Hellobee Boards

I am going through my second bout of lactose intolerance due to an illness which causes damage to the intestines, so it's temeporary but I've learned a lot.

Depending on how severe your sons intolerance is he may be able to eat hard cheeses and yogurt. Also butter is probably ok since the hard part has less lactose and most of it goes to the liquid part. I don't know if kids use lactase pills but they work for some and not others. Most chips and most processed snacks have milk in them so read labels well! Sometimes milk is referred to as whey, etc.

If this is his only restriction it might take some getting used to but there should be lots of alternatives. I know it will make life a bit harder for you having to constantly monitor though. Hope it helps and you get used to it quickly!

I'm mildly lactose intolerant. There's Lactaid milk, cottage cheese, and ice cream out there...and if kiddo is old enough a Lactaid pill contains the lactase enzyme and allows just about anything to be consumed. Butter and certain cheeses typically have very low amounts so they might be ok...definitely look up levels of lactose on Google and find a trustworthy chart.

@BananaPancakes: lactose free doesn't mean dairy free necessarily but if it specifically says lactose free I would think its ok. I didn't realize things like regular pancake mix, frozen pncakes/waffles, basically all of those single frozen meals, lots of breads (but not most bagels and English muffins!), pastries...they all have milk/lactose. I'm still learning and I think a lot is unfortunately trial and error especially since I only thought to avoid the obvious ones and that didn't work. Hoping it goes smoothly for you. I bet at this point you'll gladly do whatever it takes to help your son, GI issues are difficult.

@BananaPancakes: My LO is totally dairy free (not just lactose free), but we still find plenty for her to eat. She doesn't eat cheese, butter, or cow's milk at all, and honestly we stay away from the other yogurts too just because of the sugar in them (she doesn't like the totally plain ones).

She drinks hemp milk and I use almond milk for baking (to make pancakes or whatever). And we buy the Earth Balance dairy-and-soy free spread for "butter", but I tend to cook with Canola or Olive oil anyway.

It takes an adjustment period, but you and he will get used to it! Good luck.

@BananaPancakes: in my regular grocery stores, a lot of the "gluten free" items are also major-allergen free, so they are dairy free as well. LO doesn't eat a lot of that stuff (because it's like cookies or crackers) but I ate plenty when she was still on breastmilk!

Ice cream and stuff, I just don't give it. She's had a popsicle like, once in her life so as she gets older if she starts to notice what she's missing, I might just offer fruit popsicles instead.