3 days--give it a couple of weeks)Try again and see how he improves. It is so amazing to see the pictures after an endoscopy to see just what this intolerence can do to such a small child's tummy. It's ugly, so if you can at all avoid it, do it now. Good luck!

Post or with diarrhea, it can happen. Milk products can make it worse. I heard from my ped that there are times when kids become this way with dairy after a bout of sickness. Be sure your child is getting lots of clear liquids. No acidic juices.

Check with your ped and mention that this happened after beign sick.

There is a stomach bug going arround that causes you be to lactous intollerant for several weeks. My son had it and I couldn't give him milk or cheese for about a month. And when I did give him dairy my god his diarreah was horrible. But I would call your doctor's office and just talk to the nurse and ask if she has any suggestions. I think if he was allergic he would be having other symptoms also, like food related allergies. This sounds like a tollerance to milk. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Could be lactose intolerance. Try getting Lactaid milk. It's milk, but they've added the enzyme that helps digest it, which is missing in people who are lactose intolerant.

You'll find it in the dairy case, in the same compartment as other "special" milks like soy, goat milk, etc.

You can, of course try goat milk too, but it's about $3 a quart (purple carton by brand called Meyenberg). The Lactaid (there's also another brand, but I forget the name) is about $3 a half gallon. Because loose stool is a pretty classic sign of lactose intolerance, I'd try the Lactaid first. You should notice a difference in 3 days. Of course, I'd avoid cheese and other dairy while you're testing this out.

Once you figure it out, you can re-introduce yogurt. For whatever reason, yogurt doesn't usually bother people with lactose intolerance, and it's a good source of calcium and protein. If you get the "all natural" or organic stuff (without high fructose corn syrup), you can probably get a serving of fruit in him at the same time :-)

If it's an allergy to the milk protein (as opposed to digestive intolerance to lactose), yogurt might still be a problem, depending on his sensitivity. My daughter is allergic to milk protein, but she can still have yogurt occasionally without a problem.

Hope this helps

Hi T.,

Allergies can change at any time. Usually, it happens with repetitive exposure to foods/drinks. I am a chiropractor and I can use Applied Kinesiology or muscle testing to determine your childs allergies. Also, I have a cold therapeutic laser that I can use to eliminate the allergies. If you are interested in more information please don't hesitate to call me at ###-###-####. Thanks!

Dr. Sandra S.

Definitely a possibility! The truth is, our bodies just aren't equipped to process lots of dairy! (If any at all!) There really isn't any point in us consuming dairy, only the western part of the world uses cow's milk! The rest of the world doesn't consume dairy because it makes them sick.

Here's some food for thought...
http://www.drjaygordon.com/alezav16/default2.asp?tree=548
http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html
http://www.divinehealth.com/milk.html
http://notmilk.com/

The short answer is not likely. More likely is that he has developed a temporary lactose intolerance due to the diarrhea. When someone has a viral infection in the intestinal tract, the cells there are injured and can take a while to heal. While they are healing, they can't do their regular job, e.g., producing enzymes like lactose.

my daughter just got over it-17 days later! she ended up having rotovirus. there's nothing you can do except keep him hydrated-pedialyte. at day 15, i had to bring in a diaper to culture...if it was bacterial, they would've given her meds.

My younger son was an acid reflux baby from the time he was 7 wks until about 15 months.
He was on soy milk which was the only thing that helped him.
He did fine w/Whole milk for a little while and then he would have diarreah everytime he have milk so I tried Lactaid milk and works like a charm. no more diarreah only if he has too much cheese or yogurt but not too often. Soy milk did not change his diarreah plus he would not drink it as he got older.

I hope this helps and good luck.
M.