Son - Trouble with Whole Milk?

[quenice0717]

Just wanted some advice. This is my third little one and I have never seen this.
My son turned one last month and I have gradually been switching from formula to whole milk. We had been using Horizon Organic, and for the first time (with him) I bought Archer Farms Organic. This was also the first day he had a full bottle of only whole milk, with no formula added in. This was Wednesday, and that night he woke up in the night screaming and crying, like he was in pain. Nothing would calm him so we just thought he was hungry, gave him a bottle and he calmed down and was able to go back to sleep. Come mid-afternoon, he had a similar mini-fit. Then, last night, the same thing. I know whole milk itself is not hurting him, since he has been having it with his formula or in his oatmeal for nearly a month now with no problems. But I am wondering if you think he may be having a reaction to this specific brand of milk. He has no other symptoms, his poop is normal. I cannot even tell if he is crying from stomach aches, but he sounds in pain and I have never seen him like this before.
A few issues: we have no insurance right now because of my lay-off and Medi-Cal is processing, so I have no doctor to email like I did before. And also, we get WIC, so organic milk was just to switch initially but I actually plan on him having regular whole milk.
A similar thing happened with his baby cereal. He had tummy aches and similar fits with Gerber Cereal, but we switched to organic Earth's Best and they went away.
Sorry for the ranting. I have very few mommy friends to ask for help, and I am tired and exhausted. Just want some feedback on what you think the problem may be and what I should do. Should I simply try the Horizon again and see if the problem persists? Should I just switch to regular whole milk and see what happens then? Please help! Thank you

[snafu4me]

just a thought ~ could he be having "night terrors" instead of a reaction to the milk??

[taylordvd]

My short answer is that yes it definitely could be the milk but not a brand specific thing. My son had the same sort of reaction (crying, screaming, wanting to be held, tons of tantrums) to milk and milk products but I did not realize it for way too long. If it were my child I would probably put them on soy toddler formula for a month and then try reintroducing milk. If the same thing happens, then it is probably the milk. But it is not a brand specific allergy.

[CW&M Mom]

I don't think the organic milk vs regular milk is going to make any difference.

I would probably put him back on the formula for a few days and see if the screaming stops...if it does..then put him back on the milk..if the screaming comes back you probably have your answer.

Your problem is going to be WIC will not give you any kind of voucher except for regular whole milk unless you have a doctors script for anything different.

My thoughts are you may need to try out Soy or Lactose Free milk. Possibly the formula's lactose is broken down enough that his gut can process it, but whole milk he can't. Soy would solve the problem as well but it has a very different taste..I'm not sure on price which one is worse. But Lactose Free milk vs regular milk taste is basically the same. However if it's an allergy the lactose free won't help. And testing at his age for lactose is complicated and cost prohibited without insurance (can you apply for medicaid for him????). Testing for milk allergies at his age is often not done because they are very unreliable until the age of 3-4...so they often go by symptoms instead. So in otherwords..you may just have to figure it out on your own...unless you can get him some kind of insurance medicaid or chip.

Honestly what we have done for my daughter who is lactose intolerant because she also needs whole milk and WIC refuses to give her whole milk as she's over the age of 2, even though both her pediatrician and the feeding clinic feel she needs to be on it, is we drink the WIC milk and we purchase the lactose free whole milk and give it to her.

[foggierbard9]

I would NOT give soy unless he ends up allergic to everything else.

Organic vs. Regular could have something to do with it. What the cow eats/how it is raised will determine what is in the milk. Most organic milk(horizon for sure) at the grocery store is ultra-pasturized so it kills off EVERYTHING in the milk and they add back in vitamins and minerals that used to be present(makes for the really long shelf life).

There are easier to digest cows milks than just Regular store milk out there as well.

[cody82414]

I would NOT give soy unless he ends up allergic to everything else.

This.

[CW&M Mom]

I would NOT give soy unless he ends up allergic to everything else.

Organic vs. Regular could have something to do with it. What the cow eats/how it is raised will determine what is in the milk. Most organic milk(horizon for sure) at the grocery store is ultra-pasturized so it kills off EVERYTHING in the milk and they add back in vitamins and minerals that used to be present(makes for the really long shelf life).

There are easier to digest cows milks than just Regular store milk out there as well.

I would do lactose free before soy as well. If your thinking the horizon could be harder to digest...she could try just regular cows milk, if that doesn't work try lactose free, .

For WIC purposes they will only give you whole regular though. You'll just have to pay OOP until you figure out what he can tolerate.

You also could try if you don't' want to do soy: Almond Milk or Hemp Milk. There is also rice but you really need to check the ingredients rice doesn't have much fat at all, and really needs to be enriched. Out of the 4 Hemp is actually often the most nutritious. BUT I doubt WIC would do a voucher for Hemp.

[amylynne01]

But if his poop is normal, it doesn't sound like a milk issue at all. Milk issues cause diarrhea or constipation. Is he teething? Have you introduced any other new foods recently? Any changes in his life that he could be reacting to? How is he sleeping?

[taylordvd]

But if his poop is normal, it doesn't sound like a milk issue at all. Milk issues cause diarrhea or constipation. Is he teething? Have you introduced any other new foods recently? Any changes in his life that he could be reacting to? How is he sleeping?

My son has issues with milk and he had no other reaction other than what the OP described. So it is possible to just have that reaction. That is why it took us so long to figure out because the pediatrician did not think it was food related.

[CW&M Mom]

My daughter is lactose intolerant...and other then her poo was stinkier we think (not scientific proven LOL) nothing changed poo wise when we changed her to lactose free milk. This is not the norm..in fact normally they get diarrhea....and she is normally constipated (and still is..that has not changed).

It's hard to know as well with him being on just regular milk for such a little amount of time.

Also with a lactose issue...if anything is in his stomach with the whole milk..that can actually help it digest better. Most people are not completely lactose intolerant. So when things are in the stomach with the milk..it gives the stomach time to help digest the lactose (like the oatmeal) as soon as you give them nothing but the milk...is when you start having problems..and it can happen all of the sudden. My daughter was fine until about 3 months ago. It came on just like that. She started to complain about 30 times a day that he stomach hurt. She didn't puke, nor was her bowels changing (other then her poop possibly stunk more then normal). Once we changed to lactose free she stopped complaining that her stomach hurt.